October 8 – The two most valuable men’s and women’s soccer clubs in America have joined forces.
MLS club Los Angeles FC valued at $1.15 billion has acquired a stake in the NWSL’s Angel City FC, currently estimated to be worth $250 million. The deal stems from priced warrants issued to LAFC when Angel City signed a lease agreement to play its games at LAFC’s BMO Stadium.
Angel City recently came under new controlling owners, Willow Bay and her husband, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger. Together they have brought roughly 40% of the club at a $250 million valuation with an additional $50 million investment into the club that will go toward operations, facilities, and personnel.
The warrants are part of ACFC’s unique cap table, which includes celebrities from the world of entertainment and sports. The team added new investors in 2022 in a “Series A” round of funding. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, husband to tennis great, Serena Williams, was the club’s lead investor before Bay and Iger took over.
“LAFC has been a champion of Angel City Football Club and its co-founders since the very beginning, and it has been incredible to watch how far the club has come in just three seasons,” LAFC said in a statement.
“We are thrilled to officially join the ACFC ownership group as minority investors and look forward to continuing to support the club, management, Willow, and Bob for many years to come.”
While this powerhouse partnership looks great on paper, it hasn’t yet translated into results for the women’s team who are on track to miss out on post-season play for the second successive season.
The move also comes at a turbulent time for the NWSL club though as co-founder and CEO, Julie Uhrman and General Manager, Angela Hucles Mangano have been banned from conducting duties for the remainder of the calendar year.
It is a different story for the men at LAFC who are on course to become the first team to appear in three straight MLS title games since the New England Revolution in the noughties. They also recently won the 109th edition of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1734921473labto1734921473ofdlr1734921473owedi1734921473sni@o1734921473fni1734921473