September 23 – The race for ownership stakes in the NWSL in the US has a new entrant with billionaire investor Marc Lasry reportedly close to taking a majority stake in the North Carolina Courage.
The Courage were founded in 2017 when Steve Malik bought the Western New York Flash and relocated the team to North Carolina.
No figure has been released for the 2017 acquisition but it is believed to be about $3.5 million. Lasry’s investment for a 60% controlling stake values the club at $108 million. In August 2023 the Courage raised $15 million through a round of fundraising through several minority investors with the club being valued at $66 million.
Under Malik’s ownership, the Courage have won three consecutive NWLS Shileds, two consecutive NWSL Championships and the NWSL Challenge Cup and Women’s International Champions Cup once.
The Courage will be the fifth NWSL franchise to change ownership this year and the third highest in value behind the $250 million valuation of Angel City that was bought by Bob Iger and Willow Bay, and the $120 million takeover of the San Diego Wave by the Levine Leichtman family.
Lasry, a former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, is the founder and CEO of the Avenue Capital Group that has $12 billion of assets under management. He has long banged the drum for the growth potential of women’s sports in the US in particular and reportedly lost out in the bidding for ownership of Angel City.
The NWSL is set announce a 16th franchise with the Cleveland Soccer Group (CSG) one of the frontrunners to win that expansion slot. The group has announced plans to build a new women’s soccer stadium on 13.6 acres of state-owned land it recently acquired for $4.2 million.
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