Angel City FC is on the verge of having new ownership.
Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay, who is dean of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, are close to acquiring the team at a valuation of $250 million, according to reports from Puck. The deal would double the valuation of the already most-valuable women’s sports franchise in the world.
The couple would replace Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian as the team’s majority stakeholder. Ohanian was also the team’s representative for the NWSL board of governors, and it is currently unclear who would assume that role.
Ohanian has been looking to sell the team since fall 2023, after he had issues with the franchise’s spending, which set it back from profitability despite having $31 million in revenue for 2023—the most in the NWSL. Ultimately, the franchise hired Moelis & Co., a New York investment bank, to handle a sale.
According to Semafor, Bay and Iger’s investment puts the team at a value of more than $300 million, which is $120 million more than Sportico’s valuation in October, and five-and-a-half times the average valuation of the other 11 NWSL teams.
Angel City FC was founded in 2021 by actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and Ohanian, who quickly added 100 other investors from sports and Hollywood, including U.S. women’s soccer legends including Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach.
Other minority owners include Candace Parker, Eva Longoria, and Billie Jean King. The ownership group is mostly women, making Angel City FC the largest women-led ownership group in the history of sports, which The Los Angeles Times reports made Bay’s role in the investment important to get the other owners to sign off on the deal.
