Landon Donovan knows where he’d put his money in sports.
“The best investment you can make anywhere in sports right now is the NWSL,” he told Front Office Sports in a recent episode of Portfolio Players. “It’s relatively inexpensive and the trajectory is incredible.”
Donovan, a six-time MLS Cup champion and the USMNT’s all-time leading scorer, credited the women’s national team for driving the league’s momentum. The USWNT has won four FIFA Women’s World Cup titles and five Olympic gold medals, most recently at the Paris games in 2024. No other country has won more than one gold in women’s soccer since the sport’s first Olympic tournament in 1996.
“The women’s national team, in particular, has carried soccer for a long time,” he said. “Their success captures people and captures audiences.”
Donovan added: “We live in one of the few countries where it is truly equal—or mostly equal—to participate in the men’s or women’s side of any sport.”
Asked what he hasn’t invested in yet that he still wants to be, Donovan had a quick answer: “The NWSL, probably.”
The former USMNT captain also praised Michele Kang, who owns the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, France’s OL Lyonnes, and England’s London City Lionesses, as a model investor.
“The amount of money they are investing in women’s sports is phenomenal to see, and long may it continue,” Donovan said.
