Angel City FC becomes the world’s most valuable women’s sports team

Transcript

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

It seems the rising popularity of women's sports is paying off. Angel City FC, the National Women's Soccer League team, became the world's most valuable women's sports franchise today after recently being sold. It's now valued at $250 million. That's about 110 million more than the WNBA's two-time champion Las Vegas Aces, who were previously worth the most. For more on Angel City FC and their financial outlook, let's speak with Meg Linehan, who's a senior soccer writer for The Athletic. Thanks for coming on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

MEG LINEHAN: Thanks for having me, as always.

DETROW: Did this surprise you?

LINEHAN: No, I think when we thought about Angel City being founded four years ago - right? - I don't know if anyone could have anticipated where we would end up. But right at the moment, we've seen a lot of turnover in ownership in the NWSL. San Diego Wave, another southern California team, just changed hands at what we thought was a crazy price then, 120 million. So Angel City has always led the way in this league in terms of valuation. So is 250 a lot of money? Sure. But is it that surprising for this team? I don't think it is.

DETROW: What's the value of the club? Is it just the location, Los Angeles? What else is going on?

LINEHAN: I mean, it's Los Angeles. It is the celebrity ownership. Natalie Portman, chief among the celebrities who have invested in this team, she is one of the core four founding owners. But when you think about celebrities, former U.S. women's national team players, someone like Billie Jean King, plus I think the game day experience, the way that they have led the way in sponsorships, total revenue across the league - I mean, they lap the rest of the league in bringing in money. So there's really so many pieces to Angel City being worth this much money.

DETROW: What does it directly mean for a club to suddenly be the most valuable women's sports franchise. Like, what are the immediate payoffs that you're looking at?

LINEHAN: I mean, I think there is just a lot of payoff in terms of the reputation and the news and the coverage around it, right? Obviously, it is this, like, nice self-fulfilling prophecy. But there is, I think, a responsibility. You know, we've seen WNBA obviously have this huge, massive year. NWSL has continued to grow. And so there is this real momentum around women's sports. So when Angel City, you know, stakes its flag and says we're the most valuable team in the world, I think there is real pressure and weight to that to show the growth of women's sports and to lead the way, but then also to back up a $250 million valuation with all the investments to make them the most valuable team in the world.

DETROW: You know, parity has been such a conversation in soccer for the past two decades, whether you're talking about the national team or payouts for World Cups or other things. What does this mean for the parity conversation when you look at MLS versus the NWSL?

LINEHAN: It is really hard to do a direct, one-to-one comparison of MLS and the NWSL just because they are two separate leagues. I think WNBA and NBA is a different conversation just because they are kind of under the same parent ownership. But when it comes to kind of the equity stake between NWSL and MLS, there's still so much catch-up to be done on the women's side. It's a much younger league. And when you think about someone like Ali Krieger, who played in this league, retired a legend and now makes more as a rookie broadcaster than she ever did in the league, that's maybe backwards. And so when you have a number like 250 million, what part of that eventually reaches players? And that's such an important part of that equity question.

DETROW: That's Meg Linehan, senior soccer writer for The Athletic. Thank you so much.

LINEHAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.