GOAL$: The Growth of Women's Soccer Investment
Across teams, funds, startups and players.
Welcome to The New Game where we break down the latest trends in the athlete’s economy.
Who remembers HOOP$?
2023 has been a historic year for women’s sports investment across all sectors of the market, so this week we’re continuing the series with a focus on ⚽️.
⚽️ Big Idea: Women’s Soccer 🚀 Year
Heading into its 2023 Championship Weekend the NWSL made headlines with a groundbreaking $240 million media rights deal involving CBS, ESPN, Amazon, and Scripps.
The announcement of the largest media deal in the history of women's sports was a fitting conclusion to a record breaking season for the league.
“These partnerships fundamentally change the game for our league and the players who take the pitch each week. We have taken great care to ensure our games are discoverable by increasing our reach in order to expose new audiences to everything that makes our league special, without compromising the economic value of our product. This is the beginning of our future.”
From closing media rights deals, to setting attendance records and planning for team expansion — NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has successfully set the stage for the growth of the league and increasing investment around the game.
There are 4 areas of women’s soccer investment that stand out today:
A new wave of team ownership
Women’s sports investment funds
Women’s sports startups
Athlete investors in the NWSL
Let’s take a look at the key storylines in each.
⚽️ New Wave of Team Ownership
Athletes, entertainers, successful entrepreneurs, VC’s, sports industry executives and more are forming a new wave of team ownership in the NWSL.
Here are a few examples of the names involved across the league:
BayFC: Co-founded by USWNT legends Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton, and Leslie Osborne—in partnership with global investment firm Sixth Street.
KC Current: Founded by Angie Long, Chris Long, Brittany Mahomes and Patrick Mahomes.
Washington Spirit: Purchased by Michele Kang for $35M in 2022, which as the time was “the most expensive purchase in league history" (via Sportico).
Angel City FC: Founded by Julie Uhrman with Natalie Portman and Kara Nortman. Their investors include Alexis Ohanian, Candace Parker, Lindsey Vonn and more.
This new wave of ownership has propelled franchise valuations to new heights.
Sportico’s 2023 Report shows how much— “just a few years ago, teams and franchise slots were selling for about $2 million. Now the buy-in price appears to be about 25x higher.”
By the numbers:
The highest valued franchise is Angel City FC at $180M
The San Diego Wave are in second at $90M.
And the average value of a NWSL franchise is $66M
Read more from Sportico.
⚽️ Women’s Sports Investors
Investment firms dedicated to women’s sports are here and two leaders in the pack have their eyes on the growth of women’s soccer.
Monarch Collective, co-founded by Kara Nortman (Angel City FC Founder and former Upfront Ventures Partner) and Jasmine Robinson (former Causeway Partner), launched its $100M debut fund this spring.
Their LP’s range from women’s sports legends like Billie Jean King to next generation superstars like USC Quarterback Caleb Williams.
With a mission to accelerate equity in global sports their focus is clear — investments in women's sports teams, leagues, and adjacent revenue streams.
Monarch Collective recently announced its first investment into the NWSL expansion team in Boston which is slated to launch in the 2026 season.
Mercury 13 is a firm led by Victoire Cogevina Reynal who previously built Gloria — a social platform for soccer fans that was acquired in 2022 by OneFootball.
Now back in the founder seat with Mercury 13, her goal is to “popularize multi-club ownership in women’s soccer in Europe and Latin America” (via SBJ).
The $100M fund recently made its first acquisition into English women’s team Lewes FC.
⚽️ Women’s Sports Startups
Haley Rosen, a former Stanford and professional women’s soccer player, is the Founder of Just Women’s Sports — a media platform covering “100% women’s sports. 100% of the time.”
Since founding the company in 2020, Just Women’s Sports has been a key driver in the rising tide of women’s sports from 4% to 15% of all sports media coverage.
In an interview with Sportico, Rosen shared that the platform is bullish on their coverage of women’s soccer:
“What we have seen do really well for us as a platform is definitely soccer and basketball. Soccer, we’re really bullish on. You look at what’s happening with the World Cup, NWSL, Angel City selling out stadiums, there is something happening in women’s soccer.
Haley Rosen via Sporticast
Just Women’s Sports has successfully raised from backers such as Will Ventures, Thirty Five Ventures, Michele Kang (Washington Spirit Owner), Joseph Tsai (Brooklyn Nets Owner), Allyson Felix, Abby Wambach and more.
Rosen is bringing her athlete-insight to building Just Women’s Sports and showing the growth opportunity for startups that lean into women’s soccer for content, marketing and partnerships.
⚽️ What to Watch: The Growth of Athlete Investors
As investment around the sport increases player marketability and earnings, we’ll start to see more women’s soccer players build their track records as investors.
Alex Morgan is one example of how players in the NWSL are already building off the field:
Co-Founder of Togethxr
Investor in the TGL's LAGC
Joined hiring startup Teamable as an investor, Chief Inspiration Officer, and strategic advisor to the executive team ( via Essentially Sports)
From team ownership, to investment firms, startups and players — I’m excited to see what 2024 has in store for the game of women’s soccer.
🫂That’s a Wrap
Thank you for reading!
As always, let’s connect on LinkedIn to continue the conversation!
Kirby
