The most expensive takeover in the history of women’s professional sports has been completed after the NWSL formally ratified the $250m purchase of a controlling stake in Angel City FC to Bob Iger and Willow Bay.
Iger, the chief executive of Walt Disney, and television journalist Bay are also injecting an additional $50m into the club, which was only founded in 2020 by a group including the Hollywood actor Natalie Portman and venture capitalists Kara Nortman and Alexis Ohanian.
The Los Angeles-based club’s record valuation is a landmark moment for women’s football and more than doubles the previous record price for the sale of a NWSL team, when San Diego Wave was sold in March for around $113m.
The Angel City takeover was unanimously approved by the NWSL’s board of governors. On the pitch, playing in only their third season, the team sits ninth out of 14 teams, after a fifth-placed finish in 2023.
“We are incredibly excited to join ACFC as owners at this historic juncture for the team and for women’s sports locally and globally,” Bay said. “As fans since the club’s founding season, we have long admired ACFC’s impact as a sports franchise and a force for social good, particularly here in our Los Angeles community.”
Bay is a former anchor on ABC News, CNN and NBC and co-hosted basketball coverage on the latter. Iger has been Walt Disney’s CEO since 2022, having previously served as chairman.
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Portman, Ohanian and the entrepreneur Julie Uhrman will be among those to remain on the board from the original investors. A large number of celebrity names have also invested in the club including the former tennis stars Billie Jean King and Serena Williams, as well as the former United States striker Abby Wambach and Winter Olympics legend Lindsey Vonn.
Source: theguardian.com
