Los Angeles’ newest soccer team will have an eclectic group of owners, including an Oscar-winning actor and the two-year-old daughter of one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that the National Women’s Soccer League will expand into LA in 2022. The team are using the provisional nickname Angel City and will be the 11th franchise to play in the NWSL.
The ownership group includes former US women’s national team stars Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Rachel Buehler, Tisha Venturini-Hoch and Abby Wambach; actors Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, Uzo Aduba, Jennifer Garner and Jessica Chastain; venture capitalist Kara Nortman; and tennis superstar Serena Williams, who is listed as an owner alongside her two-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia, and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Williams is no stranger to sports ownership, as she controls a small share of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
“We wanted to make sure that we brought in incredible partners who were from the soccer world, who are leaders in sport, in tech and business and entertainment because that’s really so much what our city is about. Each of us has our special ability to bring to the team,” Portman, who first became involved in the project after the US won the World Cup last year, told the LA Times.
“It just seems like it was ideal to bring [women’s] soccer to LA because we have such passionate fans here, such robust youth soccer. It’s just an incredible kind of culture shift if we can bring more attention and light and celebration of these incredible athletes.”
The NWSL set a record for attendance last season, with crowds up 22% in the wake of USA’s World Cup victory. The best supported team, the Portland Thorns, averaged more than 20,000 fans for their home games.
“Next year is the Olympics, then we will start, then the following year is the Women’s World Cup,” said Nortman. “We’re coming in at an ideal time in 2022.”
Six of the NWSL’s current teams are affiliated with men’s professional teams, but the new LA team does not have an official relationship as yet.
The NWSL commissioner, Lisa Baird, said southern California was an ideal location for a new team.
“We’ve long sought the right partner in LA considering the NWSL fanbase that already exists in the region and the massive interest in women’s soccer in general,” Baird said in a statement. “Those factors, along with an incredible ownership group make this an ideal situation and we couldn’t be more thrilled to move forward.”
LA soccer has a tradition of celebrity ownership. One of the city’s MLS teams, LAFC, has owners that include actor Will Ferrell, NBA legend Magic Johnson and Hamm.
