More huge names buy into new LA soccer club in what has rapidly become the most star-studded ownership group in sports
Los Angeles is a city full of stars, and it's newest sports franchise is living up to the name.
Angel City FC — the National Women's Soccer League expansion franchise set to begin playing in the City of Angels come 2022 — has added yet another wave of big names to its star-studded roster of investors.
Tennis legend Billie Jean King, Los Angeles Sparks superstar Candace Parker and her 11-year-old daughter, Lailaa, Olympic skiing icon Lindsey Vonn, New Jersey Devils star P.K. Subban, "The Late Late Show" host James Corden, and actress Sophia Bush are all among the club's latest backers.
"We need everyone to invest in women's sports and Ilana [Kloss] and I are proud to stand with the Angel City FC ownership group and help make new history in Southern California sports," King said, per an NWSL press release.
"Angel City's mission to make an impact on and off-the field, and to provide an opportunity to some of the best professional female athletes in the world to play on a stage as powerful as Los Angeles, sends a strong message to young girls in the community and beyond."
King and the latest shareholders join an already incredibly impressive list of investors in the club, which to date totals more than 50 individuals more than two years removed from the team's expected kickoff date.
Actresses Natalie Portman, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Garner, America Ferrera, and Eva Longoria teamed up with more than a dozen US Women's National Team icons — including Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Abby Wambach — as part of the founding group.
Tennis icon Serena Williams and her husband, tech guru Alex Ohanian joined the ranks along with their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr.
Talk show host Lilly Singh, YouTube superstar Casey Neistat, author Glennon Doyle, and many others have also been involved since the first announcement of the club's founding back in July 2020.
"On behalf of the NWSL and our member clubs, we are thrilled to officially welcome Angel City Football Club, and this exciting and committed ownership group, to the league," NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird said.
"The soccer community in Southern California is filled with passionate fans of the game and I can't wait to see them rally around their own team and help us continue to grow the NWSL."
The NWSL is widely considered the world's top women's soccer league and, prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, was home to all active members of the USWNT.
The league currently boasts nine clubs but announced earlier this year that it would add a Louisville-based franchise — Racing Louisville FC — in 2021.
The NWSL has also long been on the brink of welcoming a Sacramento-based club into its ranks, which would bring the league to an even 12 teams by 2022.
- Read more:
- Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, and more than a dozen women's soccer icons are part of a star-studded ownership group for NWSL expansion team in LA
- European clubs are poaching US Women's Soccer stars thanks to the coronavirus pandemic
- An executive for a club in the women's top soccer league is accused of pushing for 'sexy' photoshoots and preventing players deemed 'too ugly' from being featured in ads
- An NWSL superstar pulled a Steph Curry after scoring a stunning first goal with her new club
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