Over the last year, there’s been a rumour on everyone’s minds in the soccer world here in Australia: could the A-League here potentially get its very own Angel City Football Club?
A team like ACFC launching here in Australia would be an absolute game-changer for the A-League and women’s sport across the country, and beyond. Well, do we have an update for you. Missing Perspectives was lucky to sit down with co-founder Julie Uhrman and ACFC’s Head of PR, Stephanie Rudnick in the first episode of our new women’s sports show, Momentum.
What is Angel City Football Club and who are the owners?
So, rewind. Who are Angel City? Valued at $250 million USD – the highest valuation ever for a women’s professional sports team globally – it goes without saying that Angel City is a team that stands apart from all other football teams.
The club was born out of a vision in 2020 with a group of high profile female investors including actor and activist Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman. The ACFC ownership group also includes sports icon Billie Jean King, pop superstar Becky G, actors Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria and Lilly Singh (just casually).
The club has not only created a competitive team, but a community driven, fan-first business model that puts women’s sports on the map in a way we’ve never seen before. According to an ACFC press release, in 2023, ACFC generated the highest revenue of any women’s team in the world.
The Club was #1 in NWSL attendance in 2024, sponsorship revenue and total revenue, and has the largest season ticket membership. In addition, ACFC created an innovative sponsorship model that allocates 10% of sponsorship revenue back into the Los Angeles community.
To co-founderJulie Uhrman, their success is all about delivering a premium product, and making women’s sport an experience for fans.
“We know that everybody watches women’s sports. We know they buy merch. We know they tune in. We know they go to games. It’s not just professional leagues. It’s national teams,” Julie Uhrman tells Missing Perspectives.
“You saw with the Matildas and you know, at the World Cup a couple of years ago. So we know there’s an audience. The problem is the product hasn’t been good enough. The price of the product hasn’t been good enough. We haven’t valued the product to make you want to go and show up.
“And so how we did it was really being intentional about building an experience that people wanted to show up for where you valued the product by charging a price that matters by creating an entertaining experience with game days for Angel City.
“We think about it from the perspective of getting you to think about Angel City from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. Creating a fan fest where three to four thousand fans come four to five hours before the game so they can create community and create a sense of belonging and have fun.” What’s not to love?
Is Angel City launching a club in Sydney, Australia?
In a Missing Perspectives exclusive, Angel City co-founder and lead investor Julie Uhrmann has told us that there “is definitely not not a plan for an Angel City Sydney sister club, we want to continue to grow Angel City, we want others to follow our motto. We think you can do good and make money at the same time you don’t have to choose one over the other”.
Could something be coming? Follow Missing Perspectives so you don’t miss out on updates.
Top photo source: Angel City Football Club/Media Center