August 4, 2023 • 25 mins
In this episode of The Circuit, Bloomberg’s Emily Chang sits down with Angel City FC’s three co-founders for their first-ever joint interview. Natalie Portman, Kara Nortman and Julie Uhrman gathered a star-studded, mostly women-led investor group to launch the team back in 2019. Now in their second season, the team is already selling out stadiums, boosting the profile of the national league and changing the culture of professional sports.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Why does Natalie get the best stuff I had? Natalie,
I know that I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Karen Nortman, I'm Emily Chang, and this is the Circuit.
They're the buzziest women's pro soccer team in the US,
and they're betting that this is the next billion dollar
sports opportunity. On this episode of The Circuit, I sit
down with the founders of Angel CITYFC, venture capitalist Karen Nortman,
(00:26):
entrepreneur Julie Erman, and actress Natalie Portman. In just their
second season, the team is selling out stadiums, boosting the
profile of the National Women's Soccer League, and changing sports culture.
They've hired star players, several of whom will be playing
in the twenty twenty three Women's World Cup. In their
first ever joint interview, we talk about Angel cityfc's mission
(00:48):
to transform the economics of women's sports and build a
new era of soccer fandom. I also learned the signature
angel City FC chant what great. Here's my conversation with
Angel City FC co founders Karen Norman, Julie Erman, and
Natalie Portman.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Do you get nervous before every game?
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Oh? God, yes, game before an interview? Now the game,
I walk around with the trash backs.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Yeah, like Julie, we've prepared as much as we can.
I'm like that doesn't comfort me, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah, yeah, yeah No.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I was wondering, like how much does winning really matter?
Speaker 4 (01:26):
It matters, It matters, It makes anything easier, and like
it's like your kids, right, you want them to perform,
You want them to win because it's you just you
want it for them, You want it for the fans
like you want it right, right, So it's it's a lot.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
I don't think we've ever done this.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
Have you not?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, let's let's be exciting. What's gonna happen. We're all
pretty good at talking.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
We're gonna take turns.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I've never done this, all three of us.
Speaker 7 (01:53):
I mean, we've been together in lots of places we
have not done like a formal interview like this opening day.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
How does it feel? How is the team gelling? Looking
to you?
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Do you mean the teama looks incredible?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
We made some amazing additions in the off season, including
Alyssa Thompson, who's our homegrown.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Hero high school student from Harvard.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Westlake graduating this year. But we have a souldout crowd
tonight for a home opener, and we couldn't be more excited.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Natalie, I've heard you tell this beautiful story, like wasn't
it your son that got you hooked and also made
you realize that maybe we could change how we view
women's sports.
Speaker 6 (02:28):
We were watching the Women's World Cup and I saw
my son, who was I think seven at the time,
idolizing the female players in the same way that he
idolized the male players. And when I saw him, you know,
wanting a Rappino jersey and an Alex Morgan jersey and
a Christian Press jersey just as much as he wanted
(02:48):
to Messi and Mbappe and Griesman jerseys, I was like,
this is a way to change culture, Like what a
different world. Of course, we know for girls it means
so much to have female athletes to look up to you,
but for boys to look up to women also, it's
really for everyone. It's for all genders.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I mean, this just started out as a kernel of
an idea and now you are breaking attendance records, Like
what was the spark that lit the fire that got
you to start Angel City?
Speaker 6 (03:14):
Well, Karen and I met at a times up event.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Times Up.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
If you don't know already, which you probably do. Was
it a group of women in various industries working towards
women's equity in the workplace. And Kara had started the
kind of VC version of that called All Rays, and
we met through that, and then we met some of
the female players from the US national team and heard.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Their fight for pay equity.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
It really helped us understand that soccer was an incredible
opportunity to use something joyful to spread equity. Karen and
I started talking about what would it look like if
we brought a team to LA and then Karen brought Julian,
who they had known each other forever and she has
been leading us since. So it's been a really group,
(04:08):
incredible group effort.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Kerr, you're a venture capitalist, and so you've spent years
trying to make tech companies profitable. Like, what is the
plan to turn Angel City into the next Unicorn?
Speaker 7 (04:19):
Yeah, well, I think we should get rid of that
word unicorn at this point.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
All Right, it's gottenable business.
Speaker 7 (04:25):
That can keep breaking through glass ceilings and all ceilings.
It's a unique opportunity in women's sports to do that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
But I think the interesting thing about sports.
Speaker 7 (04:35):
Relative to tech, we talk about product market fit a
lot in tech, which means you're actually trying to build
to a new consumer and user behavior that may not
exist in sports. We're literally trying to put butts in seats,
and so once you put the butts in the seats,
every other revenue stream flows from that right. And there's
incredibly valuable rights, media rights, merchandising rights, gaming rights, all
(05:00):
of these different rights that flow from putting the butts
in the seats and people being able to follow it.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
So I think the really interesting about the thing about women's.
Speaker 7 (05:07):
Sports and Angel City is specifically, is that you can
get into the tens of millions of dollars of revenue.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Even before media revenue.
Speaker 7 (05:14):
And so we have a plan to be the first
hundred million dollar revenue business in women's sports, and I think
we're constantly sort of trying to figure out how to
do the core things put butts in seats, really bring
in mission aligned sponsors while building to new revenue streams
that may be even more innovative than the men's side.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Yeah, well that's the boy, right.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
You've got this ownership group filled with all of these
powerful collaborators.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Mostly women.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
What kind of energy do they bring to the table
like different than a traditional Maile owner.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
It's incredibly different. It's a majority female ownership group. And
we all came together because we wanted to drive to equity. Truly,
we had a larger purpose of building Angel City, which
is true equity, and for players, that's pay equity, but
it's viewership equity, it's media attention, it's butts and seats,
and so we realized the self using our platform and
our voice to draw attention to something bigger. And then
(06:04):
the vehicle that you come together is something joyful and
fun and competitive, which is women's soccer, and in this case,
women professional soccer players in the US are the best
in the world.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
It is an incredible product.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
On the pitch.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
So when you participate with Angel City, when you join us,
not only you driving equity, but you're also celebrating these
incredible athletes and giving them an experience they deserve they
haven't had before.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
Do you feel the culture changing.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I mean, it takes generations to build serious fandom and
you've done it in like a few years.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Oh.
Speaker 7 (06:33):
I mean, that's the thing about this It's so special
and you'll fill it tonight.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
The electricity. It's like these joyful movements where if.
Speaker 7 (06:39):
You look in the stadium tonight, it represents Los Angeles.
It's you know, it's pretty equally male, female, black, white, brown, gay, straight.
It's it's like it is La And so again, it's
one of those things where I always talk about sports,
it's socially acceptable tribalism and like the highs and the lows.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
But you sit next like you have a Democrat and Republicans.
Speaker 7 (07:01):
Sitting next to each other may not even realize it,
and they're hugging each other. It has I think for
me personally as someone who's kind of been passionate about
gender equity, I think, as we.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
All have our whole lives, this it's a.
Speaker 7 (07:12):
Place where diversity in the investment group, in the c suite,
in the coaching staff is driving outcomes, it's driving enterprise value.
People are showing up to women's sports, women's soccer, but
many women's sports as much out of joy and even
greed as they are, like it's as much carrot as
(07:34):
it is stick. And I really firmly believe that Joyful
Movements is a much faster way to prove the DEI
case than anything else, and it's seeing them hand in
hand as making change.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You've got Kristin Kress, who, of course is a huge
soccer star. You've talked about Alyssa Thompson, the high schooler tech.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
People love data. Sports people love data.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Julie, how are you building the team to set it
up for success using those building plots?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah, I mean we want to build a winning team,
so to find the best players in each position, but
we also care about building a diverse team, about building
a team that's relatable, that's reflective of our community, that
are los angeless, so you can come see your favorite
player that may have played at your high school or
played at your college.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
That's important to us.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Because it's about building community in.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
A sense of belonging.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
And so we think about the international star, the US star,
the high school star. How can we build a team
where you can ultimately see yourself.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
And want to be a fan of the bigger ambition
here is about changing the economics of women's sports right.
More broadly, Natalie, how is Angel City trying to drive
value back to players, back to the community.
Speaker 6 (08:36):
I think we're one of the first teams to have
a percentage of Jersey sales go back to the players.
Percentage of all of the sponsorships go back into the community.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So it's been an.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
Incredible, incredible way that we can give back a little
bit to the community that gives us so much. Like
the community has brought such incredible energy to this game
that it's really like the best feeling that we can
give back.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
Can you believe that?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Like this?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know, what was it three years ago this started
and now you're here today? I mean, how does that
feeling like sink in?
Speaker 5 (09:10):
It's a while to sink in.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I mean, it's been a movement, right every single day
we've been building and adding to what it is we're doing,
and we've been doing it with the community, and so
every day the fandom and the audience and the sport
has grown, and I think it's really propelled us to
where we are today because we care just amount of
We care just as much about the product on the
pitch as the impact we make in our community, and
we lead with our values, which is what springs us
(09:34):
all together.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
The game has been changing slowly, I mean, huge milestone
obviously the pay equity settlement between the women to men's
national team. Does it feel like the game is changing
or is there just so much more.
Speaker 7 (09:45):
I mean it does because you know, I had a
chance to be at the sold out Euro Finals at
Wembley and we were all there again at a soldout
Wembley for.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
The US England game.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
But you're also seeing sold out stadiums in news for
the Black Ferns, you know, kind of media records, revenue
records being broken.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
For the first year ever.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
In Premier League women's cricket in India, twenty five thousand
fans show up to watch the fourth Division Newcastle team,
the first time the women play in the men's stadium.
So I think the thing that's very cool, you know,
It's just it's this moment in time where when you.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Show people it's possible, more people try.
Speaker 7 (10:24):
And it is like it is the thing I always
I do joke around that.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
It took now I should.
Speaker 7 (10:28):
Say, the female, who are you talking about? I always
have a growth mindset, but it literally took Natalie saying
why don't we bring a team to LA And initially
I was like that sounds really hard, and she said
do you know how to do these things?
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Like I yeah, but you need X, Y and Z,
you need a stadium, you need you know, investors, you
need a president. You need all of these different things.
Speaker 7 (10:53):
And but what the reason I think it's changing so
quickly now is because the world.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Has wanted it for a very long time. And you know,
I think we hit the market in the right way.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
And there's continuing to be examples set as to why
it's possibilities and all the different ways it can show
up in different cities and countries, and.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
So more and more people will put real.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
Money in and will attempt to do things that they
thought were impossible.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Three or four years ago.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Julian aspiration, I know is to be a global brand. Yes,
what are the other building blocks that you need? Like
what else needs to happen? Being a global brand allows
everything else to happen. If you're a global brand, you
draw the most attention and awareness. Then I can capture
that fan base and try to convert them into Angel
City fans, get them to pay for merch, get them to.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Come to games.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
When someone comes to a game, one percent of our
gate receipts goes back to our players. When a sponsor
wants to align with us because we have the largest
audience and we're value aligned, ten percent of their sponsorship
dollars goes back into the community through our equity essentials
and education platform. So the larger I get and the
more exposure and I can bring them into the Angel
City family, the more impact I can have for my
(11:56):
players and our community.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
The circuit continues after this quick break.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Natalie, I've heard you talk about Times Up and how
until Times Up there was this sense of women always
competing against each other, but you learned how to compete
as a team as a team of women.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Has Angel City helped drive that point home? Like watching
these women compete as a team.
Speaker 6 (12:16):
Absolutely, I mean the model of having a team where
every woman's goal is the whole team's goal. That reflects
into what we strive for as women working together, and
it absolutely it's like the perfect model for girls and
women to learn from. To see all these women like
jumping on top of each other when one of them scores,
(12:38):
you know, and it's how we all try to support
each other too.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Carrie, you're launching this new thing, monarch Collective. I believe
it's called where you're trying to help elevate women's sports
and give people more investing power.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
Can you explain.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, So it's going to be a dedicated pool of
capital to invest in women's sports teams, leagues.
Speaker 7 (12:57):
And very specific rights based adjacency. We think it'll be
the first of its kind that's exclusively focused on women,
but hopefully there will be many more that we collaborate
with and help put in business and work alongside you know,
the Men's Funds, which is if you bring the right
kind of coalitions into the investment group that represent that
community and represent different skill sets, and you bring over
(13:19):
playbooks from teams that are working in women's and men's sports,
we you know, we can hopefully drive more outcomes more
quickly across women's teams in leagues. So I have a
terrific partner named Jason Robinson, and we're just getting going.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's been five years since Time's Up, five years since
pro Topia, you know where we talk about.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Thees bro Topia jure.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I mean, we're talking about all this progress, But do
you ever feel like we've we've lost some of the progress,
or that sometimes things are moving backwards.
Speaker 7 (13:50):
I think that our path is never going to be linear,
and I think for us to think that everything's going
to be perfect and kumbaya all the way through is
not paying on interested in the fact that everything everything
good in life is hard, and that I think, honestly,
one of the most important things I've learned through all
the gender equity work and through Angel City is we
(14:10):
all also have to be able to make mistakes, be different,
hit setbacks, and not feel shame or badly about it.
We just do our best work, try to learn from
it and get better and truly get the chill sing
this But like today, it feels different even than last year,
because these women are like my sisters now. And I
(14:30):
feel like that with so many of the women that
I've had a chance to work with over the last
five years, but with these two specifically, it's just like,
you know, you have each other's back, so you let
each other, you know, sometimes take three steps forward, even
if it means you take one or two steps back,
And I think that is the way to progress.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Women need to not expect ourselves to be perfect.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
How would you answer that question?
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Obviously at Hollywood, is it ever a few steps forward
and a few steps back?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Yeah? I think that there we're a lot of great
strides made, and of course then there's also, you know,
always things that are happening in the world. There's different
challenges that women are facing everywhere and will continue to
face unfortunately for a long time. But that's what makes
all of this like even more meaningful because the whole
(15:21):
goal is to uplift these women and value them the
way they deserve to be valued. And like they've been saying,
it's like everyone knows how valuable they are. Everyone is
a huge fan already. It's just creating the access to
get to watch them in action.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
That is what we're we have to improve. What's our
responsibility as parents?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
And honestly, I'm feeling this now based on the things
I've heard all of you say, like I want my
sons to wear Kristin Press jerseys and Melissa Thompson. You know,
what can we do as parents to help accelerate the
culture change that we want to see?
Speaker 6 (15:56):
That's a great question. I mean, the easiest way is
to watch the games. You know, you can watch it
at at home or you know, come in person if
you have the ability to come in in a city
where there's games, But just to watch the games, I
think is like that's why it's like it's very easy
and fun, you know, like it's not broccoli.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
The other thing is I mean I learned this from
Natalie and aby Wanbach and others. But even if you're
you know, you fancy yourself progressive and a gender equity activist,
we don't realize our own embedded sexism, misogyny, whatever it is.
And I think Natalie's story is really telling. I think
we all feel that way sometimes, even we just assume
our kids are going to have certain preferences, and they don't.
(16:38):
It's like they are growing up in a completely different
reality than we are. And my favorite emails and texts
afterwards are the ones I get which say, my fifteen
year old son does not want to.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Miss an Angel City game.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
And so the power of growing up as a girl
today thinking you could be president or a professional athlete,
there's power in that, but there's just as much power
in and like the men of tomorrow, seeing women in
their power, sweating and loving it. And so I think
those two things, just showing up as parents and letting
them fall in love in their own way.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
With sports, there's more teams coming to the US, and
we've also actually seen the women's club game in Europe
kind of take off. How are you watching what's happening
in Europe? And how does it compare to what's happening
in the United States.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I mean, the growth in women's football is everywhere. I mean,
you see it when Chelsea plays Arsenal, you see when
Barcelona plays at Camp No, you see at the Euro Finals.
You're seeing it the FIFA World Cup this year, when
they changed the stadium to a stadium that was twice
as big because they already sold out the tickets. The
reality is people want to watch women's sports, they want
to invest in women's sports, they want to support women's sports.
We just have to make it easier and the world
(17:44):
tests to start telling the story like you're doing today,
because it's not an anomaly that we have a sold.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Out crowd today.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
We're gonna have twelve games and we're gonna have twelve
sold out games. That's because we're making sure people know
that we exist. The more people can tell the story,
the easier it is for people to.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Become a fan.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
The league has rappled with allegations of sexual assaults and harassment,
and I know a number of coaches have resigned or left.
Do you feel like that's fully behind the league or
is there still work?
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Yeah, I mean I would say it is behind the League,
which is to say, we've addressed the past and we're
putting in rules, in policies and procedures to make sure
that we have a safe and secure environment for a players,
an opportunity to voice any concerns in the training of
our staff and coaches, to create an environment where our
players can.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
Actually be the best they can be.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
It would be my naive to say that it's over
and nothing will ever happen again, but we are working
hard to create the safest and.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Best environment for our players.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So when you look across the landscape, where do you
see other places to elevate women and women leaders in
the game.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
That'll trickle all the way down to the youth level.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I think about like me as a mom, my kids
play soccer like I want them to experience this beautiful
world that we are all driving towards, that you are
driving us towards.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
Where do you see the gaps? And what else needs to.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
Change first and foremost is just the distribution of the
actually being able to watch the games and then the
storytelling around it.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
And so last year, if you wanted to watch all
the Angel City games, you had to subscribe I think
to four or five different streaming services, one of which
was only in Spanish. You have to work hard to
be a say and you say, there are no lazy
female sports fans. They don't exist, So we aspire for
lazy fans, you.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Know, like that would be great. But I think the second.
Speaker 7 (19:28):
Part of is really important. It is the storytelling. You know,
women are natural storytellers. If you look at the social
media following even of the players in the final four
of the NCAAAA tournament men's and women's, you'll see the
women's players tend to have a lot more followers than
the men's players. So I think high quality content that
makes us feel connected to the story of these players'
lives is really important. And then I think the final
(19:50):
thing is we're at their earliest phases. I mean, if
you look at women's soccer, basketball, volleyball, you know, many
sports and other countries too.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I'll just take women's.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
Soccer because it's the one we're talking about today. We have,
you know, twelve teams, going to a few more.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
In most mature men's.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
Leagues you have thirty to thirty six teams, and so
getting teams in cities so you guys can show up
in your hometown with your sons, and so it is
a little bit like the NFL or NBA probably in
the eighties or nineties, and so more places you can
touch and feel it in the real world and digitally
we'll just naturally take on its own life.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah, have you traded in notes with any of the
other ownership groups, like a chance? Are they calling you
and saying like, how can I do this?
Speaker 4 (20:34):
No?
Speaker 7 (20:34):
This is one thing about where that comes up all
the time that I love to talk about because I
didn't know this didn't happen, is that.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
It's just super collaborative across the board.
Speaker 7 (20:42):
On the business side of that, I was just in
Salt Lake City for the announcement of the Salt Lake
women's team and they're like, Tu, he's.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Been so amazing and helping the next Meazy Natalie's been
so amazing.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
So I think all three of us always say.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Call us up, will help.
Speaker 7 (20:55):
However, we can move playbooks over share our models, and
I mean, I think think it's like it's almost like
the open source movement. I think of it as like
open sourcing what works, because you're going to see such
cool innovation in different ways in Kansas versus North Carolina
versus Louisville and wherever else.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, So Natalie is the dream our little boys and
girls looking at Kristin Press or Sidney LaRue or Alyssa
Thompson and saying like, that's my mafe, that's my messy.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
I mean, I think there's a lot of kids already
who are looking at Kristin Press and Lissa Thompson and
all of our players as their heroes, and it is
just more about then getting value to those heroes, because
that's the thing is that the demand is already there.
It just needs, like we need to be able to
supply it to people.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Easily in their living rooms.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
You know, I think those players are already high up
in all this kid's eyes.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Yeah, we've got them momentum from the men's World Cup,
but let's be honest, the women have won. The US
women have won two World Cups in a row. When
it comes to that level of the game, when are
women going to get the recognition that they deserve?
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Well, I hope it's the year they fought hard and
won a lawsuit against US Soccer for equal pay, FIFA
saying the All Egal prize money by twenty twenty seven
and I think this is just another opportunity to show
the world how incredible they are and how deserving they
are of equality.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
It was a two hundred billion dollar event, the Men's
World Cup. I mean, I believe that's the one of
the biggest in history. I mean, come on, listen.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
A billion people watched the last Women's World Cup.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
A billion. I mean, that's just amazing. None of us
would be sitting here if it wasn't for the Women's
World Cup.
Speaker 7 (22:37):
It was a twenty fifteen World Cup that started my
journey to Angel City. Natalie and I really built a
friendship i'd say around the twenty nineteen World Cup, and
that was a huge part of what allowed us to
come together.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And joint purpose to realize we definitely needed to find
this woman and listen.
Speaker 7 (22:54):
Like I would say, I think the more we can
just push out data and sort of separate out data
of people are watching.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
How much revenue is generated, how much was put in.
Speaker 7 (23:04):
You know, of course we want things to be completely
equal overnight, but I think if we can just have
transparency around the data and just keep leaning in and
getting better and better, I mean, soccer and sports like
it does lift the world up. I mean, there's a
reason why Nelson Mandela is up there talking about sports
when he's you know, unifying South Africa. It is this
joyful way of bringing equity and making change in the world.
(23:29):
And so I think we're both impatient but also patient.
So my call would be just more and more transparency
around how much is going in and coming out, and
hopefully we're there pretty fast.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I know, obviously the team is getting chosen right in
the way this is kind of like auditions. Does that
add an extra layer of excitement or nerves?
Speaker 4 (23:48):
I think it's competition and it's good competition, right. You
want to perform well for your team so that your
national team coach will recognize you and call you up.
And we have players on the Canadian team and the
Jamaican team, and the Japanese team and the sky we'd
really like to get someone on the US women's national team.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
So it starts today for the.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Twenty twenty three World Cup. Several Angel City players were
chosen to play in the tournament, including two for the
US team, But despite their big splash, Angel City struggled
to put up a winning record out of the gate,
and the team fired its first head coach, though there
are challenges on the field ahead. Few would have bet
they'd come this far this fast.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So you're trying to build a soccer slash football club
for the future. What doesn't it look like let's say
five ten years from now that's changed.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yeah, I mean well, Angel City has sold out games
every time we played. But more importantly, the other twelve
and fourteen teams in the league are also seeing sold
out products. Yeah, that they are investing in their players,
investing in their community, building a product that people want
to go see, and the excitement the tension around women's
football is national.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Circuit.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
I'm Emily Chang.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Emily
Chang TV. You can watch new episodes of the Circuit
on Bloomberg Television or on demand by downloading the Bloomberg
app to your smart TV and check out our other
Bloomberg podcasts on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartMedia app, or wherever
you listen to shows and let us know what you
think by leaving us a review. I'm your host and
(25:16):
executive producer. Our senior producer is Lauren Ellis. Our Associate
producer is Lizzie phillip Our editor is Sebastian Escobar. Thanks
so much for listening.
Why does Natalie get the best stuff I had? Natalie,
I know that I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Karen Nortman, I'm Emily Chang, and this is the Circuit.
They're the buzziest women's pro soccer team in the US,
and they're betting that this is the next billion dollar
sports opportunity. On this episode of The Circuit, I sit
down with the founders of Angel CITYFC, venture capitalist Karen Nortman,
(00:26):
entrepreneur Julie Erman, and actress Natalie Portman. In just their
second season, the team is selling out stadiums, boosting the
profile of the National Women's Soccer League, and changing sports culture.
They've hired star players, several of whom will be playing
in the twenty twenty three Women's World Cup. In their
first ever joint interview, we talk about Angel cityfc's mission
(00:48):
to transform the economics of women's sports and build a
new era of soccer fandom. I also learned the signature
angel City FC chant what great. Here's my conversation with
Angel City FC co founders Karen Norman, Julie Erman, and
Natalie Portman.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Do you get nervous before every game?
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Oh? God, yes, game before an interview? Now the game,
I walk around with the trash backs.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Yeah, like Julie, we've prepared as much as we can.
I'm like that doesn't comfort me, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah, yeah, yeah No.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I was wondering, like how much does winning really matter?
Speaker 4 (01:26):
It matters, It matters, It makes anything easier, and like
it's like your kids, right, you want them to perform,
You want them to win because it's you just you
want it for them, You want it for the fans
like you want it right, right, So it's it's a lot.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
I don't think we've ever done this.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
Have you not?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, let's let's be exciting. What's gonna happen. We're all
pretty good at talking.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
We're gonna take turns.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I've never done this, all three of us.
Speaker 7 (01:53):
I mean, we've been together in lots of places we
have not done like a formal interview like this opening day.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
How does it feel? How is the team gelling? Looking
to you?
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Do you mean the teama looks incredible?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
We made some amazing additions in the off season, including
Alyssa Thompson, who's our homegrown.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Hero high school student from Harvard.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Westlake graduating this year. But we have a souldout crowd
tonight for a home opener, and we couldn't be more excited.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Natalie, I've heard you tell this beautiful story, like wasn't
it your son that got you hooked and also made
you realize that maybe we could change how we view
women's sports.
Speaker 6 (02:28):
We were watching the Women's World Cup and I saw
my son, who was I think seven at the time,
idolizing the female players in the same way that he
idolized the male players. And when I saw him, you know,
wanting a Rappino jersey and an Alex Morgan jersey and
a Christian Press jersey just as much as he wanted
(02:48):
to Messi and Mbappe and Griesman jerseys, I was like,
this is a way to change culture, Like what a
different world. Of course, we know for girls it means
so much to have female athletes to look up to you,
but for boys to look up to women also, it's
really for everyone. It's for all genders.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I mean, this just started out as a kernel of
an idea and now you are breaking attendance records, Like
what was the spark that lit the fire that got
you to start Angel City?
Speaker 6 (03:14):
Well, Karen and I met at a times up event.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Times Up.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
If you don't know already, which you probably do. Was
it a group of women in various industries working towards
women's equity in the workplace. And Kara had started the
kind of VC version of that called All Rays, and
we met through that, and then we met some of
the female players from the US national team and heard.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Their fight for pay equity.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
It really helped us understand that soccer was an incredible
opportunity to use something joyful to spread equity. Karen and
I started talking about what would it look like if
we brought a team to LA and then Karen brought Julian,
who they had known each other forever and she has
been leading us since. So it's been a really group,
(04:08):
incredible group effort.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Kerr, you're a venture capitalist, and so you've spent years
trying to make tech companies profitable. Like, what is the
plan to turn Angel City into the next Unicorn?
Speaker 7 (04:19):
Yeah, well, I think we should get rid of that
word unicorn at this point.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
All Right, it's gottenable business.
Speaker 7 (04:25):
That can keep breaking through glass ceilings and all ceilings.
It's a unique opportunity in women's sports to do that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
But I think the interesting thing about sports.
Speaker 7 (04:35):
Relative to tech, we talk about product market fit a
lot in tech, which means you're actually trying to build
to a new consumer and user behavior that may not
exist in sports. We're literally trying to put butts in seats,
and so once you put the butts in the seats,
every other revenue stream flows from that right. And there's
incredibly valuable rights, media rights, merchandising rights, gaming rights, all
(05:00):
of these different rights that flow from putting the butts
in the seats and people being able to follow it.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
So I think the really interesting about the thing about women's.
Speaker 7 (05:07):
Sports and Angel City is specifically, is that you can
get into the tens of millions of dollars of revenue.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Even before media revenue.
Speaker 7 (05:14):
And so we have a plan to be the first
hundred million dollar revenue business in women's sports, and I think
we're constantly sort of trying to figure out how to
do the core things put butts in seats, really bring
in mission aligned sponsors while building to new revenue streams
that may be even more innovative than the men's side.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Yeah, well that's the boy, right.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
You've got this ownership group filled with all of these
powerful collaborators.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Mostly women.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
What kind of energy do they bring to the table
like different than a traditional Maile owner.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
It's incredibly different. It's a majority female ownership group. And
we all came together because we wanted to drive to equity. Truly,
we had a larger purpose of building Angel City, which
is true equity, and for players, that's pay equity, but
it's viewership equity, it's media attention, it's butts and seats,
and so we realized the self using our platform and
our voice to draw attention to something bigger. And then
(06:04):
the vehicle that you come together is something joyful and
fun and competitive, which is women's soccer, and in this case,
women professional soccer players in the US are the best
in the world.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
It is an incredible product.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
On the pitch.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
So when you participate with Angel City, when you join us,
not only you driving equity, but you're also celebrating these
incredible athletes and giving them an experience they deserve they
haven't had before.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
Do you feel the culture changing.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I mean, it takes generations to build serious fandom and
you've done it in like a few years.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Oh.
Speaker 7 (06:33):
I mean, that's the thing about this It's so special
and you'll fill it tonight.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
The electricity. It's like these joyful movements where if.
Speaker 7 (06:39):
You look in the stadium tonight, it represents Los Angeles.
It's you know, it's pretty equally male, female, black, white, brown, gay, straight.
It's it's like it is La And so again, it's
one of those things where I always talk about sports,
it's socially acceptable tribalism and like the highs and the lows.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
But you sit next like you have a Democrat and Republicans.
Speaker 7 (07:01):
Sitting next to each other may not even realize it,
and they're hugging each other. It has I think for
me personally as someone who's kind of been passionate about
gender equity, I think, as we.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
All have our whole lives, this it's a.
Speaker 7 (07:12):
Place where diversity in the investment group, in the c suite,
in the coaching staff is driving outcomes, it's driving enterprise value.
People are showing up to women's sports, women's soccer, but
many women's sports as much out of joy and even
greed as they are, like it's as much carrot as
(07:34):
it is stick. And I really firmly believe that Joyful
Movements is a much faster way to prove the DEI
case than anything else, and it's seeing them hand in
hand as making change.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You've got Kristin Kress, who, of course is a huge
soccer star. You've talked about Alyssa Thompson, the high schooler tech.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
People love data. Sports people love data.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Julie, how are you building the team to set it
up for success using those building plots?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah, I mean we want to build a winning team,
so to find the best players in each position, but
we also care about building a diverse team, about building
a team that's relatable, that's reflective of our community, that
are los angeless, so you can come see your favorite
player that may have played at your high school or
played at your college.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
That's important to us.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Because it's about building community in.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
A sense of belonging.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
And so we think about the international star, the US star,
the high school star. How can we build a team
where you can ultimately see yourself.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
And want to be a fan of the bigger ambition
here is about changing the economics of women's sports right.
More broadly, Natalie, how is Angel City trying to drive
value back to players, back to the community.
Speaker 6 (08:36):
I think we're one of the first teams to have
a percentage of Jersey sales go back to the players.
Percentage of all of the sponsorships go back into the community.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So it's been an.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
Incredible, incredible way that we can give back a little
bit to the community that gives us so much. Like
the community has brought such incredible energy to this game
that it's really like the best feeling that we can
give back.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
Can you believe that?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Like this?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know, what was it three years ago this started
and now you're here today? I mean, how does that
feeling like sink in?
Speaker 5 (09:10):
It's a while to sink in.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I mean, it's been a movement, right every single day
we've been building and adding to what it is we're doing,
and we've been doing it with the community, and so
every day the fandom and the audience and the sport
has grown, and I think it's really propelled us to
where we are today because we care just amount of
We care just as much about the product on the
pitch as the impact we make in our community, and
we lead with our values, which is what springs us
(09:34):
all together.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
The game has been changing slowly, I mean, huge milestone
obviously the pay equity settlement between the women to men's
national team. Does it feel like the game is changing
or is there just so much more.
Speaker 7 (09:45):
I mean it does because you know, I had a
chance to be at the sold out Euro Finals at
Wembley and we were all there again at a soldout
Wembley for.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
The US England game.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
But you're also seeing sold out stadiums in news for
the Black Ferns, you know, kind of media records, revenue
records being broken.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
For the first year ever.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
In Premier League women's cricket in India, twenty five thousand
fans show up to watch the fourth Division Newcastle team,
the first time the women play in the men's stadium.
So I think the thing that's very cool, you know,
It's just it's this moment in time where when you.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Show people it's possible, more people try.
Speaker 7 (10:24):
And it is like it is the thing I always
I do joke around that.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
It took now I should.
Speaker 7 (10:28):
Say, the female, who are you talking about? I always
have a growth mindset, but it literally took Natalie saying
why don't we bring a team to LA And initially
I was like that sounds really hard, and she said
do you know how to do these things?
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Like I yeah, but you need X, Y and Z,
you need a stadium, you need you know, investors, you
need a president. You need all of these different things.
Speaker 7 (10:53):
And but what the reason I think it's changing so
quickly now is because the world.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Has wanted it for a very long time. And you know,
I think we hit the market in the right way.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
And there's continuing to be examples set as to why
it's possibilities and all the different ways it can show
up in different cities and countries, and.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
So more and more people will put real.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
Money in and will attempt to do things that they
thought were impossible.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Three or four years ago.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Julian aspiration, I know is to be a global brand. Yes,
what are the other building blocks that you need? Like
what else needs to happen? Being a global brand allows
everything else to happen. If you're a global brand, you
draw the most attention and awareness. Then I can capture
that fan base and try to convert them into Angel
City fans, get them to pay for merch, get them to.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Come to games.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
When someone comes to a game, one percent of our
gate receipts goes back to our players. When a sponsor
wants to align with us because we have the largest
audience and we're value aligned, ten percent of their sponsorship
dollars goes back into the community through our equity essentials
and education platform. So the larger I get and the
more exposure and I can bring them into the Angel
City family, the more impact I can have for my
(11:56):
players and our community.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
The circuit continues after this quick break.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Natalie, I've heard you talk about Times Up and how
until Times Up there was this sense of women always
competing against each other, but you learned how to compete
as a team as a team of women.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Has Angel City helped drive that point home? Like watching
these women compete as a team.
Speaker 6 (12:16):
Absolutely, I mean the model of having a team where
every woman's goal is the whole team's goal. That reflects
into what we strive for as women working together, and
it absolutely it's like the perfect model for girls and
women to learn from. To see all these women like
jumping on top of each other when one of them scores,
(12:38):
you know, and it's how we all try to support
each other too.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Carrie, you're launching this new thing, monarch Collective. I believe
it's called where you're trying to help elevate women's sports
and give people more investing power.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
Can you explain.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, So it's going to be a dedicated pool of
capital to invest in women's sports teams, leagues.
Speaker 7 (12:57):
And very specific rights based adjacency. We think it'll be
the first of its kind that's exclusively focused on women,
but hopefully there will be many more that we collaborate
with and help put in business and work alongside you know,
the Men's Funds, which is if you bring the right
kind of coalitions into the investment group that represent that
community and represent different skill sets, and you bring over
(13:19):
playbooks from teams that are working in women's and men's sports,
we you know, we can hopefully drive more outcomes more
quickly across women's teams in leagues. So I have a
terrific partner named Jason Robinson, and we're just getting going.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's been five years since Time's Up, five years since
pro Topia, you know where we talk about.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Thees bro Topia jure.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I mean, we're talking about all this progress, But do
you ever feel like we've we've lost some of the progress,
or that sometimes things are moving backwards.
Speaker 7 (13:50):
I think that our path is never going to be linear,
and I think for us to think that everything's going
to be perfect and kumbaya all the way through is
not paying on interested in the fact that everything everything
good in life is hard, and that I think, honestly,
one of the most important things I've learned through all
the gender equity work and through Angel City is we
(14:10):
all also have to be able to make mistakes, be different,
hit setbacks, and not feel shame or badly about it.
We just do our best work, try to learn from
it and get better and truly get the chill sing
this But like today, it feels different even than last year,
because these women are like my sisters now. And I
(14:30):
feel like that with so many of the women that
I've had a chance to work with over the last
five years, but with these two specifically, it's just like,
you know, you have each other's back, so you let
each other, you know, sometimes take three steps forward, even
if it means you take one or two steps back,
And I think that is the way to progress.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Women need to not expect ourselves to be perfect.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
How would you answer that question?
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Obviously at Hollywood, is it ever a few steps forward
and a few steps back?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Yeah? I think that there we're a lot of great
strides made, and of course then there's also, you know,
always things that are happening in the world. There's different
challenges that women are facing everywhere and will continue to
face unfortunately for a long time. But that's what makes
all of this like even more meaningful because the whole
(15:21):
goal is to uplift these women and value them the
way they deserve to be valued. And like they've been saying,
it's like everyone knows how valuable they are. Everyone is
a huge fan already. It's just creating the access to
get to watch them in action.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
That is what we're we have to improve. What's our
responsibility as parents?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
And honestly, I'm feeling this now based on the things
I've heard all of you say, like I want my
sons to wear Kristin Press jerseys and Melissa Thompson. You know,
what can we do as parents to help accelerate the
culture change that we want to see?
Speaker 6 (15:56):
That's a great question. I mean, the easiest way is
to watch the games. You know, you can watch it
at at home or you know, come in person if
you have the ability to come in in a city
where there's games, But just to watch the games, I
think is like that's why it's like it's very easy
and fun, you know, like it's not broccoli.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
The other thing is I mean I learned this from
Natalie and aby Wanbach and others. But even if you're
you know, you fancy yourself progressive and a gender equity activist,
we don't realize our own embedded sexism, misogyny, whatever it is.
And I think Natalie's story is really telling. I think
we all feel that way sometimes, even we just assume
our kids are going to have certain preferences, and they don't.
(16:38):
It's like they are growing up in a completely different
reality than we are. And my favorite emails and texts
afterwards are the ones I get which say, my fifteen
year old son does not want to.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Miss an Angel City game.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
And so the power of growing up as a girl
today thinking you could be president or a professional athlete,
there's power in that, but there's just as much power
in and like the men of tomorrow, seeing women in
their power, sweating and loving it. And so I think
those two things, just showing up as parents and letting
them fall in love in their own way.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
With sports, there's more teams coming to the US, and
we've also actually seen the women's club game in Europe
kind of take off. How are you watching what's happening
in Europe? And how does it compare to what's happening
in the United States.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I mean, the growth in women's football is everywhere. I mean,
you see it when Chelsea plays Arsenal, you see when
Barcelona plays at Camp No, you see at the Euro Finals.
You're seeing it the FIFA World Cup this year, when
they changed the stadium to a stadium that was twice
as big because they already sold out the tickets. The
reality is people want to watch women's sports, they want
to invest in women's sports, they want to support women's sports.
We just have to make it easier and the world
(17:44):
tests to start telling the story like you're doing today,
because it's not an anomaly that we have a sold.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Out crowd today.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
We're gonna have twelve games and we're gonna have twelve
sold out games. That's because we're making sure people know
that we exist. The more people can tell the story,
the easier it is for people to.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Become a fan.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
The league has rappled with allegations of sexual assaults and harassment,
and I know a number of coaches have resigned or left.
Do you feel like that's fully behind the league or
is there still work?
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Yeah, I mean I would say it is behind the League,
which is to say, we've addressed the past and we're
putting in rules, in policies and procedures to make sure
that we have a safe and secure environment for a players,
an opportunity to voice any concerns in the training of
our staff and coaches, to create an environment where our
players can.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
Actually be the best they can be.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
It would be my naive to say that it's over
and nothing will ever happen again, but we are working
hard to create the safest and.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Best environment for our players.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So when you look across the landscape, where do you
see other places to elevate women and women leaders in
the game.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
That'll trickle all the way down to the youth level.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I think about like me as a mom, my kids
play soccer like I want them to experience this beautiful
world that we are all driving towards, that you are
driving us towards.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
Where do you see the gaps? And what else needs to.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
Change first and foremost is just the distribution of the
actually being able to watch the games and then the
storytelling around it.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
And so last year, if you wanted to watch all
the Angel City games, you had to subscribe I think
to four or five different streaming services, one of which
was only in Spanish. You have to work hard to
be a say and you say, there are no lazy
female sports fans. They don't exist, So we aspire for
lazy fans, you.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Know, like that would be great. But I think the second.
Speaker 7 (19:28):
Part of is really important. It is the storytelling. You know,
women are natural storytellers. If you look at the social
media following even of the players in the final four
of the NCAAAA tournament men's and women's, you'll see the
women's players tend to have a lot more followers than
the men's players. So I think high quality content that
makes us feel connected to the story of these players'
lives is really important. And then I think the final
(19:50):
thing is we're at their earliest phases. I mean, if
you look at women's soccer, basketball, volleyball, you know, many
sports and other countries too.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I'll just take women's.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
Soccer because it's the one we're talking about today. We have,
you know, twelve teams, going to a few more.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
In most mature men's.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
Leagues you have thirty to thirty six teams, and so
getting teams in cities so you guys can show up
in your hometown with your sons, and so it is
a little bit like the NFL or NBA probably in
the eighties or nineties, and so more places you can
touch and feel it in the real world and digitally
we'll just naturally take on its own life.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Yeah, have you traded in notes with any of the
other ownership groups, like a chance? Are they calling you
and saying like, how can I do this?
Speaker 4 (20:34):
No?
Speaker 7 (20:34):
This is one thing about where that comes up all
the time that I love to talk about because I
didn't know this didn't happen, is that.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
It's just super collaborative across the board.
Speaker 7 (20:42):
On the business side of that, I was just in
Salt Lake City for the announcement of the Salt Lake
women's team and they're like, Tu, he's.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Been so amazing and helping the next Meazy Natalie's been
so amazing.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
So I think all three of us always say.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Call us up, will help.
Speaker 7 (20:55):
However, we can move playbooks over share our models, and
I mean, I think think it's like it's almost like
the open source movement. I think of it as like
open sourcing what works, because you're going to see such
cool innovation in different ways in Kansas versus North Carolina
versus Louisville and wherever else.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, So Natalie is the dream our little boys and
girls looking at Kristin Press or Sidney LaRue or Alyssa
Thompson and saying like, that's my mafe, that's my messy.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
I mean, I think there's a lot of kids already
who are looking at Kristin Press and Lissa Thompson and
all of our players as their heroes, and it is
just more about then getting value to those heroes, because
that's the thing is that the demand is already there.
It just needs, like we need to be able to
supply it to people.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Easily in their living rooms.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
You know, I think those players are already high up
in all this kid's eyes.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Yeah, we've got them momentum from the men's World Cup,
but let's be honest, the women have won. The US
women have won two World Cups in a row. When
it comes to that level of the game, when are
women going to get the recognition that they deserve?
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Well, I hope it's the year they fought hard and
won a lawsuit against US Soccer for equal pay, FIFA
saying the All Egal prize money by twenty twenty seven
and I think this is just another opportunity to show
the world how incredible they are and how deserving they
are of equality.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
It was a two hundred billion dollar event, the Men's
World Cup. I mean, I believe that's the one of
the biggest in history. I mean, come on, listen.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
A billion people watched the last Women's World Cup.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
A billion. I mean, that's just amazing. None of us
would be sitting here if it wasn't for the Women's
World Cup.
Speaker 7 (22:37):
It was a twenty fifteen World Cup that started my
journey to Angel City. Natalie and I really built a
friendship i'd say around the twenty nineteen World Cup, and
that was a huge part of what allowed us to
come together.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And joint purpose to realize we definitely needed to find
this woman and listen.
Speaker 7 (22:54):
Like I would say, I think the more we can
just push out data and sort of separate out data
of people are watching.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
How much revenue is generated, how much was put in.
Speaker 7 (23:04):
You know, of course we want things to be completely
equal overnight, but I think if we can just have
transparency around the data and just keep leaning in and
getting better and better, I mean, soccer and sports like
it does lift the world up. I mean, there's a
reason why Nelson Mandela is up there talking about sports
when he's you know, unifying South Africa. It is this
joyful way of bringing equity and making change in the world.
(23:29):
And so I think we're both impatient but also patient.
So my call would be just more and more transparency
around how much is going in and coming out, and
hopefully we're there pretty fast.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I know, obviously the team is getting chosen right in
the way this is kind of like auditions. Does that
add an extra layer of excitement or nerves?
Speaker 4 (23:48):
I think it's competition and it's good competition, right. You
want to perform well for your team so that your
national team coach will recognize you and call you up.
And we have players on the Canadian team and the
Jamaican team, and the Japanese team and the sky we'd
really like to get someone on the US women's national team.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
So it starts today for the.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Twenty twenty three World Cup. Several Angel City players were
chosen to play in the tournament, including two for the
US team, But despite their big splash, Angel City struggled
to put up a winning record out of the gate,
and the team fired its first head coach, though there
are challenges on the field ahead. Few would have bet
they'd come this far this fast.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So you're trying to build a soccer slash football club
for the future. What doesn't it look like let's say
five ten years from now that's changed.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yeah, I mean well, Angel City has sold out games
every time we played. But more importantly, the other twelve
and fourteen teams in the league are also seeing sold
out products. Yeah, that they are investing in their players,
investing in their community, building a product that people want
to go see, and the excitement the tension around women's
football is national.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Circuit.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
I'm Emily Chang.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Emily
Chang TV. You can watch new episodes of the Circuit
on Bloomberg Television or on demand by downloading the Bloomberg
app to your smart TV and check out our other
Bloomberg podcasts on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartMedia app, or wherever
you listen to shows and let us know what you
think by leaving us a review. I'm your host and
(25:16):
executive producer. Our senior producer is Lauren Ellis. Our Associate
producer is Lizzie phillip Our editor is Sebastian Escobar. Thanks
so much for listening.
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