Female investors join new Charlotte professional women's soccer team's ownership
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
(Left to right) front row: Kimberly Lewis, Robin Milo Mermans, Margot Brinley and Lucia Zapata Griffith. Second row: Andrea Smith, Maryann Bruce, Katie Morgan and Molly Shaw. Photo: Laura Stroud/courtesy of Carolina Ascent
A group of women investors called Empower HER Fund, LLC now owns 25% of Carolina Ascent, Charlotte's new professional women's soccer team.
Why it matters: Carolina Ascent will ultimately have majority female ownership, with Empower HER Fund as the principal owner.
Context: Carolina Ascent is one of eight clubs that will play in United Soccer League Super League, a new professional women's league kicking off this month. It's also the Charlotte's first top-tier professional women's soccer team.
- Jim McPhilliamy, founder of the Charlotte Independence, and retired Nucor CEO Dan DiMicco were approached by United Soccer League in 2022 about launching a professional women's team. The pair already has a relationship with the league because of the Independence, which plays in USL League One.
- The goal from the beginning was to have a women-controlled ownership group, but they didn't want to let the opportunity for landing a franchise to pass by, McPhilliamy tells Axios.
- McPhilliamy and his wife Kelly McPhilliamy own 35% of the team and DiMicco owns 40%, CBJ reported.
Empower HER Fund includes: Maryann Bruce, Andrea Smith, Margot Brinley, Elizabeth Fleming, Lucia Zapata Griffith, Kimberly Lewis, Robin Milo Mermans, Valerie Mitchener, Katie Morgan, Molly Shaw and Jordana Snider.
- The group includes business executives and community leaders. With the exception of Snider, who lives in South Carolina, everyone is based in the Charlotte area.
Zoom in: Bruce, a retired finance executive and current Amalgamated Bank board member, has thought about owning a professional sports team for about the last five years, she tells Axios.
- Serving as board of trustees chair for nonprofit Wrestle Like a Girl, she saw many of the owners and people involved in the sport are men.
- She said it reminded her of climbing the corporate ladder, because there weren't a lot of other women. Now it's time to climb the ladder in the ownership ranks.
- Bruce will be one of two team board representatives with the league.
Flashback: In 2023, Ascent leadership reached out to Bruce and Smith, Charlotte Regional Business Alliance interim CEO. The duo began recruiting other investors last December.
The big picture: Bruce and Smith say new investors will focus on women's sports because there's a lower barrier to entry, meaning you can own a team without needing to be a billionaire.
- Now it's about finding the right investors to add to their group.
- They want people who share their passion for empowering and developing women, a love of the community and sport, and people who are willing to take risks on a startup.
- "Our desire is to be profitable," Smith says, adding that new investors need to be people who will make a long-term commitment. Bruce recalled her daughter, defender Vicky Bruce, having teammates overseas who worked multiple jobs because being a professional athlete didn't pay the bills.
- Women's sports have historically been criticized for not paying a living wage, causing players to get a second job.
- While the Ascent owners declined to comment on what players will make, they did tell Axios players won't need a second job. Housing will be provided in addition to a player's annual salary.
What's next: Carolina Ascent kicks off its inaugural season on Aug. 17 vs. DC Power FC at American Legion Memorial Stadium at 7pm. Tickets start at $22.
- More than 6,500 tickets have been sold, McPhilliamy says. The stadium holds roughly 10,000.