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Willow Bay, dean of the USC Annenberg School, and her husband, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, have agreed to acquire Angel City Football Club (ACFC) in a deal valuing the club at $250 million. 

Why it matters: The deal marks the highest valuation ever for a women's professional sports team.

Zoom in: Bay and Iger will become the new controlling owners of the team following the close of the transaction, the club said in a statement announcing the deal. 

The pair is investing an undisclosed sum to take control of the team, of which $50 million will be used to support the club's future growth.

NWSL league rules warrant that a controlling team owner must own at least 35% of a team, which would mean that Bay and Iger would have had to invest at least $87.5 million in the deal. 

Bay will serve on and have full control of the club's board. She will also become the controlling owner for the league's purposes and will represent the club on the NWSL's board. 

The deal is subject to closing conditions, including the approval of the NWSL.

Between the lines: Bay and Iger are buying in on an already successful venture. 

Angel City generated the highest revenue of any women's team in the world, the team noted in a statement.  

The club topped all other NWSL teams in attendance, sponsorship revenue and total revenue last year, and has the largest season ticket membership, it added.

What they're saying: "Willow and Bob bring unparalleled operational experience, expertise, and passion to ACFC and to the NWSL," the ACFC board said in a statement. 

"With this investment of resources and capital, we hope to accelerate the growth of the Club and the NWSL," Bay said. "Working with the team and Board, and the incredible community of ACFC fans, we are committed to advancing the Club's mission of driving equity on and off the field."

Catch up quick: ACFC was founded in 2020 by a group of prominent actors and investors, including Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman. 

Reddit founder and investor Alexis Ohanian was the Club's founding controlling owner. Other early investors, such as David Nathanson, Brian Weinstein, and Gillian Berry, also played a key role in the club's growth and sat on the team's board. 

Behind the scenes: Portman, Uhrman, Ohanian and Berry will continue to serve on the club's board, alongside Bay, following the close of the deal. 

Members of the club's ownership group include a huge array of sports stars and celebrities, including Billie Jean King, Lindsey Vonn, Ilana Kloss, Becky G, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria and Lilly Singh, Candace Parker, Lindsey Vonn, 13 former players from the United States Women's National Team, and many more. 

The big picture: The deal marks a new era for investment in women's sports, following a landmark year for the industry, especially women's soccer. 

The NWSL signed a four-year $240 million TV rights deal last November. 

U.S. women's soccer team sales are surging, which is helping to bolster team valuations across women's sports broadly. 

What's next: The transaction was unanimously approved by Angel City's board and is expected to close in the next 30-60 days, the team said. 

Willow Bay and Bob Iger agree to acquire Angel City FC in landmark women's sports deal

Willow Bay and Bob Iger will buy the team in a deal that values it at $250 million.

Bob Iger, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Co., and his wife Willow Bay attend the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 11, 2024, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

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The Athletic, a subscription sports news site owned by The New York Times, and Yahoo Sports are teaming up to launch a new hub for women's sports coverage on Yahoo Sports' website and app. 

Why it matters: "While we can create all the best stuff in the world, it's only as important as the audience we can get to it," The Athletic's chief commercial officer Sebastian Tomich told Axios. 

With women's sports, "there's a ton of attention, but there's still room to grow in terms of distribution and audience," he added. 

Zoom in: The new hub will be free on Yahoo Sports' website beginning Thursday and available on its app in the coming months.

It will house written, audio, and video content from both outlets, including The Athletic's popular audio and video shows, "The Athletic Women's Basketball Show" and "Full Time with Meg Linehan," as well as original coverage from Yahoo Sports' reporters and analysts. 

In the future, the hub could also house co-produced content from both newsrooms, Tomich said. Major moments, like championship games, are ripe for co-production opportunities, especially in video. 

How it works: Sales teams from both outlets can jointly sell advertising packages that include shares of inventory across the entire joint platform.

While The Athletic's website and app are paywalled, the new destination will not require a subscription. 

The goal is to leverage Yahoo Sports' reach to scale The Athletic's audience around women's sports coverage, not necessarily to drive traffic back to The Athletic's site, which has a dynamic paywall, Tomich said, 

Any opportunity to serve fans better will boost business opportunities, Yahoo Sports president Ryan Spoon noted. 

Zoom out: Amid a surge in popularity, both outlets have significantly increased their coverage of women's sports. 

The Athletic now has more than 15 full-time writers, editors and producers covering women's sports, a spokesperson said. The site has more than doubled its coverage of professional women's sports over the past two years with support from Google.

Yahoo has a stable of full and part-time women's sports writers and contributors covering the topic. This past year, it tapped former Olympic athletes to cover the Paris Games, including Allyson Felix and Shawn Johnson East.

The big picture: News outlets are doubling down on women's sports coverage as audience and marketer interest in the topic soars. Tomich and Spoon believe that together, they can provide marketers with unprecedented reach of women's sports fans.

A spokesperson for The Athletic said the outlet's seen a 226% year-over-year growth in traffic to its women's sports content through the first half of 2024. A spokesperson for Yahoo Sports said views of women's sports articles are up 253% over the last 12 months.

"Seven of the top 10 most-viewed articles on Yahoo Sports in August were about female athletes," Spoon said. 

What to watch: This is the first time The Athletic has partnered externally with another outlet to scale its journalism. Tomich said these types of deals, which offer scale without compromising editorial credibility, are rare. 

Yahoo Sports has begun to experiment more with these types of partnerships. It inked a deal with One Football to offer credible soccer coverage at scale in March. 

Go deeper: Women's pro sports teams surge across the U.S.

Women's pro sports teams surge across the U.S.

Exclusive: The Athletic, Yahoo Sports partner on new women's sports content hub

"While we can create all the best stuff in the world, it's only as important as the audience we can get to it."

a photo illustration of coco gauff, simone biles, caitlin clark and Reese Atwood on a colorful striped background

Photo illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios. Photos: Tim Clayton/Getty Images; Clive Brunskill/Getty Images; Ron Hoskins/NBAE/Getty Images; David Buono/Getty Images

Media trends

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Atlanta

Axios Atlanta

The WNBA is in full swing after a break for the Olympics, and Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray is feeling good about the team's outlook for the season.

Driving the news: The Sandersville, Georgia, native spoke with Axios about the WNBA, its rise in popularity and how she spends her downtime.

What they're saying: Gray, who is in her second season with the team, said "coming to Atlanta has been great," particularly after she was named a 2024 WNBA All-Star for the second consecutive year in July.

The WNBA's rising popularity means more eyes are on the games and more fans are being introduced to the league, said Gray, the 29-year-old guard.

"I think the viewership has been great because… more and more people find out how cool and special the W is," she said.

The big picture: The WNBA has been making "different adjustments" to improve players' salaries, grow the sport and increase viewership, including a new TV deal and different sponsorships, Gray told Axios.

"I think the W is trending in the right direction to allow us… to make more money," she said.

Flashback: Gray played basketball at Washington County High School before she enrolled at the University of North Carolina in 2013. 

She played for the Tar Heels before transferring to the University of South Carolina where she played under head coach Dawn Staley, according to ESPN.  

She was drafted into the WNBA for the Dallas Wings in 2017 and was named Rookie of the Year that same year.

She won a gold medal in women's 3x3 basketball in the 2020 Olympics and joined the Atlanta Dream in 2023.

Fun fact: Gray co-owns a WNB Factory restaurant in Milledgeville (about two hours southeast of Atlanta) with her brother, A.J. Gray and partner, Tim Magnum Jr.

In the weeds: When she's not playing or practicing, Gray says she's more of a "homebody."

DoorDash is her go-to app for ordering food, with American Deli, Cook Out and (of course) WNB Factory being her three favorite restaurants.

She also likes Waffle House where her go-to order is the All-Star Special.

Gray is also a big-time gamer and likes to stream on Twitch.

What we're watching: Gray said the Dream is making a turnaround and things are looking up for the rest of the season. 

"Now that we are all healthy with Rhyne [Howard] and Jordin [Canada] back, you just see a complete 360 of our team," she said, referring to her teammates who returned to the court after suffering injuries.

What's next: The Dream plays Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday at 10pm Eastern in Arizona.

They'll return to the Gateway Center in College Park this Friday when they take on the Dallas Wings at 7:30pm. Get tickets.

Allisha Gray shares positive outlook for Atlanta Dream's season

Gray says the WNBA's rising popularity means more eyes are on the games and more fans are being introduced to the league.

Allisha Gray shoots the ball during an WNBA game

Allisha Gray during a game against the Seattle Storm last week. Photo: Mollie Handkins/NBAE via Getty Images

Sports

Axios AI+

Two recent deals highlight the contrast between the wave of interest in professional women's sports and women athletes' harsh economic realities.

Why it matters: Despite an influx of attention and investment in their leagues, many athletes are still struggling to make a decent living.

"We've come a long way, and we got a long way to go," soccer legend and Bay FC co-owner Brandi Chastain told Axios, noting that many women soccer players need income beyond what their salary provides. "We still have women who need support."

State of play: A new program, details of which were shared first with Axios, will see sponsor Visa helping all members of BayFC — The San Francisco Bay Area's professional women's soccer team — to earn the maximum amount of appearance fee money available under the league's contract with players.

Historically, such appearances have been time-consuming, in-person affairs with not enough time or opportunities for most players to earn the  maximum allowed under league rules. 

Visa's deal will allow players to earn the maximum amount, should they wish, through social media appearances that can help the athletes elevate their personal brands.

The National Women's Soccer League and its players union have separately announced a new collective bargaining agreement that will offer players higher pay and more say in which teams they play for. 

However, the higher salaries phase in over time and the appearance fee money, still available under the new deal, remains a much-needed way for players to increase their compensation.

Between the lines: The total dollar amounts involved may not sound like a ton of money — it's on the order of $15,000 or so per player, according to a source. But that's a pretty big deal for non-star players in the NWSL, some of whom make as little as $37,000 in salary. 

That's not enough to get by in the Bay Area, which has some of the highest housing costs in the nation.

The new deal between the league and its players will see minimum salaries rise to $48,500 in 2025 and eventually to $82,500 by 2030.

The big picture: Professional women's sports in the U.S. — especially soccer and basketball — have seen a surge of people wanting to invest their time and money.

Angel City, Los Angeles' NWSL franchise, was sold earlier this year to USC dean Willow Bay and her husband, Disney CEO Bob Iger, in a deal that valued the club at $250 million, a record for a women's sports team.

Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark has helped usher in a new wave of popularity for women's basketball, with a rise in games that sell-out and a trend of moving key matchups to larger arenas.

"I'm glad they're getting the exposure. They definitely deserve it. Now we just gotta get 'em similar contracts as what some of these NBA guys are making," former NBA star Shaquille O'Neil said last week.

Between the lines: The NWSL's new bargaining agreement is truly a landmark deal. Most notably, the league is eliminating the draft, allowing any player to sign with any team. 

While drafts are the norm in most U.S. pro sports, soccer's global nature mean that many players consider a range of leagues around the world and might opt to sign with a particular European team rather than take a chance on which NWSL team they might end up on. 

"That could be a new example for all the other leagues," Chastain said. "I feel that women's soccer has been that example. We have pushed the envelope. We have we have made people uncomfortable — for good reasons, in good ways." 

Yes, but: The gains for women's sports have been uneven. 

Bay FC defender Emily Menges told Axios that what makes the Visa deal exciting "is it gives everybody on the team an opportunity to use their platform and make some extra money."

"Some teams, you'll get the highest profile players, they're all over the social media," Menges said. "They're the ones who get the sponsorship deals. They're also the ones making the highest salaries. And so it kind of leaves everybody behind."

What's next: Visa and BayFC are working on a separate program that will help foster the professional women's soccer players of the future. 

Visa has a long history supporting women's soccer, notably having insisted in 2023 that at least half the proceeds from their renewed sponsorship of the U.S. national soccer teams go to the women's program.

It's about "making small steps that we can to address the systematic challenges that that female athletes have," says Mary Ann Reilly, Visa's chief marketing officer for North America.

Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart said it is all about building the world you want to see exist.

"We spend a lot of our time thinking about, how can we change the world by changing the business model of women's soccer?" she said. "And truly, I think we can change the world by changing the business model of women's soccer."

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Women athletes aren't earning enough, even as fan interest surges

"We've come a long way, and we got a long way to go."

Emily Menges #4 of Bay FC dribbles the ball during a game between FC Barcelona and Bay FC at PayPal Park on August 27, 2024 in San Jose, California. 

BayFC's Emily Menges dribbles the ball during a game between FC Barcelona and Bay FC at PayPal Park on August 27, 2024. Photo: Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Women in sports

Seattle

Axios Seattle

Storm legend Sue Bird has a street named for her.

Why it matters: Bird joins Mariners star Edgar Martinez and Lenny Wilkens of the Seattle SuperSonics as Seattle athletes with street names.

Driving the news: The city permanently renamed a portion of Second Avenue North near Climate Pledge Arena "Sue Bird Court" this week in honor of the basketball star. 

Catch up quick: Bird, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2002 and helped the Storm win the WNBA championship four times during her 21-year career. 

What they're saying: "Like the Space Needle or Starbucks, Sue's name is synonymous with Seattle — a true icon whose impact on our city's cultural fabric and the world of sports will be felt for generations," said Mayor Bruce Harrell. 

Seattle street renamed Sue Bird Court

"Like the Space Needle or Starbucks, Sue's name is synonymous with Seattle."

Seattle Storm's Sue Bird holds a street sign named for her. 

Sue Bird holds the street sign named for her. Photo: Farrell Shine/Courtesy of Seattle Storm

News

LGBTQ advocates are urging a state committee to reject calls to create a statewide ban on transgender women student-athletes from competing in women's sports.

Why it matters: The GOP-controlled state Senate's creation of a Special Committee on the Protection of Women's Sports' has revived the divisive debate that dominated the the 2022 legislative session. 

Zoom in: A panel of five top-level college women swimmers told the committee they felt cheated when trans woman swimmer Lia Thomas competed against them — and won — at the 2022 NCAA championships held at Georgia Tech.

The panelists said NCAA and school officials should be held accountable for allowing Thomas to participate in the races and change alongside them in the aquatic center's locker room.

Context: Thomas, who at the time was a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, rose to national prominence after her historic win in the 500-yard freestyle made her the first transgender NCAA champion.

Georgia Tech officials and Thomas did not accept invitations to attend the committee meeting, state Sen. Majority Chief Deputy Whip Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming), who chairs the committee, said.

Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones announced the committee amid baseless scrutiny about an Algerian boxer's gender identity at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

Chelsea Thompson of the conservative organization Frontline Policy urged lawmakers to codify into state law that K-12 and public college and university student athletes can compete only in sports that align with their gender at birth, not gender identity.

What they're saying: Noël Heatherland of the LGBTQ advocacy organization Georgia Equality told the AJC that transgender people are being targeted for political gain.

Cait Smith of the Center for American Progress noted that trans participation in sports, especially at the collegiate and elite levels, remains rare. The panelists could not immediately offer the committee a sense of how prevalent the issue is in Georgia.

Zoom out: Some Olympics officials and athletes have urged lawmakers to distinguish between hyper-competitive elite sports and youth sports, which are supposed to foster inclusion and build social skills with young people, Axios' Ina Fried reports.

Context: In 2022, the NCAA Board of Governors set a policy that transgender athlete participation should follow the guidelines set by the international governing bodies of each sport, Axios' Arika Herron reported.

This sport-by-sport approach was phased in over several years, with full implementation set to start this fall.

What's next: The committee has a Dec. 15 deadline to recommend any legislation for the General Assembly to consider after it reconvenes in January.

Georgia lawmakers debate over trans women in sport

A state senate committee met Tuesday to consider banning athletes from competing in sports that match their gender identity

Illustration of a soccer ball with the patches colored in light pink and blue, similar to the transgender flag.

Transgender rights

San Diego

Axios San Diego

As the San Diego Wave fight for a spot in the NWSL playoffs, its players won an historic contract with the league that raises salaries and eliminates the draft.

Why it matters: The agreement puts new pressure on clubs to attract talent, as players have more power to choose which team they want to join.

It gives the league agency over its business and the players agency over their careers, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement last week.

Driving the news: The NWSL and its players union announced the collective-bargaining pact last week. It runs through 2030 and makes the NWSL the first major U.S. professional sports league to ditch its draft.

The agreement also increases investments in staffing, allows for more charter flights, improves facilities, and allows the league to build a year-round schedule.

All trades will now require player consent.

What they're saying: "... To be able to choose where you want to live, where you want to play — with all considerations of reproductive rights, tax laws, culture, and facilities and everything within a team in a state that's provided — it's so important for the player to have that power back," Wave forward and USWNT icon Alex Morgan told Good Morning America.

Morgan and Wave teammate Makenzy Doniak helped negotiate the contract as members of the players union bargaining committee.

The Wave did not reply to Axios' request for comment.

The intrigue: The new contract also expands parental leave, child care and family-planning benefits.

It allows players to travel with their kids and a child care provider, and improves access to fertility clinics, according to Morgan.

By the numbers: Under the new agreement, minimum salaries will be bumped from $37,856 to $48,500 in 2025 and $82,500 in 2030.

There is no limit for a player's maximum salary, and the league's base salary cap will increase from $3.3 million in 2025 to just over $5 million in 2030.

Reality check: In San Diego County, annual income of $53,050 or less is considered very low, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

When the minimum pay jumps in 2030, the $82,500 minimum would qualify as low income based on 2024 numbers.

The latest: Wave defender Abby Dahlkemper was traded to Bay FC in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money, the teams announced Monday. She requested the move back home.

The 2019 World Cup champion was the first player to sign with the Wave ahead of its inaugural season.

State of play: The team returned from the midseason break Saturday with its Olympians on the field and new interim head coach Landon Donovan at the helm.

They lost, 2-1, to rival Angel City FC in Donovan's NWSL coaching debut at Snapdragon Stadium.

That leaves the team in 11th place and with a deeper hole to dig out of to earn a spot in the playoffs, which includes the top eight teams.

What's next: The Wave are back at Snapdragon on Sunday to play the second-place, offensive powerhouse Washington Spirit.

SD Wave chase playoffs as NWSL players gain new power

The new players' union contract raises salaries and eliminates the NWSL draft.

Women's soccer players pose with shirts that say "WE SAID NOW." before a game at snapdragon stadium.

Players celebrate the new NWSL-union contract Saturday with matching shirts. Photo: San Diego Wave FC

San Diego native Dana Mathewson is hoping the third time's the charm as she competes for a medal in wheelchair tennis at the 2024 Paralympics this week.

The intrigue: Mathewson, 33, is the top-ranked American woman in wheelchair tennis; internationally, she's #9 in doubles and singles.

She became the first American woman to win a Grand Slam Title as the Wimbledon Ladies' Doubles Champion in 2022.

Driving the news: The seasoned pro earned a spot on Team USA nine months ago after winning gold at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Chile.

The big picture: Competing on the major tours gives wheelchair players an opportunity for prize money that enables them to be full-time professional athletes, unlike many other paralympic sports, Mathewson told Axios.

They take the court the second week of the tournaments, and are so integrated that she's shared locker rooms with Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka.

Wheelchair tennis was invented in 1976, and joined the Paralympic Games in 1992 in Barcelona.

How it works: The rules, playing surfaces and equipment are the same, except that the ball can bounce twice before the player hits it back.

Once you move into the pros, one bounce is used a lot more seamlessly as the athletes are stronger and faster, Mathewson said.

As an adaptive sport, players have a special chair fitted, welded and designed specifically for their bodies and the game.

What she's saying: "I had a very wrong misconception … that wheelchair sports would be easy or slow, or boring or not competitive," Mathewson told Axios.

But when people with disabilities still have the opportunity to be active, they are very competitive and resilient, she said.

San Diego wheelchair tennis pro aiming for first Paralympic medal

Dana Mathewson has been the top-ranked American woman in wheelchair tennis since 2017.