Willow Bay, dean of USC’s journalism school and wife of Disney CEO Bob Iger, is nearing a deal to purchase NWSL club Angel City FC, according to someone familiar with the details.
Puck was first to report the news. Semafor reported that the deal, which also involves Iger, would value the NWSL team at $250 million.
The deal is not final, said the person, who was granted anonymity because the details are private. If Angel City sells at that price, it would be by far the highest ever paid for a women’s sports franchise in the U.S. Sportico recently valued the club, which makes significantly more than any other NWSL team, at $180 million. The San Diego Wave recently sold for a league-record $113 million.
Representatives for both Angel City and Moelis & Co., which was hired to facilitate the process, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Bay also didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
It’s also unclear how much equity Bay would be buying in the deal. The team was put up for sale earlier this year following tension among board members over governance. Angel City’s largest shareholder, Alexis Ohanian, does not control the board.
The club has three co-founding partners—Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman and Natalie Portman—plus dozens of smaller investors, many of them celebrities. Moelis was hired to shop a stake that includes board control, Sportico was first to report, but that may not ultimately include 100% of team shares. Ohanian told Sportico at the time that he was not selling his equity.
Bay is the first female dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, overseeing more than 200 faculty and staff, and more than 2,500 students. Prior to working at USC, she was an award-winning TV journalist and editor, including stints at Good Morning America, the Today Show, CNN’s Moneyline, and NBC’s NBA Inside Stuff.
Angel City was awarded a team in 2020 and joined the NWSL in 2022. Investors include pop stars Christina Aguilera and Becky G; actresses Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Garner and Eva Longoria; tennis icon and activist Billie Jean King; WNBA star Candace Parker; former NHL player P.K. Subban; skier Lindsey Vonn; and former USWNT stars Mia Hamm, Shannon Boxx and Julie Foudy.
The club has pushed league boundaries in many ways, some more welcome than others, but it has set a new commercial standard for the NWSL. Angel City had $31 million in revenue in 2023, according to Sportico’s numbers, while the next closest team, San Diego, earned $16.3 million. Only two others made more than $10 million.
Angel City is 4-8-3 on the season, in 11th place in the 14-team NWSL, but it is leading the league in attendance at over 19,000 fans per home game.