“It’s arguably the unit of measure in the world of live sports,” Bird said. “It’s where a lot of the value of the product lives, because the price tags are so high.”
Collective value
Jasmine Robinson, managing partner at Monarch Collective, has helped her fund found and manage three NWSL franchises: Angel City FC, the San Diego Wave, and the forthcoming Boston Legacy expansion franchise.
After the NWSL struck its new media deal in late 2023, the Wave were valued at $120 million when they were sold to the Levine Leichtman family. Two years earlier, Ron Burkle paid just $2 million for the Wave’s expansion rights.
In June 2024, USC Annenberg School dean Willow Bay and Disney CEO Bob Iger purchased Angel City FC at a valuation of $250 million. Angel City’s original ownership group—which included Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian and actors Natalie Portman and Jennifer Garner—also initially paid a $2 million expansion fee in 2022.
By the time Denver was awarded the NWSL’s 16th team earlier this year, the expansion fee had risen to $100 million. Robinson noted, however, that league media rights deals have benefits far beyond franchise valuations.
“I think they’re so important because it’s not only the revenue that comes into the leagues and can be then shared out with the teams and players as a result, but it’s also the marketing and coverage that all fits around it that multiplies the impact of these media deals,” she said.
Last year, as the NWSL began to reap the benefits of its new media package, the league and its players association negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement that eliminated entry and expansion drafts, embraced unrestricted free agency, guaranteed player contracts, increased salaries, added charter flights, and expanded parental leave, childcare, and mental health benefits. In October, after the WNBA announced its deal, its players’ union opted out of its collective bargaining agreement with the league.
