It’s been another year of growth for the NWSL, with multiple teams gaining significant value over the past season. According to Sportico, which released its annual team valuations for the NWSL on Wednesday, Angel City FC is once again the most valuable clubs in the NWSL by a wide margin, followed by the Kansas City Current.
Angel City, which sold its controlling stake to Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay in July, sits high above the league in value: The team is now worth $250 million, up from $180 million in 2023, after the high-profile sale. As a condition of the sale, Bay and Iger also intend to invest an additional $50 million into the club.
The average team value, buoyed in part by ACFC’s outsized value, is now at $104 million, which is a 57% increase from 2023, per Sportico.
Our latest @NWSL valuations are out:
Average team: Worth $104 million, up 57% from last year
Gaps: Huge gap between 1 and 2, and between 2 and 3
Newcomers: Bay FC and Royals on list for first time
Expansion: Boston is joining on a $53M expansion fee pic.twitter.com/GHgRPROe9S
— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) September 25, 2024
Kansas City, which was in third last season, more than doubled in value — from $75 million to $182 million — to leapfrog San Diego for the second spot. The Current debuted a new stadium this season, a $70 million first-of-its-kind project that is the first stadium built specifically for a women’s professional team.
The Wave, despite lagging behind the Current in overall growth, still added to their valuation this season, gaining $42 million in value to get to $132 million, per Sportico. Meanwhile, Bay FC — a 2024 expansion team — debuted in the fourth spot at $121 million.
There are significant gaps in the values, with Angel City far outpacing the rest of the table and the Current far beyond the next two. The remaining 10 teams on the table are much closer in value, with the Washington Spirit at No. 5 with $95 million, closely followed by the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage.
The Chicago Red Stars sit in last out of the 14 teams, and lag far behind the rest of the group with a valuation of $53 million — $15 million behind the next closest team, Orlando Pride.
Team valuations for women’s professional leagues are a relatively new venture: This year marks only the second time that Sportico has calculated valuations for the NWSL. But the metric is a useful way to track change in a league that has seen significant ownership moves over the past few years. Several other teams have sold to new owners in the past year, with the Thorns, Seattle Reign and Red Stars joining Angel City in recent sales.
Notably, all of the NWSL teams have also grown significantly in terms of revenue. The Current lead the way due to the new stadium, while all but three teams have seen more than 50% revenue growth over the past season. (Interestingly, Angel City’s revenue growth was the smallest, at 14%.)
After the addition of Bay FC and the return of Utah Royals this season, the NWSL will soon be growing again: Boston is set to join the league in 2026, as well as another, yet-to-be-announced team. Per Sportico, Boston will join on a $53 million expansion fee, matching Chicago’s current value.
Source : Yahoo Sports