Angel City Co-Founder Says WSL Clubs Deserve More Than Status as Second Teams

Kara Nortman has a message for the owners of Women's Super League clubs: start treating your women's teams like actual investments, not afterthoughts.

Nortman, who co-founded Angel City FC in the NWSL alongside actor Natalie Portman and businesswoman Julie Uhrman, and later launched women's sport investment fund Monarch Collective, has been actively exploring opportunities in English football. After conversations with roughly a dozen WSL clubs over recent years, she says the same problem keeps surfacing.

"A lot of the WSL clubs are still afterthoughts, unfortunately, and adjuncts to the men's team," Nortman said. "They're not investing what they could be. If they are afterthoughts but there's awareness around that, that's a beautiful place to spend time. But if they just want to add a little expertise or capital on the margins, that's where it gets tricky."

Monarch Collective, which completed a 250 million dollar funding round last year, recently expanded its portfolio to include a minority stake in Cleveland WNBA. The group already holds stakes in NWSL sides San Diego Wave and Boston Legacy, plus German club Viktoria Berlin — making it the first women's multi-sport ownership group spanning two continents.

Nortman declined to comment on the status of ongoing discussions with West Ham over a potential stake in their women's side, which were first reported by the Guardian last year. However, she insisted Monarch remains committed to the English market despite the challenges.

"We'll definitely do more in England," she said. "The owners need to say to us: 'We believe in this team and we want to supercharge it with you, because you have experience now across five teams, two sports, two continents.' That's the scenario we're looking for."

The contrast with Angel City's own trajectory is stark. Monarch invested approximately 1 million dollars to join the NWSL in 2020. Four years later, the franchise was sold to Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay for 250 million dollars — making it the world's most valuable women's sports franchise.

Monarch's valuation growth reflects the commercial potential Nortman sees in women's sport. The firm recently opened a London office headed by Katharine Curran, formerly of Manchester City and City Football Group, and is actively studying investment opportunities in cricket and rugby union.

"Cricket is probably the area we as a firm are spending the most time on right now," Nortman said. "The numbers last summer in India, what's happening in netball, the impact of the Rugby World Cup — there's real momentum."

Despite the frustrations with WSL ownership attitudes, Nortman remains optimistic about the future of women's football — and believes the gap between potential and investment is finally starting to close.

"The reason Angel City worked is because Julie, Natalie and I were obsessed," she said. "We talked about it 18 hours a day. It all started with asking: 'How do you build community?' We're still asking the same question — and now we have the capital to do something about it."