Despite a challenging season for Angel City FC, the Los Angeles soccer franchise co-founded by venture capitalist Kara Nortman in 2020, its commercial success has become a blueprint for investing in women's sports. Nortman's pioneering vision, which led to the creation of Monarch Collective, a $250 million fund dedicated exclusively to women's sports, is now actively shaping a burgeoning market previously overlooked by traditional investors.
Angel City FC, despite its 11th-place finish out of 13 teams, has emerged as a significant case study – even featured at Harvard Business School – on how to build a successful women's sports franchise. Its celebrity ownership group, including Natalie Portman and Serena Williams, generated immense buzz, while strategic sponsorships broke revenue records before the team even played a game.
Nortman noted Angel City's initial commercial triumph, stating, "We went from zero to $30 million in revenue. We sold out games. We built something people didn't think was possible." This early success, prioritizing commercial viability over immediate sporting accolades, served as the blueprint for Monarch Collective. Launched by Nortman in 2023 with a $250 million fund, it stands as the first investment vehicle exclusively dedicated to women's sports. Monarch's reach now extends far beyond Angel City, with stakes in other National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) clubs like San Diego Wave and Boston Legacy FC (debuting next year). Notably, Monarch recently became the first foreign investor in a German women's soccer team, acquiring a 38% stake in FC Viktoria Berlin.
Nortman's conviction is backed by compelling data. "The overall men's sports market globally is estimated to be about half a trillion dollars," she noted. "The women's sports market, when we started Monarch in 2023, was thought to be about half a billion dollars. It's now closer to $3 billion." She emphasizes that harnessing this growth demands a distinct strategy from men's sports. It's not a mere replication. Nortman highlights innovative marketing tactics, such as Sephora box drops, Fenty beauty cams at WNBA games, or Angel City's wildly popular Hello Kitty collaboration nights, which quickly sell out merchandise.
Angel City's pioneering marketing and partnership strategies generated such significant interest that last fall, power couple Bob Iger and Willow Bay acquired a majority stake for $250 million, establishing it as the world's most valuable women's sports franchise. For Nortman, who transitioned from traditional venture capital at Upfront Ventures to dedicate herself to women's sports, Angel City's commercial triumphs continually validate Monarch's investment thesis. Despite ongoing discussions in the sports media regarding Angel City's business success versus its on-field performance, the team has undeniably demonstrated the substantial revenue potential within women's sports when the correct foundational elements are in place.
The critical question now is whether this momentum can be sustained. Nortman is acutely aware of past surges in women's sports interest that ultimately faded. She cites a poignant historical example from 1920, when 60,000 spectators gathered in Liverpool, England, to watch the Dick, Kerr Ladies play football – a crowd larger than many modern Premier League matches. Yet, the following year, the English Football Association banned women from playing, effectively sidelining the sport for decades. "Everyone gets to wake up and become the discoverer of women's sports when they do," Nortman observes. "But it takes consistent, hard work to get that to play out into consistency." She argues that this sustained effort goes beyond capitalizing on the attention generated by breakout stars like Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese. It necessitates systematic investment in infrastructure, robust governance, and operational excellence – the less glamorous but crucial work of establishing sustainable businesses.
Monarch's investment philosophy deviates significantly from traditional venture capital. Instead of passive investments in numerous startups, Monarch adopts concentrated positions in select teams and leagues, coupled with deep operational involvement. The fund characterizes its strategy as navigating "venture-like markets" with "growth equity or private equity-like" risk management. "We show up alongside control owners and add a lot of operational value," Nortman explains. The primary objective is to guide teams toward operational breakeven or profitability, enabling them to capitalize on expanding, higher-margin media revenues.
Monarch's investment scope extends beyond soccer. The fund targets sports with what Nortman terms "no product-market risk" – established formats boasting proven audiences. "Is this a sport people like to watch on their computer or television?" she queries, distinguishing it from participatory sports like pickleball, which may lack broad spectator appeal. While Monarch currently holds stakes in four soccer clubs, it also eyes women's basketball, golf, and tennis, recognizing their substantial media revenue potential and existing infrastructure.
Monarch's limited partners include prominent figures such as Melinda French Gates and former Netflix executives, underscoring growing interest in its mission. The fund's debut, raising $250 million, significantly surpassed the initial $100 million target set by Nortman and co-founder Jasmine Robinson (formerly of Causeway, a growth-stage firm focused on sports, media, gaming, and fitness). Nortman attributes this increased size to the rapid maturation of the market during Monarch's fundraising phase. She recalls initial skepticism: "When we started raising the fund, nine out of 10 conversations were, 'Yeah, we don't think [women's] basketball is really a thing.'" However, the meteoric rise of Caitlin Clark and record-breaking WNBA viewership swiftly transformed women's basketball into a highly sought-after investment sector.
This burgeoning interest validates Nortman's core thesis: investing in women's sports isn't about identifying a single perfect team, but rather fostering an ecosystem where numerous franchises can flourish. While some will achieve competitive glory, others may face on-field challenges yet excel commercially. The crucial factor is deploying sufficient capital and operational expertise across the market to withstand individual setbacks. Angel City's model is already inspiring others, with teams like Kansas City, Bay FC, and Washington D.C. Spirit emerging with female-led ownership groups demonstrating viable profit and loss statements. Angel City, whether by design or not, has become a template.
As women's sports enters what appears to be a sustained boom – marked by the debut of the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA, NWSL expansion, and growing media rights deals – Nortman maintains cautious optimism that this period will diverge from previous, fleeting surges of interest. She contends that sustainability hinges on fundamental elements: robust league governance, unwavering owner commitment, strategic infrastructure investment, and cultivating authentic community connections. While media attention generates opportunities, operational excellence ensures their longevity. "Every spike is an opportunity to create a consistent experience around it," Nortman concludes. "You have to look at all the underlying criteria to see where it's likely to stick around."
