Panelists discuss future of women’s sports – Annenberg Media

Angel City Football Club’s (ACFC) co-founders led a discussion panel on Friday at USC to show how women can create business opportunities for other women in sports, beyond the soccer field.

The event highlighted the work of ACFC and Monarch Collective, an investment fund that solely invests in women’s sports, discussing how their work has been instrumental in the shaping and investing of women’s sports.

ACFC is the National Women’s Soccer League team representing L.A. The club was founded in July 2020, but didn’t begin to play until the 2022 season.

Its three co-founders are Natalie Portman, Kara Nortman, the managing partner at Monarch Collective, and ACFC President Julie Uhrman.

Uhrman, one of three panelists, said the club had a different pitch than a normal team. She talked about their mission in creating real leadership opportunities for women in sports.

“We want to be an organization where mission and capital can co-exist. We want to be a platform that stands for equity and impact in every single thing that we do,” Uhrman said. “We’re going to use sports and this idea of building a community and creating a sense of belonging to ultimately drive towards equity and bend the curve towards gender equity and pay equity.”

USC alumna Sophia Bush was also one of the panelists.

“The traditional methodologies of businesses run by men are singular and focused. And as women because we are used to facing more obstacles, paid less, and to do more with less resources, we managed to spin a lot of plates at the same time,” said Bush, who is also an actress, activist and ACFC investor.

Other notable ACFC investors are Becky G, America Ferrera, Jessica Chastain, Eva Longoria, Casey Neistat, Candace Parker and Gabrielle Union.

ACFC played their first game to a sold out crowd in March 2022 and finished with a 1-1 draw against the San Diego Wave.

ACFC Co-founder Nortman said this is just the beginning of the team.

“The reason we succeeded is because we projected strength and confidence and we made that shift…we moved from ‘grateful to be here,’ to ‘we’re going to go kick butt,’” Nortman said.

Co-director of the Student Leadership Academy and incharge Angel City internship Lisa Finegan said ACFC is changing the future of sports.

“They’re model examples of what women can do from leading from the front. They’ve changed the game in so many different ways and they can inspire both men and women globally,” Finegan said.