[TV static drones]
[bright tone]
[cheers and applause]
Natalie Portman!
[cheering]
One, two, three!
[all clapping rhythmically]
[all shout]
[cheering]
I never imagined that I would have anything to do
with professional sports... [laughs]
Certainly not that I'd be a co-owner,
co-founder of a professional women's soccer team.
But it's been one of the most extraordinary experiences
of my life.
[contemplative music]
♪ ♪
And here are
the all-male nominees.
[laughter, clamoring]
- Taking center stage at the Golden Globes
was the Time's Up movement.
We've drawn a line in the sand
that says this is not acceptable anymore
and things that we lived with and took for granted
as the way world was--
that's changed.
One of the Time's Up events
was with the U.S. Women's National Team,
who were valiantly fighting for equal pay.
And you just see this extraordinary talent
and this extraordinary potential.
[cheers and applause]
And yet, it's so shockingly undervalued.
[cheering]
These are the best players in the world
that are huge, huge stars.
Still, people are like,
"There's a soccer league in the U.S.?"
It's the NWSL.
Tymrak tries to again--
trying to apply the pressure, and it's gone in!
That is an extraordinary goal.
The league value
and the team values were just staggeringly low.
They weren't getting what they deserved for broadcasting,
for advertising, for sponsorship deals.
And it wasn't just the money.
The players weren't getting
the right workplace protections.
[crowd cheering]
We started thinking, well, what if we built a team?
What would it look like
to try and build this a different way?
We want this to succeed.
We want all the teams to succeed.
We want the players to succeed
and for them to be safe and to be valued.
And not everyone was happy with us.
You know, some people were mad at us,
but I think that's normal
when you try and change something.
All right, off we go!
Angel City, spread your wings!
[upbeat rock music]
- U.S. soccer on the women's side
has been fighting for respect.
The mantra always was,
"You should be thankful, and you can't screw it up."
- The National Women's Soccer League
just kicked off its tenth season.
- Two new clubs coming out in California.
- Angel City Football Club in Los Angeles
is backed by the largest female ownership group
in professional sports.
- 14 former U.S. Women's National Team players
are investors.
- These are the best players in the world.
- We're gonna elevate the sport
and show how valuable it truly is.
- When you watch these athletes play,
you're changing something that was formed in your brain
about what it means for a woman to be a woman.
♪ Hey, oh, hey, oh ♪
Sometimes you dream impossible dreams alone,
and you kind of let them go away,
and you're like, "Oh, that's silly."
But when there's a person you respect and love
who's like, "Wait, that's a good idea--keep going,"
you can keep the ball rolling.
- Like, what's up, rock star? - I know.
You, like, walk in, and we don't have to do anything.
I know. [laughter]
She walked in. She's game ready.
She is game ready.
Kara Nortman is this brilliant venture capitalist
who I met through my work with Time's Up.
I had been helping out
with the U.S. Women's National Team
Players Association,
and I have this occasional tendency
to write diatribes
with passionate ideas I have.
And Natalie would receive--
[laughs] To her credit,
she'd receive these long text messages,
and she just wrote back,
"I think we should try to start a team."
And I truly thought she was kidding,
and then she said it the third time,
and I was like, "Okay, I mean, let's talk."
And then, of course, when she brought Julie along,
that's when it really got going.
I mean, if this is what it means
to own a football club...
- [laughing] - Totally in.
Julie is this incredible entrepreneur,
has started many companies--
and boundless energy.
I can dribble it, 'cause that I'm good with.
See? I told her, every time she has the ball,
she looks like a boss.
The majority of sports teams are owned by men.
We approached it differently.
It's three female founders,
and we wanted to raise money to build Angel City
from individuals who believed in our mission and our purpose.
We knew Angel City could be bigger than the game.
- We created a deck that pitched the idea as a startup.
To get kind of our central, large, lead investor,
we have 100 meetings,
and they're, like--everyone's got a problem with it.
We'll never sell any tickets.
There's 11 teams in L.A.
You're not gonna get a broadcast deal.
No one watches women's sports.
Unless you get a broadcast deal,
the math never makes sense.
Over and over and over again.
I mean, I always say we got 99 nos.
And I don't know how many nos we got,
but it certainly feels like 99.
Until we got to Alexis.
The reason I invested is because
I just see nothing but opportunity, right?
This is the most popular sport in the world.
These Americans are the best at it.
There is no competition in the American psyche
for American soccer greatness with men.
Means we have an open field. [chuckles]
As we were gathering investors,
I was like, we have to get Abby.
Abby Wambach! [crowd cheering]
I had no idea why Natalie Portman
wanted to connect with me.
When she asked for me to be a part of it,
I kind of interrupt her-- I was like, "Yes.
"I want to be a part of this.
Of course I want to be a part of this."
♪ ♪
This is making it into, you know, the zeitgeist
in the way that we wanted it to.
Well, you were telling me yesterday
that only 4% of women sports are covered.
Yeah, only 4% of sports coverage
- is of women's sports. - Mm-hmm.
I have so many ideas, you know,
that I can help out with the team,
and I'm from L.A., and I play sports, so...
[laughs]
I mean, "play sports" is a little bit
of an understatement, so... [laughs]
Hey, Natalie! Everyone, Natalie's here.
And it's, what, 6:00 a.m. in Australia?
It is. Good morning, good evening, wherever you are.
And, Eva, you're in Mexico, right?
We're hitting all corners of the world right now.
[laughs] I'm in Mexico!
- I'm listening, but I really got to go.
- He's looking for a pen--
- Someone is unmuted. [overlapping chatter]
So, if everyone can mute, please.
[chuckles]
Who's unmuted?
Who is it?
Somebody.
Thank you.
It's a super-emotional moment to see everyone
who's come together in the community,
just even on the Zoom in the way it spanned out.
- Hey, everybody, Julie has been such a rock star,
and so grateful for her getting us to this point.
And you'll hear the news she's gonna update us all with
in a time when we fucking need exciting and positive news.
And I also want to acknowledge
and recognize all of the players
who are among us.
I am thrilled to announce that we are,
as of 6:55 this morning,
an official member of the NWSL.
[all cheering]
Really, thank you for making this a reality
Bye.
When we were raising money, a lot of the focus
was on the National Women's Soccer League
and how stable it was because it was
the third incarnation of a league,
and it felt fragile.
[crowd cheering]
Welcome live to an historic night for women's soccer.
It's the inaugural match of the NWSL.
The NWSL, aka the National Women's Soccer League,
is the third attempt at women's professional soccer in America.
The first one that started basically right in the wake
of the 1999 World Cup survives for three years.
Professional soccer is a constant struggle.
Now, the women's league
has gone bust.
The money's not coming in, and the league falls apart.
They try again,
and, again, three years, the league falls apart.
The NWSL is founded in 2012,
and covering the league back in those days,
it was really just-- can you make it to year four?
Can you make it to year five?
There have been a lot of doubts
throughout those ten years,
in terms of, will this be the league that makes it
as a professional women's soccer league?
Press with a great touch to settle it.
Press with the goal!
In 2017, the league was so far below
the standards of what players could experience
playing over in Europe.
And what, really, that illuminated for me
is that there weren't the right owners.
You had to find people that actually believed
that this was a business.
A lot of the rhetoric is,
"Well, it's never made money in the past."
Like, yes, because you've never actually invested in it.
And if we are always going to rely on past data,
then you're just always gonna continue to replicate the past.
This has to be looked at like a startup.
In the beginning, a lot of people said,
"Is this a nonprofit?"
And I said, "Hell, no." [laughs]
- Let's go see them... - Mm-hmm.
I came from a different world.
I just would keep asking questions.
Like, I don't understand why.
Like, why does it have to be this way?
Why have players never gotten a percentage of gate revenue?
Or why isn't there a board structured this way?
Or, you know, why don't we give away 10% of sponsorships?
And it's like, "Well, that's the way it's done in sports."
Kari, do you have to go to this meeting?
- Yeah. - All right...
- I think Angel City had some problems early on.
They were very ambitious. They had big goals.
They were fined twice
for violating league rules
in their conversations
with different players.
Honestly, we just want to make sure
that we're aboveboard across the board
and that we are going to not get our team fined
by screwing up.
You know, we're a new team.
A lot of us haven't been in soccer before.
And so do I question the league
or get upset with the league for fining us?
No. If we break a rule, we should absolutely be fined.
We're learning the rules, and a lot of times
we're kind of pushing against the boundaries
because we question why the rules are the way they are.
We really just want to do everything we possibly can
to change the things that matter.
Before we even thought about having a team,
I was lucky enough to hear Abby Wambach
tell a moving story about when she was up onstage
receiving the ESPY Icon Award.
And Abby's inspiration really launched
this whole endeavor.
I retired in 2015.
I was an Olympian, a world champion.
But I didn't have much to show for it financially.
A few months later, they wanted to give me
the Icon ESPY Award.
Thank you.
It's such an honor to be here alongside Peyton and Kobe.
You guys are my heroes.
We all got our awards,
and the three of us turned to walk offstage,
and something else, like, bubbled to the surface.
It was this kind of rage.
I'd spent my whole career
comparing myself to only other women.
And here was this opportunity that I was getting
the exact same award.
And the three of us were walking
into very, very different retirements.
Their biggest concerns were how they were gonna
invest their hundreds of millions of dollars
that they rightfully earned.
And mine was-- and this is a true story--
how I was gonna find a job to get health insurance,
to be able to pay my mortgage that month.
In order to change systems...
you have to start over,
and you have to rebuild it with something different.
- [energetic music playing] - Six, five, five,
four, three, two, one.
I started my career on a trading floor.
There was one other woman there.
Then I was an investment banker--no other women.
Then I got into video games.
There's maybe a couple, a handful.
So, if there's 20 in a room, maybe 3.
And they're all lower level.
I mean, they're not the senior level.
They're not the leadership.
We built Angel City differently.
Female founders, majority female team
investing in our successes as we go.
As an expansion team,
everybody is gonna have a lot to do.
Elle, we'll leave in five minutes.
The sporting director is like the CEO of a company.
They will be responsible for hiring the coaches,
hiring the performance team,
recruiting players and build, really,
the infrastructure and the culture
to see the players develop and win.
And selecting our sporting instructor
was a unanimous decision.
Eni just brought all the pieces together.
She has just this unbelievable
depth of knowledge.
[crowd cheering]
Is that better?
Does she know what's happening or--
Yeah, okay, she's here.
- Eni! - Hi.
We have so much respect for you,
both on and off the field.
We would be absolutely honored...
- Wow. - If you would be
our first sporting director.
Wow! A little bit speechless.
We're one step closer to kicking off that first season.
[crowd cheering]
- This is stunning. - Wait, come here.
- And you see the pitch. - Oh, my--
Oh, my God! This is amazing!
This is where we're gonna play!
Oh, my God. I cannot believe this.
I have goose bumps.
Banc of California,
where the men's professional soccer team plays, LAFC,
has a maximum capacity of 22,000 seats.
With LAFC, there was concern
that if I put a women's professional sports team
into my stadium, it doesn't sell out,
and there's a lot of open seats.
It's gonna reflect badly on their brand,
and it's gonna make it difficult for us
to achieve our goals.
I don't disagree with that at all.
So the opportunity was to say, well, that will never happen.
We are gonna sell out, just like you sell out.
- We are in the grand lobby. - Yeah.
So this is where all of the premium customers enter.
You're in Hollywood.
Sun shines most of the time, palm trees,
- a little glitz, a little glam. - Right.
ACF's the ownership group-- a lot of glitz,
- a lot of glam. - Glam.
[upbeat music]
The L.A. market has nine professional sports teams
and USC and UCLA.
You also have the beach and the mountains and movies.
So this is the hardest market to be successful,
let alone with what was perceived
as an inferior product
of women's sports and women's football.
LAFC, they were saying,
"Well, if you can't get, like, 8,000 people there,
"it's not gonna feel fun
"'cause you're not gonna feel like you're in a crowd.
And we're not sure you can sell 8,000 seats."
And I was like, hmm.
I mean, I don't know anything about anything about sports,
and they do.
And I was like, whoa,
they don't think we can sell 8,000 seats.
All right, this is scary.
We believe that in order for women's sports to grow,
in order for soccer to grow,
in order for these athletes to be paid what they're worth,
we have to fill that stadium.
The way that we get people to invest in us as a club
to show up at our stadium is we invest in them
in a way that shows that we're genuinely listening.
In 2019, right before the France World Cup,
my husband and I decided to make a banner
that just said, "Bring NWSL to L.A.,"
'cause we were tired of having to travel out of the state
or halfway across the world to see badass women athletes
kick tail on the field.
all: Bring NWSL to L.A.!
A week before Angel City was announced,
Julie asked if we could have, like, a meeting with her.
And so we jumped on a Zoom meeting with her,
and she said, "Just wanted to let you know,
your movement to bring NWSL to L.A., it worked."
♪ ♪
The sort of force and scope of our supporters
was unusual, for sure.
And I take very seriously that responsibility
to those supporters.
Before we had a coach, I know there were multiple
straight white male candidates.
And so, when there was a rumor
that we were going to hire a specific coach,
the supporters responded pretty vocally
on social media.
And coming out of the Time's Up movement,
we had said, we need to elevate women.
I mean, the supporters basically just
pointed to our words and said,
"Is this in keeping with what you've told us you're about?"
It's gonna come! Come on!
Angel City, they announced Freya Coombe
as their new head coach.
A lot of responsibility on her shoulders.
I am so happy for Freya Coombe
that she can take a club and a team
and build it from the ground up.
Coach Freya was impressive.
She was at Gotham last year
and, I think, really turned around
quite toxic culture in the team.
Welcome! Yay!
Freya is just beloved by players,
such a strong presence.
Freya's in town, as you guys know.
She's in town for a week. [applause]
Freya, what's the average attendance
of the games that you coached?
Average, I'd probably say 2,000 to 3,000.
There are 22,000 seats in the stadium.
And then we're about filling that stadium
with the fiercest and the most inclusive supporters
in world soccer--
not just women's soccer but in world soccer.
And the way we're gonna do that is to make them proud
to invest in us because we're investing in them.
Love it. So exciting.
Angel City definitely had larger aspirations
and ambitions than Gotham at that time
that I was involved in it.
So it was definitely a risk.
Do you want to just give your background
from your words?
Like, I grew up as a complete tomboy.
I went and played football with the boys, and that was it.
Like, I was hooked.
So then you get to that awkward age,
and you're a little bit older, and then people are like,
"Well, girls can't play football now, actually."
And it was like, "Well, damn right I can."
So I cut all my hair off and called myself Fred.
[laughter]
And then got into coaching at university.
Here I am now.
♪ ♪
- Draft day! - Yay!
[cheering]
Cookies? Cookies for breakfast.
- Yes. - Well, breakfast of champions.
By the way, you know who was in line with me
- at Cookie Good? - Who?
Someone wearing Angel City gear,
- all excited about the draft. - Get out!
She was like, "Can I take a picture?"
Well, someone said to me when I was running today
on Santa Monica, "Yo, Angel City!"
And I was like, "Oh, no! It's the draft day!"
Testing, testing.
Ha! Look at that! Hi!
- Turn it up, turn it up. - Okay.
Tonight all eyes on the two Golden State cities,
as Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave
will pad out their teams
ahead of their inaugural seasons
in the National Women's Soccer League.
Eni, what do you think of Taylor?
I like her. I remember her.
I wanted a coach that knew the NWSL.
And so, when it came to the draft,
we weren't trying to figure things out in the moment.
We just shared ideas, and Freya led.
Get into frame. Stand in where you're gonna be.
- There is a look at Angel City.
They have the first pick of the expansion draft,
so now let's go live to L.A.
With Angel City FC's first pick,
ACFC selects Dani Weatherholt from OL Reign.
[cheers and applause]
Angel City have selected Dani Weatherholt.
[cheers and applause]
So one of the things that we had the pleasure of doing
was bringing in supporter groups
to announce players for the draft.
ACFC selects Jasmyne Spencer.
[cheers and applause]
Paige Nielsen
from Washington Spirit
[cheering]
I'm looking for the teams that are chasing rings,
and I really think that it's Angel City
that sort of came out swinging.
I think our spread's been really good
Yeah, I agree...
if we say so ourself. [laughter]
We were very intentional about who we selected
in the expansion draft, doing our due diligence
around their personality, their character,
making sure that we're really building
a group of great people.
As a former player,
I would've loved to play on this team
with Jun...
with Sav McCaskill.
[rock music]
My name is Simone Charley.
I'm from Hoover, Alabama, and I play forward.
Charley cuts to her left,
trying to squeeze through, gets around.
Charley with a shot and finds the near post!
- Goalkeepers are probably known for being odd...
a little weird in the head.
Ball gets ahead to it,
but what a save by Haracic.
We recruited more defenders
than any other position on the field.
So, when teams come up against Angel City,
they're like, "How are we gonna score?"
My name is Paige Nielsen,
originally from Nebraska,
and I play center defender.
[crowd cheering]
Paige--she knows the league,
and she's just such a pro.
My name's Vanessa Gilles.
I'm from Ottawa, Ontario, in Canada.
I play center back.
Vanessa is an Olympic Gold Medalist.
She is the best defender in the world.
Every single player-- there's an element
of, like, just excitement for them.
But Christen is the number-one forward,
world-class level,
and, obviously, she's from L.A., too.
Hometown hero Christen Press
was the first to sign on to Angel City.
Christen Press--
her 49th goal for her country.
When I thought about Angel City,
I really thought about the opportunity to create change.
This is proof of concept.
This is proof that the business works.
It's proof that, you know, we're not doing it
just so that your daughters have a role model.
You go into this business because you can make money
and you can be successful.
First day, let's go! [indistinct chatter]
- ♪ Good morning ♪ - Wow.
Not a lot of people get to experience this,
so this is dope. [indistinct chatter]
We wanted to give our players the safety and comfort
that you're Angel City, and we're gonna invest in you.
And they're not gonna be traded.
No matter what, we're betting on each other.
I want to start off by saying thank you
for choosing Angel City.
And I promise you that, you know, we do not plan
to do any exit trades in 2022.
We're here. This is it. This is the team.
We're gonna win, we're gonna lose,
we're gonna have difficult moments,
and what that means is...
we're gonna coach our way out of it.
We're gonna play our way out of it.
We're not gonna trade our way out of it.
I was coming into a league
that just didn't really care about...
how players had control over their own destiny.
And I'd been that player who's been traded
after begging an owner not to trade me.
And I will never forget how that made me feel.
One of the things I admired
the most from Angel City
coming in that first day
was Eni saying that this club will not be waiving players
or trading players unless it's something the player wants.
And for a club to say that is a very, very big deal.
Every single contract this season was guaranteed--
every single person's.
So that's huge.
That is, like, so different from any other experience
that players would have.
And there's a good and a bad to that.
On the negative side, it locks your roster,
so you can't make changes,
and in this league, if every other team is able
to trade and make midseason moves and you're not,
I think that puts you at a disadvantage.
[applause]
[cheering]
Everyone here has had different experiences
within clubs-- positive, negative--
but everyone has got a blank slate here.
There's an opportunity here for everyone
to cement themselves on this roster
and be part of this group.
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it.
This is our goal.
This is what we can achieve.
And I am 100% confident that we can do that.
[indistinct chatter]
Love it.
Welcome to day one.
[scattered cheers] Yes!
All right.
It's not all just about kicking soccer balls.
It's about so much more than that.
We are so committed to building a future
for this sport for the next generation.
We've come from winning environments,
and we have these big ambitions,
and we want to win games,
and we want to win championships.
With all the investment and the hype around Angel City,
I felt a responsibility,
not just to the club but to the community,
and I think our whole team felt that way.
Preseason day one, like, the home opener--
we all, like, had stamped on our calendars
like, all right, guys, we got this amount of days
until, like, we really have to show up.
Like, everyone wants to see us play.
It's gonna be an amazing opportunity.
And it's been a long journey
for me personally.
The summer before my senior year at North Carolina,
my mom was in the hospital in Seattle,
and I got a call saying,
"Paige, you need to come to Seattle right away."
My mom actually passed when we all got there.
My mentor, the North Carolina soccer coach--
I was like, "Man, what do I do?
"Do I financially free myself 'cause my mom never had that?
Or do I go after my dream?"
And he was like, "Well, what would Kathy do?"
That was her name.
And I was like, "Why am I even thinking about this?
Of course I'm gonna take this soccer job."
I passed up a six-figure job at Bank of America to do this.
And so I'm in it.
[indistinct shouting]
- Look at our team. - I know.
Get in, get in! [indistinct shouting]
- Look what we did. - I mean, look at this!
Yeah! [both laugh]
- I know all the players from other teams, right?
- Yeah. - So, as I look at players
right now, I'm thinking, that's Cari Roccaro
from North Carolina,
or that's Jas Spencer from Houston.
And over time, they're gonna, like, assimilate and become--
- Angel City. - Yeah.
Just takes time, right? [laughter]
So I asked our director of statistics and analytics,
what are our chances of making it to the playoffs?
I mean, you've analyzed all the teams.
And they said to me, "Well, don't expect too much,
because expansion teams never, never make it to the playoffs."
And I was like, "What's an expansion team?"
Because I literally know that little.
And so they explained to me that an expansion team
is a new team to the league,
And that they never, never
make it to the playoffs in their first season.
[shouting, cheering]
So there's 12 teams in the NWSL.
Being an expansion team, where everyone's brought together,
it's gonna take time,
but once you can establish that team that trusts each other,
that's when you get the success.
Cheers!
Cheers to friendship. [laughter]
Get your fucking muffin in here.
What did the eggs say at the house party
after a couple of tequila shots?
What?
- You don't know? - Uh--
You're not gonna give a guess like Dani tried?
I don't want to embarrass myself.
- [clears throat] - [laughs]
"I'm lit!" [laughter]
[indistinct chatter]
Having a strong defensive foundation
is what most teams will look to build,
and that's their starting point.
And unfortunately for us...
first day, you know, we had a lot
of illnesses and injury.
First day of preseason,
and we're having lunch, and Paige sits down
at my table, and she says, like,
"Look at my arm. It looks so funny."
She's like, "Oh, yeah, I'm just gonna go home
and see if it gets worse."
And I'm like, "You have to go to the hospital."
- And it turns out that she has a rare condition
that led to the clotting in her arm.
And, you know, she had to go in for a surgery
and ended up having a rib removed
so that she can increase the blood flow.
[weakly] I am in so much pain.
I'm singing...
♪ Every breath you take ♪
♪ Every move you make ♪
♪ Every single minute I'm fucked ♪
She was really excited about coming into this new team
and having a new start
and then had such a debilitating injury...
that just really put her back.
It's gonna take months to build the neck muscles.
It was, like, substantial
in terms of what happened in that moment,
and it was also a huge hit to our roster.
That certainly made it challenging for us
in our backline, and we had to put players
in different positions that they weren't
probably used to or recruited to.
- Did your car get towed? - [chuckles]
- Needed gas. - What?
- Just needed gas. - Again?
Yeah. [laughs]
Did you hear this?
She just need to gas again.
Why are we talking
into camera? [laughs]
'Cause once is embarrassing.
Twice is just-- I don't even know what--
I don't even--there's not even a right adjective for that.
Growing up with Julie, and as a twin,
we both played basketball.
We both went to business school.
We both went to MBA school.
I mean, there's a lot of things that are similar.
- Whoo-hoo. 95%. - Yep.
Boom.
I've been listening
to the Angel City dream for two years, right?
And she's like, "Amy, like, can you come in? I need help."
I said yes, and the next thing I knew,
I had meetings on my schedule for Tuesday.
We have 14,200 season-ticket holders.
Like, if game day is not good,
those are at risk of being lost.
Days until the regular season home opener--46.
Whoo-hoo! [banging table]
Then again, like, minus two weeks
because of all the stuff that needs to get done.
You're not gonna stress me out.
It's not gonna happen.
Guys, everybody close your eyes.
Seriously. Okay.
You sit down, right?
Lights go out.
We've got some Angel City chant going.
We're gonna teach the Three Clap.
Ball's gonna land, they're gonna see
that they're all women.
We'll announce who they are.
Some amazing group of kids are gonna come out and sing,
and we're all gonna be like, "Oh, that's so cute.
Look how amazing."
Then at which point, everyone's looking up,
and, oh, my God, you know, we've got
these people flying from the sky,
pink smoke, and then the players are gonna come out,
and people are gonna cry 'cause our players are on the field.
Then ball will get kicked, and people will still be crying.
And, you know, then we'll score goals and win.
I'm gonna make sure you have waterproof mascara.
- Yeah. - She's not wearing any.
An!
Wasn't what we wanted, but it was--I mean, it was--
No, I mean, I'm guess-- well, I mean, was it, like,
worse than we thought it was gonna be,
or just it was what we thought it was gonna be?
I thought it was better than what I was anticipating,
but, I mean, it's just not our ideal, right?
- Right. - We're just trying
to make sure it's not impacting performance
or anything like that for the players on the field.
My role is the logistics--
the travel, the training facilities.
I don't think I necessarily knew what the challenges
of an expansion team really were
until I came into this organization and club.
But definitely having a personal experience
as a professional athlete, I thought
training facility was, you know, the top priority.
We evaluated a lot of different locations,
facilities, and we wound up landing
at Cal Lutheran University,
with a partnership with the Los Angeles Rams.
Come on, let's get in the corner. Come on.
So you don't have to start back on there.
Like, start here, if that's gonna help you.
There you go.
Can we do that first time so we can get the timing, Annie?
Hey, guys, we need to make sure that they've got ball--
One of the biggest challenges that we have been facing
is just, like, field availability.
So we're now sharing a field
with, like, the Super Bowl champs.
So, obviously, they get what they want.
So that's been difficult.
Also, we don't get to start training till, like, 2:15 p.m.
in the California heat.
I just think with Angel City, there is kind of the sense
of people are coming into the space not knowing it,
and they're learning.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
Not having that training space from day one,
it does kind of feel like a startup.
♪ ♪
You see how you're backpedaling so much?
- Yeah. - Just need to be able
to go there.
Shift the hips back.
Oh, yeah, watch your flapping wings.
Can we do the groin squeeze?
Head over, Vanessa, Maia.
How do your hips feel today?
My role is to optimize player health and performance.
I know it's everyone's favorite morning wake-up.
When you get to this level, there's this little bit
of difference between peak, you know, or elite performance.
And we're trying to find that difference.
All right. Ready?
- Yep. - And go for it.
I was the first full-time
female strength and conditioning coach
within Major League Soccer on the men's side.
Your name--
On the men's side of things, money was not a constraint.
Anything that you can think of that would help,
they will have it.
And in order to be able to do these things--
you know, took blood work, we did jump testing,
we did all these tests on a regular basis.
To have that support and be to able to do that,
you need money.
So maybe you are.
You can just get down lower.
We're athletes, and we want to have the environment
that's the most conducive for us to be successful.
But you realize
how much work goes into having a training facility,
having a weight room,
and having things that are soccer-specific
and not being in--
you can't just, like, go to LA Fitness
and, like, get a proper lift in.
Like, that's not-- [laughs]
I mean, you could, but it's not
what male athletes have to deal with.
So the balls for my tens now need to be super precise!
The timing is crucial!
In soccer, at the professional level,
it's those details that matter.
It's those inches, those centimeters
that separate the good players from the great players.
I loved my time in Portland, but towards the end,
it just felt like it was time for me to go.
Having a club that, like, wants you
and wants to invest in you,
I think was something that was so important to me
and also very exciting.
When we talk about setting higher expectations,
it really does come down to investment
to really elevate the performance.
And we also wanted to pay players more.
So we created a program where each one of our players
would get a percentage of all ticket sales of our games.
Ultimately, we have to change the economic model,
which means we need to drive
the revenue aspect of the sport.
It's over there. [laughs]
- All right, we're gonna start here.
We don't have a jersey or not yet?
Well, you're gonna get to see this.
- We're gonna surprise you. - Oh, just kidding!
- Yeah. - Oh, my God!
Classic reaction video.
So you're gonna open the box--
- To there? - Yeah, to the camera.
This is--I'm really nervous. [laughing]
Oh, my God. It's so pretty.
DoorDash.
"Volemos." Oh, my God, sprouts.
It's, like, kind of tough.
I wouldn't want to be against this team,
like, on the field.
[laughs] I'd be like, oh, my God.
- [screams] - Oh, my God!
You didn't tell me you work on this team.
Your most valuable asset is your logo
on the front of your kit.
Being a new team, we didn't have any data
to back up the value that we wanted for.
Do one. [camera shutter clicks]
[laughter]
So we went to an agency, and we asked them
the traditional questions of,
what should we be charging for front-of-kit?
And they came back and said, "We think you should get
a million dollars."
Whoo!
Wow. A million dollars was lower
than any jersey valuation I had seen on the men's team,
regardless of their scale.
These are men's teams that might be selling
5,000 jerseys, 10,000 jerseys,
and knowing our goal was to sell 30,000 jerseys.
- [squeals] - So we went back and said,
"No, you actually need to get
to a multimillion-dollar number for us."
Look!
We went out and sold our front-of-kit to DoorDash
for an eight-figure deal.
"A whole fresh start."
'Cause we have incredible ownership group
of celebrities and athletes
that are gonna drive the value of this.
Women spend 80% of consumer spending.
We, for the first time, have brought in women's fashion,
women's shoes, women's liquor,
I mean, your mind can go crazy with what's possible there,
so the sky's the limit for us.
And it's not just about making money, but it's impact--
where 10% of our revenue goes back into the community.
That community impact-- it is important to us,
and it's a lens with which we make decisions,
and it's how we build our organization.
[indistinct chatter]
- I didn't want to bother you. - Hi!
Two, two, two! Pass, yes.
I'm gonna post on my Gram.
In 2019, I saw the U.S. Women's National Team
in Paris.
It was packed-- I mean, loud, packed crowd.
[cheering]
Low one, and all the way in!
Dream start for the United States!
And I'm like, damn, this is a great product.
And I was aware of Rapinoe.
I was aware of Morgan. I was aware of Press, right?
I was aware of these superstars
who had already transcended the sport.
And I looked at my buddy, and I'm like,
"Dude, why can I watch these women in the U.S.?"
And he's like, "Dude, it's called the NWSL."
And I was like, "What?"
How do I know the players
and I don't even know the sport exists?
Something is broken.
Skills. Feet.
- My feet? Oh. - Yeah!
What a touch!
There was a reason I stopped at ninth grade.
Let's see it.
- Oh, watch out, it's coming. - Aw.
Aw, a little fast.
[laughter]
The funny moment-- and this is true--
Olympia's running around. We're at the house.
She's running around in her little jersey.
We're watching the final.
And like any dad,
I'm like, "Oh wouldn't be great one day if Olympia played
for the Women's National Team?
And without missing a beat,
Serena is like, "Not until they pay her what she's worth."
And I looked at her,
and I said, "Okay, challenge accepted."
- Oh, my gosh. Hi. - You came all this way. DiDi.
Hi, DiDi. both: Nice to meet you.
- Paige. - Howdy, Paige.
Oh, my God. Nice to finally meet you.
Yeah, thanks for coming out.
Oh, man, thank you for-- I don't know--
just believing in this crazy thing and joining aboard.
It wasn't hard.
I mean, no pressure,
but y'all get to, I think, set a precedent
for a lot of people.
[camera shutter clicks]
And once you see the product on the pitch
and once you see this greatness,
you're like damn, how much poorer our world is
as a result of great ideas and great talent
that never got to be showcased.
♪ ♪
I remember being told...
"Alexis, don't do it.
No one cares about women's sports."
♪ ♪
Hearing it as often as I did, God, I almost believed it
for half a second, because it was so prominent.
♪ ♪
Yes, I screenshot a lot of these tweets.
Yes, I do save them.
I do that because I am petty
and also because...
there is so much of this great energy
in women's sports right now,
and I love fueling that rocket ship.
Ready? Go.
I personally have never had any interest
in coming to the NWSL,
'cause I was in France playing,
and in Europe, it's just a football culture
and you're immersed.
I remember seeing, like, rumors on Instagram,
and, "Natalie Portman is gonna be involved,
and it's gonna be woman-led."
So I think the more I heard about Angel City,
the more I wanted to be part of that change.
And my agent was like, "Yeah, they sent in an offer.
Like, they're actually interested."
That was the same week the coach at North Carolina
ended up getting fired and investigated
for a whole bunch of...
[chuckles] Accusations.
And that was going on in the league that whole week.
Like, everything was coming out during that week
in terms of, like, sexual abuse
and manipulation and mental abuse.
Tonight the world of professional women's soccer
is turned upside down.
- An investigation by The Athletic
sent a seismic shock through women's soccer.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
Before I got involved,
these two players try to email the league,
and they do it independently.
So they both sent their own emails
to the league's general counsel
and the league's commissioner at the time,
and that commissioner was Lisa Baird.
And, to be fair, neither one of the players
said, you know, "Here's our entire--"
They're not about to say, like,
"Let me trauma-dump on you via email," right?
"Please call me. We will talk through.
We have information that we think you should have."
The response from the league is essentially,
"Thank you, but, no, thanks."
♪ ♪
And...
that's the only reason why the story went public.
The league posted a statement.
Later on that day, Alex Morgan posts the screenshots
of Lisa Baird's full response to the two of them.
♪ ♪
For people really being able to see the whole thing
and to have that sense of, "If I'm a player
"with this trauma that I've gone through
"who is trying to prevent something
"to try to share that experience
and then to get that as a response,"
that was really, really tough for a lot of people to stomach.
♪ ♪
We're talking about...
ten years, you know, of my personal experience
with all of the misconduct that went on.
I was in a entirely abusive
and unsafe environment
my rookie season in the WPS.
We were intentionally made to feel that using our voices
could end the league
and the league could fold and it was fragile.
I think that was also a silencing mechanism.
[whistle blows]
We were tired of all of these men being able
to be in power and taking advantage of players.
When they turn a blind eye,
they just don't care...
[scoffs] To be frank.
[cheers and applause]
And so it took brave women, brave players
to come forward and demand more
and for all of us to rally together and support them
and to force more from the league.
[somber music]
[applause]
The third game of the night
and the third time in the sixth minute
the players come together at midfield.
And if this isn't
a "shut up and listen to these players" moment,
I don't really know what is.
I'm devastated, disgusted,
but I'm not shocked,
and that's the problem.
The NWSL never had
a collective-bargaining agreement,
and so there were no rights.
There was no anti-harassment policy
I mean, all these simple guidelines they didn't have.
No minimum pay. It was just, like, $5,000.
When you aren't being paid enough,
you can't afford to lose your job.
Why would you ever speak up?
Why would you ever fight?
And I'm happy to say that Jessica Berman coming in
as a commissioner is gonna be signing the first
collective-bargaining agreement.
It's important for them
to have a seat at the table, which was what you get
with a collective-bargaining agreement.
One of the big things that came out of this
is players realizing there's a power
in the collective voice.
They were very shaped also by Angel City
coming into the league and offering this path of,
there is a different way.
We are here looking out for the players.
The players will be protected.
The players are front and center.
They are the shiny new kids on the block.
And there is this sense of, okay...
we want to show the NWSL that there's maybe another path.
♪ ♪
- So here, here, here, here. - Yeah, so we all just cross--
Jun, I just wanted to connect ahead of the game tomorrow.
Gonna start tomorrow on the right side as a forward.
[speaking Japanese]
When the ball goes into this player in here...
[speaking Japanese]
- The nine is going to press. - [speaking Japanese]
How is life in general?
[speaking Japanese]
Anything that you need for me before the game tomorrow?
[speaking Japanese] Yeah. She said she's okay.
Okay.
[energetic music playing on speakers]
- The Challenge Cup is a tournament
that's kind of a way to get games under our belts
before season happens.
[excited chatter]
- Thank you! - You're awesome.
I think that's the team bus. That's the players!
- They're waving, yes. - They're waving!
[drumming, crowd chanting]
Look at the supporters back there.
[drumming continues]
all: Vamos, Angel City! Venimos a ganar!
Vamos, Angel City! Venimos a cantar!
Vamos, Angel City...
You have the investors. You have the ownership group.
You have the supporters.
Everything is coming together. It's looking great.
Now you have the preseason.
They're playing another expansion team--
San Diego Wave.
They want to create a rivalry, of course,
between the two teams.
[laughter]
There was a lot of pressure
going into the first game of the preseason.
You know, there was definitely different displays of nerves
from different players within the group.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪
[crowd cheering]
Those are our players.
- I'm gonna cry. - I know.
"Hey, Julie, we have this idea to start a woman's soccer team.
What do you think?"
For the first game, we show up in Cal State Fullerton--
over 7,000 fans.
Yeah, it's incredible.
It's been absolutely devastating to hear
some of the experiences
of women who've been in this sport
and only motivates us more to want to change things
and create a new model.
[rhythmic drumming, fans chanting]
[whistle blows]
There's the whistle, and away we go!
An historic start for both Angel City
and San Diego Wave.
[indistinct shouting]
♪ ♪
[crowd groans]
♪ ♪
all: Angel City!
♪ ♪
Roccaro... moves it wide to the left.
Now the cross comes back in.
Header is down and in!
Savannah McCaskill strikes!
It's the first goal for Angel City!
To be able to score the first goal was pretty cool.
Wish we would've won that game, but--
San Diego come back level!
And it's the first goal for the Wave...
1-1!
McCaskill's goal canceled out by Kaleigh Riehl,
salvages a point for San Diego Wave tonight.
♪ ♪
You guys, first away game!
- Baby! - I know.
- This is it. This is impressive.
This is the standard, I think,
and we're obviously trying to push that standard
even further, so...
awesome, awesome.
[crowd cheering]
Let's go, ACFC!
[crowd cheering, person shouts]
Get there, nice! Here we go!
Well done.
My job is recruitment of players
and managing performance of the team.
Get in the box.
In building this team, the big part of the strategy
was to really be solid defensively.
Well played, Jassy!
Now we've had a bit of an injury crisis.
I mean, I've never been part of a team
that had four defenders injured at the same time.
Smith, all the way!
[crowd cheering]
There were some problems that they had out of the gate,
and they don't seem to have a style,
and they don't seem to have a chemistry,
and they don't seem to mesh.
I really thought this was gonna be just a long season.
Portland Thorns with a comprehensive
three-goal, three-point performance.
And Providence Park rocking tonight.
♪ ♪
- I think with the type of player that you are,
the position that you are,
it behooves us to do this the absolute right way.
- Yeah. - It's more of the--
can you take an impact?
If you take an impact, how do you respond to it?
On opening day, I don't think I'll be able to play,
because my PT is worried
about my strength, still, in my left arm.
And go. Awesome.
- Ooh. - Yeah. That looks about right.
My wife is coming next weekend.
It's a huge move for her.
She's been in D.C. for five years.
She's like, "Oh, gosh, you can basically get traded
or move in a year."
And I'm like, "That's not what I want to do,
and you have to believe in my path and my career."
And she's like, "Okay."
It's just a super-fast progression.
I just feel a lot of pressure sometimes.
Yeah, this is really pressure-built.
[rhythmic drumming, fans chanting]
all: The mighty ACFC!
- Will history be made today in San Diego?
We'll see. Both of these clubs looking for the first wins.
[crowd cheering]
We're just a few weeks into the season
and, really, Angel City's existence.
What's the next level of production
you'd like to see your team unlock?
We've got a long way to go, obviously.
We've learned some brutal lessons these last two games,
but those are the things
that are gonna prepare us for this season.
It's really important for us to have a big response.
♪ Oh, oh ♪
♪ Hey, hey ♪
♪ ♪
The header! [crowd cheering]
Jodie Taylor coming through!
Taylor trying to hunt it down--Morgan!
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
Christen Press equalizes for Angel City!
♪ ♪
Corner kick.
Corner kick number 562.
♪ ♪
Morgan has another!
Are you kidding?
Ali now on this near side, cuts inside,
Gilles couldn't get to it.
Ali, the four-time All-American!
San Diego, it's time to celebrate.
First win in franchise history.
Alex Morgan, two goals on the day
in the 4-2 win.
[all chanting] ...FC! AC! FC! AC! FC!
AC! FC! AC! FC!
AC! FC! AC...
You all right? Oh, it was tough.
I know. You're working your heart out.
- You're tired. - Ugh. It's so frustrating.
This is a fucking "in the trenches" moment.
Isn't it? It's "in the trenches" moment.
But we can't-- You know, what we gonna do?
'Cause that wasn't acceptable
by any stretch of the imagination,
and we all know that.
They've seen that we can't defend,
and they've just gone-- let's put us under pressure.
If we do the same thing to them, it's different
because we don't have the forwards
that are gonna compete.
We don't have the forwards that are gonna compete?
In the air--if we go direct and drill it at them,
none of our front three are gonna win a header
or a battle--
No, but that's why you put it in behind them.
We asked them to-- when they play a high line,
for us to put the ball in direct.
That's the instruction.
Like, I can only give them that instruction,
and when they drop off, like--
As long as it's the instruction,
'cause that's what I'm seeing.
I can only tell you what I'm seeing, Freya,
and the rest of it's up to you and the players.
I know it's preseason, I know we're building,
but you don't want to develop
a habit of losing more than three in a row.
You know, I'm not the coach.
If I wanted to be the coach,
I would've interviewed for the coach job.
I'm not the coach.
But, you know, I built the team now,
and I don't have much say on the field, right?
Like, I can influence,
and I can speak to the coaches and say,
"Have you thought about this, thought about that?"
But ultimately, it's their decision.
[fans cheering loudly]
I know. I know.
But they know it, too.
- You look sharp as hell. - I know, I told her--
- she looks very smart. - You look very smart.
♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪
♪ ♪
My lungs are filled with fatigue.
[sighs]
Yeah. How many minutes till we're back?
I'm really excited to get back.
♪ ♪
This is Christen. This is where we want her.
This is where she's been most effective.
- Yes, yes. - You see there--
driving up plays.
Yeah, no, I get that.
Yeah.
You know, to be a starter and to be a starter in L.A.,
it requires something very different.
And we're gonna find out, staff and players,
over the next few months, like, frankly,
who's got the minerals.
[indistinct chatter]
I think right now we're kind of at a crossroads,
in that the Challenge Cup is coming to an end,
and we know that season is starting,
but we also know that we haven't really worked
on everything that we need to work on.
Like, we aren't exactly a team quite yet.
[indistinct chatter]
Losing sucks.
In terms of where the team's at,
that's been a huge frustration,
and, you know, the team can feel it,
and it's nine days away from our home opener.
[dramatic music]
Guys, this is when it matters.
When we're fatigued, nobody talks.
Precisely when we have to talk,
'cause we're just getting played through,
and nobody's saying, "Stop, shift."
Everybody's on their island. We have to communicate.
♪ ♪
We have some elite people on the team.
We have World Cup winners.
We have Olympic gold medalists.
And to pull people together
and not have it going the way they want it to go
is really, really tough.
But it's brick by brick.
Every day we must come in and lay a brick.
And if the weather is bad, we lay another brick.
And if the result goes bad, we lay another brick
and hopefully drive the culture
that our women every day want to lay bricks, too.
♪ Hey, hey ♪
♪ Ahh ♪
♪ Uh-huh ♪
♪ Ahh ♪
♪ Uh-huh ♪
♪ Baby, break a sweat, break a sweat ♪
♪ Baby, break a sweat ♪
♪ Don't get tired yet ♪
♪ Tired yet, don't get tired yet ♪
♪ Baby, break a sweat, break a sweat ♪
♪ Baby, break a sweat ♪
♪ Keep on doing it, doing it ♪
♪ Keep on doing it ♪
♪ ♪
Whoo!
♪ ♪
♪ Baby, break a sweat ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
♪ Ah ♪
♪ Baby, break a sweat ♪
[bright tone]