Why Investors Are Betting Big on Women’s Sports Franchises

Franchise values have dramatically increased over the last two years as professional women’s sports leagues have signed larger broadcast deals and fan interest has grown, with local teams among the most valuable

For Angel City FC, new media rights and league expansion led to a team valuation that jumped to $340 million, which leads the NWSL, according to the most recent estimate from Forbes.

Angel City FC was acquired by Willow Bay and Bob Iger in a deal that valued the team at $250 million in 2024. Since then, new owners have acquired rights to expansion franchises at increasing prices. A franchise in Denver was added with a $110-million franchise fee. Subsequent deals include a $165-million fee for a team in Atlanta. That was followed this past April for a team in Columbus, Ohio, by a group led by Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the billionaire owners of MLS’s Columbus Crew and the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, at a reported $205-million fee. Owners pay a fee to existing team owners for the rights to add a new team to the league.

The women’s pro soccer league signed a landmark media rights deal in 2023 to broadcast 121 games nationally across CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps/ION. Since its launch, the package has generated record viewership, quadrupling audiences in its first year. With the league’s expansion, a new media package was announced last September with more games carried on ABC and ESPN along with a new partnership with Victory+ through the 2026-27 seasons.

“We are expanding the discoverability and reach of NWSL matches because the demand is there,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman in a statement. “These additional media packages will help us reach new audiences and build a new generation of fandom. The expanded commitments from CBS Sports and ESPN, paired with a new national Sunday night showcase with Victory+, bolster the NWSL’s trajectory of unprecedented growth.”

Meanwhile, valuations for the WNBA outpace soccer with an average of $460 million per team, according to estimates from CNBC. The top team, Golden State Valkyries, was valued at $1 billion. The WNBA has capitalized on the popularity of star athletes to sign new media rights deals that generate an average of $281 million per year. It added deals with Paramount/CBS, Scripps/Ion and Versant/USA following an 11-year, $2.2-billion deal with Disney/ABC/ESPN and Comcast/NBC/Peacock that was announced in 2024.

It’s a trend that’s set to continue, according to a recent report from Bank of America Institute. It estimated that revenue for U.S. women’s sports could increase by 250% by 2030 across sponsorships, merchandise sales, social media and other categories.

Other sports will benefit from the overall growth of women’s soccer and basketball, both in the U.S. and internationally. The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England was the biggest and most attended women’s rugby tournament in history, while women’s cricket in India is on a growth trajectory and could see more commercial interest with its inclusion at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Cricket has only been played once in the Olympics in Paris in 1900. The fairgrounds in Pomona will host the sport at Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium, a structure purpose-built to highlight the sport.

In the U.S., leagues such as Major League Volleyball plan to add new teams and could generate interest with new television deals and opportunities for pro athletes. The pro women’s volleyball league will have 10 teams play in its 2027 season, including a new franchise in Los Angeles led by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, majority owner and founder of MLV LA, alongside Ben Priest, governor and managing partner.

“Los Angeles gives us the opportunity to build on the momentum of the first three MLV seasons in a market that naturally brings together sports, media, entertainment and culture,” said Priest in a statement. “We’re focused on long-term growth for the league, its athletes and the sport.”