Julie Uhrman is Angel City Football Club’s (ACFC) president and co-founder. Beginning play in 2022, the LA-based club quickly became the highest-grossing team in the National Women’s Soccer League, with $55 million of long-term partnership revenue contracted in 2023.
Co-founded by Uhrman, Academy Award-winning actor and activist Natalie Portman, and technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman, Angel City is one of the world’s only majority female-founded and run professional sports teams. Drawing from both investing and star power, its minority owners include Christina Aguilera, Serena Williams, Joy Faucet, America Ferrara, and Jennifer Garner, to name a few. And they all came together with a common goal: equity.
Uhrman told Worth, “We built an organization based on a higher purpose. We didn’t just want to be a team in a city or just win championships but set higher expectations. We wanted to have a positive impact within our community, for our community, and for our team.”
Angel City’s powerhouse investors are angling to change a sports industry where women’s teams do not receive the same sponsorship dollars, advertisement dollars, broadcast time, or streaming opportunities as men’s. But ACFC is showing that, with the right support system and investment, it can be just as, if not more, profitable than a men’s team. Its earnings lead is substantial, making up 36.7% of all league revenue, followed by Portland at 13.2%. The club’s ticket sales, exceeding $10 million, also rank number one. Fanbase loyalty is evident in the nearly 16,500 season tickets sold.
Uhrman told Worth, “We are building something sustainable—we do everything we can not to comp tickets and have the lowest comp rate in the entire league.”
Angel City has transformed the traditional sponsorship model by prioritizing social impact, particularly in women’s sports, pay equity, and community aid. The club directs 10% of its sponsorship revenue back into the LA community. This includes delivering 1,212,406 meals (as of early February) with DoorDash, distributing over 237 tons of fresh produce with partners like Sprouts Farmers Market, joining Gatorade to train 164 female soccer coaches, and coaching over 6,700 youth players. The club has run fellowship programs for 19 students with Birdies, donated 22,000 sports bras with Nike, and organized over 960 community events.
Uhrman has been named to the Sports Business Journal Game Changer class and its Most Influential People in Sports Business list. She is listed as one of SportsPro Media’s Ten Influencers of 2023 and earned a spot on Fast Company’s list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. In May 2023, ACFC became the first women’s team to achieve the prestigious title of Sports Team of the Year by SBJ.
