Angel City FC co-founder Alexis Ohanian believes that the NWSL will be bigger than MLS within the next 10 years.
The NWSL, which began play in 2013, has established itself as one of, if not the best women’s soccer league in the world as it continues to add teams.
The league grew to 14 teams this year, with two more expansion franchises set to join by 2026.
As the NWSL pursues an aggressive growth strategy, it will follow in the footsteps of MLS, which will grow to 30 teams next season.
Though NWSL franchise values and media rights deals lag behind those of MLS, the league is experiencing rapid growth as the profile of women’s sports worldwide continues to surge.
According to Ohanian, the NWSL has one key advantage over MLS that will fuel its growth in the coming years.
“The Messi effect has been phenomenal,” the Reddit co-founder said on the Seven Seven Six podcast.
“What they’ve built there is real. Can the whole league sustain? No. I think it’s very hard to justify in a world where the best footballers don’t consider MLS even a top two league? Top three?
“All of the European leagues are superior to it,” he continued. “Can that change in the next 10 years? I don’t think so. And unless that changes, you’re not going to get the values to really match up. That’s why I think the NWSL will be bigger than MLS in 10 years, because we can tell a story of excellence in women’s football in America using the NWSL.”
Ohanian gave up control of Angel City last month in a deal that saw Willow Bay and Bob Iger become the club’s new controlling owners.
Iger, the CEO of the Walt Disney Company and Bay, the dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, completed the transaction with the NWSL club valued at $250 million, making it the most valuable women’s sports team in the world.
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