Tag: Bob Iger

Reports: Angel City nears record-breaking sale including $300 million valuation

Willow Bay and Disney CEO Bob Iger are reportedly close to a record-shattering deal to buy a controlling stake in the NWSL club

Angel City FC is close to changing hands, and it’s a move that will likely reverberate throughout women’s sports.

On Tuesday, Puck News first reported that Willow Bay and husband Bob Iger, who is the CEO of Disney, were close to a deal to purchase a controlling stake in the Los Angeles-based NWSL club.

Semafor then filled in the details, reporting that the couple’s investment — which would see Bay replace Alexis Ohanian as the controlling shareholder at the club — would be at least $50 million. Should the deal go through, Angel City would be valued at somewhere over $300 million.

That would represent a rapid rise, as Sportico declared Angel City’s total value at $180 million in October 2023.

Bay, the dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, and Iger were in attendance as Angel City fell 3-0 to the Orlando Pride on Sunday.

Former Milwaukee Bucks part-owner Marc Lasry and Manchester United owner Avram Glazer were reported as competitors to purchase Ohanian’s stake. The Los Angeles Times reported in March that the Angel City board had voted to seek a new controlling investor amid internal disputes over spending.

Semafor’s reporting included a pitch deck submitted as part of the Bay/Iger bid, which asserted that the new owners would “enhance and promote ACFC as a premier women’s sports franchise and global brand,” noting that a practice facility and better team performance would be areas of focus under new ownership.

Since Michele Kang purchased the Washington Spirit at a $35 million valuation in February 2022, NWSL club values have skyrocketed. In September 2023, a consortium of Chicago-based business leaders purchased the Chicago Red Stars at a valuation of $60 million.

In 2024, the market has been even more active. The Portland Thorns were sold to siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal at a $63 million valuation in January, setting an NWSL record.

Not long thereafter, the Seattle Reign were sold to the Carlyle Group and the Seattle Sounders for $58 million in March. That same month, Ron Burkle sold the San Diego Wave to the Levine Leichtman family at a record-breaking $120 million valuation.

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Bob Iger interested in buying Suns?

It’s crunch time for Bob Iger if the outgoing Disney executive chairman wants to announce another gig before he leaves the company at the end of the year. Several options are still on the table, I’m told, but one potential scenario could be particularly interesting: NBA owner. Iger has told at least a couple friends that he’d love to front a bid for the Phoenix Suns if the hoops team were to become available, which it just might in the next couple months.

He’s close with Silver, thanks to years …

He’s close with Silver, thanks to years of Disney’s ABC and ESPN broadcasting games. And he’s even closer with Chris Paul, who was president of the NBA Players Association when the Covid “bubble” games were staged at Disney’s compound in Florida, and who happens to play for the Suns. “I consider him a very good friend,” Iger said of Paul last year. Iger has long harbored sports ambitions, at one point pursuing an NFL team in his L.A. hometown, which, of course, is just a short 45 minute private flight to Phoenix. And Iger and his family are close with billionaire private equity mogul Tony Ressler and his wife, Jami Gertz (yes, the actress), who own the Atlanta Hawks.