Portman said she believes this is the first female-led group of investors in any professional sportGETTY IMAGES
Actress Natalie Portman last night officially announced the NWSL expansion club in L.A. will be known as Angel City FC. Portman, who is a founding investor of the club, dropped the news during an appearance on NBC's “The Tonight Show,” where she said, “A group of us became really passionate about women’s soccer because we have the best players in the world in the United States, in the most popular sport in the world. ... We are super excited to just kind of celebrate these incredible athletes. It’s the first female-led, female investors, I think, in any professional sport.” NBC's Jimmy Fallon, who earlier called Portman's involvement in the team “massive,” said, “I love the name, too” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 10/20). The naming process was led internally by Angel City's marketing team, with some collaboration from L.A.-based creative ad agency Battery. Angel City's unveiling of its colors, branding and primary logo will occur next year. In addition to formally unveiling the team name, Angel City last night also announced more than two dozen new investors from across the sports, entertainment, media and technology worlds. They include Billie Jean King and partner Ilana Kloss, Gold Medal-winning skier Lindsey Vonn, Devils D P.K. Subban, actress Sophia Bush, talk show host James Corden and Minnesota United investor Ben Grossman, among others. Angel City's investor group now totals more than 50 people (Mark J. Burns, THE DAILY).
TUNE IN: Portman and fellow Angel City founders Julie Uhrman and Alexis Ohanian are scheduled to discuss the launch of the club next week during the '20 Game Changers Conference. Click here to register for the live virtual event.
