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What makes Angel City FC different in the NWSL? Let the players explain

(Courtesy of Angel City FC)

Christen Press has waited her entire career to play for a team in her hometown of Los Angeles. She’s waited just as long to compete for a club whose values are so synced with her own.

Since she turned professional out of Stanford in 2010, while living in Portland, the UK and many places in between, Press has been driven to elevate the women’s game. That’s what NWSL expansion club Angel City FC is all about, and finally, Press is home.

“To play at this point in my career for a club that’s trying to represent a new future for women’s soccer, and one with equity and inclusion at its core, one that’s working for progress, that’s truly meaningful to me,” she said.

Now, for the first time in franchise history, it’s match day for Press and Angel City. The team meets fellow expansion side San Diego Wave FC on Saturday in their Challenge Cup opener.

Angel City picked up just three rookies late into the 2022 NWSL draft, including Hope Breslin (No. 28), Lily Nabet (No. 36) and Miri Taylor (No. 39). With more players familiar with the pro landscape than a lot of other NWSL teams this season, Angel City is already living up to its culture of building through and around strong women.

“It’s really empowering to be led by successful women and women that want to see us succeed at the highest level, so I think having that behind us is one of the biggest differences that I have seen,” said defender Allyson Swaby.

Women athletes often spend their entire careers not only training to be elite at their sport, but also serving as advocates for the growth of the game. Angel City’s players have a club willing to fight that battle with them, allowing them more freedom to focus on soccer.

“I honestly can hardly believe that it’s a reality, and it’s a very unique thing for me to be able to be a part of and with where the game is today,” Press said.

The staff, so far, has been able to strike an ideal balance of fun and hard work. Intelligence, talent, culture, diversity and inclusion are just a few words the players used to describe the community the club has created, which has helped them sell over 14,000 season tickets for the upcoming season. Savannah McCaskill says the wide range of supporters the club has recruited will be “really unique to this league and the U.S.”

“I think every person I meet around the team, their character is impeccable, and when you put that group together, we could do amazing things,” said defender Paige Nielsen.

Ali Riley and Simone Charley have never been a part of an expansion club, so they’ve been experiencing Angel City’s gorwth with fresh eyes.

“They’re dedicated to just giving back to the community, and I think that’s an amazing foundation to be built on, just bettering those around you,” Charley said. “I think just building a team and the staff around that is an awesome philosophy.”

“It’s pretty incredible to be [my first expansion] and to build our own culture and create the team environment we want to have, and be the first team now to be Angel City players and represent L.A. in the NWSL,” Riley said.

The players have built that chemistry in training, in the locker room and before practice during games of soccer tennis. Off the field, the club recently organized a visit to San Diego, where they played jeopardy, went to the beach and had 25 minutes to paint portraits of each other, which Nielsen jokingly described as hideous.

On the field, what stands out to midfielder Dani Weatherholt is the excitement they share, knowing they’re an underdog team.

“For me initially, seeing all the names and a lot of people were either on the brink of breaking out on their team, or are new to the NWSL, like maybe didn’t get drafted, I think there’s this chip on their shoulder of wanting to prove themselves, and I think that’s super exciting,” she said.

When Angel City plays their first match of the Challenge Cup on Saturday, fans can expect a strong defensive team with a flare on the attack.

“Dangerous,” Nielsen said. “Fast and furious,” according to Swaby.

Charley prefers to keep it a secret.

“You’ll just have to come to our first game and see,” she said with a smile.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

WNBA Teams Make Big-Name Cuts Ahead of 2025 Season Tip-Off

Atlanta Dream player Haley Jones looks on during a 2024 WNBA game.
The Atlanta Dream waived third-year guard Haley Jones on Wednesday. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Big-name roster cuts dominated the WNBA headlines on Wednesday, with teams scrambling to meet the league's size and salary cap requirements before Friday's 2025 season tip-off.

The Golden State Valkyries, Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream, Washington Mystics, and Dallas Wings announced finalized rosters, leaving a handful of teams still weighing their options as the clock ticks down.

Expansion side Golden State caused the most Wednesday commotion, dropping 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella story Kaitlyn Chen (UConn) and 2023 No. 8 overall draft pick Laeticia Amihere (South Carolina), among other cuts, after initially waiving this year's No. 17 overall pick Shyanne Sellers (Maryland) last week.

With this year's No. 5 overall pick Justė Jocytė (Lithuania) choosing to remain overseas for this summer's EuroBasket, the Valkyries will now make their WNBA debut without a single 2025 draftee.

2023 WNBA Draft Class takes a hit

The hits kept coming for the 2023 WNBA Draft class, as Atlanta's No. 6 overall pick Haley Jones (Stanford) and Minnesota's No. 7 selectee Grace Berger (Indiana) joined Amihere on the league's cutting room floor on Wednesday — leaving only five 2023 first-rounders currently on WNBA rosters.

On the flip side, the Connecticut Sun dropped 30-year-old guard Diamond DeShields on Thursday morning — just three months after signing the 2021 WNBA champion.

Ultimately, rookies, mid-career players, and veterans alike are on the chopping block this week, with teams showing little mercy for fan favorites as they hone in on what promises to be a highly competitive 2025 WNBA season.

NWSLPA Voices Player Safety Concerns, Demands NWSL Protocol Change

Utah's Alex Loera leads both Angel City and Royals players and staff in prayer for LA's Savy King on the field after an NWSL match.
Last weekend’s Angel City vs. Utah Royals match continued after ACFC’s Savy King needed life-saving care. (Harry How/NWSL via Getty Images)

The NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) is advocating for an immediate change in protocol in the name of player safety, with the union voicing concerns about the handling of Angel City defender Savy King's mid-match medical event last Friday.

Following current league guidelines, the game between the LA club and the Utah Royals resumed play on Friday, picking up where they left off after King's on-pitch collapse required nearly 10 minutes of life-saving intervention from medical staff.

Amid a crowd of visibly distressed players and coaches, paramedics rushed King to an area hospital, with the 20-year-old later undergoing successful surgery to fix a previously undetected heart abnormality.

"These moments demand humanity, sound judgment, and restraint," the NWSLPA posted on Wednesday. "Any medical emergency that requires the administration of life-saving care should bring play to an end. The match should not have continued."

"Our members are elite, world-class competitors who have proven they can perform under unimaginable conditions. That does not mean they should have to," the statement continued.

"Incidents of this severity must prioritize our collective humanity and should automatically trigger suspension of the match. The Players Association is committed to making this the standard in [the] NWSL."

NWSL player safety again takes center-pitch

As the NWSL braces for rapid expansion, the NWSLPA remains laser-focused on ensuring player safety never takes a backseat, both on and off the field.

That priority was mirrored in the league's own Wednesday post.

Shortly before the NWSLPA's statement hit feeds, the NWSL issued its own statement, saying "Player Safety is paramount to the NWSL. The seriousness of this incident requires a deliberate process that is careful and methodical. That process is underway and will include necessary revisions that prioritize the consideration of player, staff, and fan well-being."

The lack of an instant protocol change doesn't sit well with NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke.

After reviewing the league's post, Burke told Front Office Sports "The reality is these decisions are made in real time. A decision needed to be made last Friday night.... Five days later, they still [haven't] decided whether or not this game should have been suspended." 

"This is a human issue. The right thing to do was to call this game. It doesn't take this long to realize that."

Alexis Ohanian Buys 10% Stake in WSL Champions Chelsea FC

Angel City lead founding investor Alexis Ohanian points to the team crest on his jacket during a 2022 NWSL event.
Alexis Ohanian reportedly paid £20 million for a 10% stake in Chelsea FC. (Jessica Rapfogel/Imagn Images)

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is Chelsea FC's newest owner, with the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams reportedly dropping £20 million ($26.6 million) on a 10% stake in the WSL champions earlier this week.

Ohanian is no stranger to investing in women's sports, from launching Angel City as the 2022 NWSL expansion club's majority owner to last year's founding of Athlos NYC, an annual women's track and field event with a $663,000 purse.

"I've bet big on women's sports before — and I'm doing it again," Ohanian posted on social media on Wednesday. "I'm proud to announce that I'm joining @ChelseaFCW as an investor and board member. I'm honored for the chance to help this iconic club become America's favorite @BarclaysWSL team and much, much more."

"These players are rewriting the game. Undefeated season. Eyes on the treble," said Ohanian about Chelsea FC's historic 2024/25 success. "But this isn't just about winning titles. It's about finally matching their talent with the resources, visibility, and respect they deserve."

Ohanian's investment comes amid soaring valuations for women's pro teams — with Chelsea's $257 million price tag ranking as the highest in all of women's soccer.

Calling Ohanian's buy-in "game-changing," Blues manager Sonia Bompastor told reporters on Thursday that "It's really important for the women's game but also for England to have someone to invest in a team like Chelsea."

"We want to be the leaders," she continued. "We want to be the team who shows to every other team how you need to perform and how you need to invest in the women's game."

Women's clubs still successful after splitting with men's teams

Ohanian's investment also indicates Chelsea's commitment to further distancing their women's team operations from their men's side, following last June's ownership move to place the women's squad under an independent subsidiary.

Though most European women's teams remain closely affiliated with their men's counterparts, severing ties is on the rise, with US billionaire Michele Kang assuming majority ownership over women's clubs Olympique Lyonnais and the newly promoted London City Lionesses in recent years.

With skyrocketing revenue — plus Kang's fleet proving that independence benefits women's teams — expect to see even more US investors eyeing women's sports opportunities abroad.

FIFA Sets $1 Billion Revenue Goal for Women’s World Cup

A 2023 World Cup match's attendence of 40,499 is displaying during the game.
The 2023 World Cup garnered $570 million in revenue. (Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty Images)

FIFA is setting a new goal for the Women's World Cup, with organization president Gianni Infantino stating this week that the governing body is aiming to generate $1 billion in revenue from the international championship tournament.

"Women's football and women in football are crucially important," Infantino said at the 2025 Saudi Arabia/US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday.

"It's growing as well, and exponentially, and we are targeting [growth] as well to have $1 billion revenue just with the Women's World Cup to reinvest in the women's game."

The public push to hit the billion-dollar mark comes after the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand became the first edition of the tournament to break even, generating a revenue total over $570 million.

The 2027 World Cup will take place in Brazil, becoming the first iteration ever held in South America, while the US — as the only bid on the table — has a near-guaranteed lock on hosting the 2031 edition.

As FIFA takes aim at its $1 billion target for the 2027 tournament, the 2031 World Cup could have a leg up in the revenue game, with FIFA expanding the competition's field from 32 to 48 teams just last week.

Consequently, that 16-team increase boosts the total matches from 64 in 2027 to 104 in the 2031, instantly creating 62.5% more inventory — a move that could help meet or potentially exceed FIFA's bold new revenue goal.

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