Rachel Bachman
Appearances
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
Yes, we've gone from no stadiums and owners who weren't entirely sure that the league would even survive to owners who are now making decades-long investments in their teams.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
So the fact that owners are now saying, we think these leagues are going to grow to the point that even though we're investing hundreds of millions of dollars, we are going to get our money back. A new era. It is a new era. I would say it is an unprecedented era of investor confidence in women's professional team sports.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
What was the business model? The business model was a shoestring. It was, let's invest enough to keep this team going till the next year, and then see if we can keep doing it again the following year. The wages, aside from maybe a couple of stars, were very low.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
And oftentimes players dressed in, you know, borrowed locker rooms or even porta potties or trailers next to the field because the entire setup was just simply not for them. They were add-ons to men's stadiums or college stadiums, whatever stadium they could find. They were renters. Why couldn't they have their own? They didn't have the money. Not anywhere near enough money.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
And they didn't have owners who were willing to invest because, remember, these two previous leagues had each folded. So who in their right mind would build a stadium for a team that might be gone in three years?
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
You don't get to sell sponsorships, which is usually a very big chunk of the money you make. A lot of stadiums sell their naming rights. Those are very lucrative. Selling advertising rights all around the stadium. Picking the vendors you want.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
Stadiums want to pick foods and drinks and experiences and surroundings that they think will make their fans more likely to come and spend money and stay and want to re-up their season tickets. All of that has been off the table for women's pro team sports.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
So Chris and Angie Long are a married couple who work in investment. And they were blown away at the fervor for that event, at the fandom of the U.S. women's soccer team. And they just saw limitless potential in this league, the National Women's Soccer League, that was quite young at the time. In fact, that many people had never even heard of. And they said, this is a business opportunity.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
40 banks. On what grounds? The bankers looked at their financial projections and were just very skeptical. They said, we don't think you can do this. We don't think this is going to pencil out. And we're not going to finance your stadium. The one bank that said yes was J.P. Morgan, where both of the Longs had previously worked. But still, this had never happened before.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
Perhaps most important, they pledged to build a practice facility and a stadium solely for this team. What's notable about that? About a year ago, women's professional stadiums essentially didn't exist really in the world. In the world? In the world. There might have been a playing field somewhere, but there was not a stadium for women really anywhere professionally.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
No banks could look at other cities and say, well, it worked here, it worked there, so let's take a chance on this. No, there was no blueprint for this. The Longs created it.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
So it's small. It's pretty intimate. But they knew they wanted it to be packed with fans and raucous and the place to be. And so they wanted to right-size it for this young team. And that's what they opened. History made. It's 2024, but if someone's going to do it, I'm glad it's Kansas City. Kansas City is officially home to the first stadium ever built for a women's professional team.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
Yes, attendance has gone up significantly in the NWSL. Viewership is going up. And certainly people wanting to start teams of their own, that has surged, right? They can only add so many teams in a year, but there are many more cities who want teams than are getting them. So demand is outstripping supply right now.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
What she's doing in the WNBA, like every game she's playing at is a sellout right now. And just to have that type of star power and excitement.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
Great question. She played soccer very well in high school, and she also has an interest in running teams, even owning teams, when she retires from basketball. And so she told Cincinnati's owners that she wanted to be an owner because she wanted to learn the business and what it was like to own and run a team.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
She has a very high profile. And the fact that she wanted to spend time on the business, I think would have helped the soccer league. It would have brought more attention to the league.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
Owners are willing to spend sums of money in ways that they had never been willing before. That's a huge change. It's hard to overstate what a big change that is. In the past, when people invested in professional women's sports, it was typically very short-term.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
So what the NWSL wants to move toward is their teams being the primary tenant wherever they play. That's a big change. It's a huge change. It's an absolute 180 because it basically never existed before.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
So Bay FC, which is starting its second year in the National Women's Soccer League, is in the San Francisco Bay Area building. Their owner has told me they're planning to build a stadium in the coming years. They're also building a practice facility, which will probably come first.
The Journal.
Women's Soccer Is Getting a Big Upgrade
And actually, the Bay FC owner told me he thinks that within a decade, 60 to 70 percent of the teams in this league will own their own stadiums. Wow.