Los Angeles NWSL team


The Los Angeles NWSL team is a planned National Women's Soccer League expansion team that is expected to begin play in 2022. The team will be based in Los Angeles, California and was announced on July 21, 2020.
This will be Los Angeles' first women's professional soccer team since the Los Angeles Sol of Women's Professional Soccer folded in 2010.

History

On July 21, 2020, it was announced by the National Women's Soccer League, the top flight of women's soccer in the United States, that Los Angeles would be awarded an expansion franchise for the 2022 season. The team was announced with a majority female ownership group led by actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian. Other founding members of the team included professional tennis player Serena Williams, actors Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, and Eva Longoria, late night talk show host Lilly Singh, YouTuber Casey Neistat, and former members of the United States national team including Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Rachel Van Hollebeke, Shannon Boxx, Amanda Cromwell, Lorrie Fair, Ronnie Fair, Joy Fawcett, Angela Hucles, Shannon MacMillan, Tisha Venturini, Saskia Webber, Lauren Holiday, and Abby Wambach.
It was also announced during the team's launch that they would be announcing their official name before the end of the year but were going to use 'Angel City' as a tentative nickname. The team is also in discussions with various groups for a stadium agreement, including the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

Naming Controversy

The announcement of the Angel City ownership group's franchise agreement caused backlash on social media among women's sports fans and particularly roller derby fans due to the existence of the Angel City Derby, a top-ten WFTDA organization. While it is unlikely that the NWSL team end up with the "Angel City" moniker, the use of the moniker by the ownership group caused many on social media to either accuse the group of intentionally overlooking the derby league or call for the group to officially hold discussions with and acknowledge the derby league.