Follow the money

The GIST: Private equity (PE) giant and Bay FC majority owner Sixth Street is launching a new multi-club women’s soccer organization called Bay Collective. Similar to trailblazer Michele Kang’s Kynisca, the collective aims to foster growth in women’s soccer by investing in clubs worldwide while also creating opportunities to further capitalize on the women’s game. It’s called goal-setting.

The details: While Sixth Street hasn’t announced a specific launch date, it plans to kick off operations this year with former Football Association technical director Kay Cossington as its chief executive. Bay FC will be the collective’s first club following its highly successful debut season with historic attendance and league-leading merch sales.

The precedent: Kang was the first to build a global women’s soccer collective when she launched Kynisca last summer, in addition to owning the Washington Spirit, Lyonnais Féminin, and the London City Lionesses. Similarly, ownership group Mercury/13 and PE firm Monarch Collective hope to purchase women’s soccer clubs in multiple countries, including Italy and the UK.

• PE firms have been capitalizing on international football — almost half of all EPL teams are under majority American ownership after the Friedkin Group’s Everton purchase last year. And stateside, firms like Arctos are diversifying assets across leagues as it amassed at least $4.1B for its second sports fund.

The why: PE has a vested interest in women’s soccer, especially in the NWSL where ROI has been exponential and there’s fewer investment restrictions compared to men’s leagues like the NFL. Sixth Street pledged a $125M investment upon launch of Bay FC, which has become the fourth most-valued NWSL club at $121M after its inaugural season.

• Other NWSL teams have seen similar success — the Washington Spirit is the league’s fifth most-valued club at $95M, marking a 74% valuation increase YoY. Kang bought the Spirit for a then-record $35M in 2022.

Looking ahead: Women’s soccer is a global opportunity — it makes sense to scoop up properties across the world’s most popular game, and more ownership collectives should pop up in the future. It also seems prudent for brands to partner with such organizations, like how women-focused footwear brand IDA Sports benefitted from a $2M seed funding round led by Kynisca.

• Arctos co-founder Ian Charles said this month he doesn’t expect many Arctos-type firms to crop up in the five major men’s North American sports leagues because of their rules and the capital required, further making the case for more women’s sports–focused ownership collectives. Follow the money.

The GIST: On Friday, Deloitte released its third annual Deloitte Football Money League report profiling 15 top revenue-generating women’s soccer clubs during the 2023–2024 season. Deloitte’s data included leagues throughout most of Europe, Brazil, and Japan, but didn’t include data from the U.S. or Australia.

• The findings reflect global growth in women’s soccer, especially in Europe, a market where UEFA has committed over $1B to grow the game. Let’s dive in.

💸 The women’s game is a moneymaker without the men. Total revenue among these 15 clubs reached $121.4M, marking 35% growth YoY. This figure removed group income, or any revenue contributed from the men’s side of football clubs, including club-wide commercial agreements and investments from men’s teams.

🌍 Spanish and UK clubs led the pack. Liga F club Barcelona — which boasts Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas — ranked first with $18.6M in revenue, a 26% increase from the 2022–23 season. WSL club Arsenal was second with $18.6M in revenue, seeing a 64% YoY boost in matchday revenue and a 48% YoY increase in commercial revenue.

• Fellow WSL franchises Chelsea and Manchester United ranked third ($13.9M) and fourth ($11.1M), while Liga F club Real Madrid rounded out the top five with $10.9M in revenue. Keepin’ it real.

🇬🇧 WSL clubs were top dogs in terms of commercialization and professionalization. Eight of the top 15 clubs were WSL teams, with major contributors to revenue including new broadcast deals, flexing games to larger stadiums for record attendance, and a renewed Barclays sponsorship that doubled in annual value.

👀 North America can learn from these teams’ success. And they should soon, with the WSL poaching elite American talent like Naomi Girma yesterday. The WSL also saw the biggest growth in 2023 global internet searches for sports leagues thanks to its position in a worldly UK market, proximity to the popular EPL, and exposure from its broadcast deals and stadium flexes. A winning combo.

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