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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — On a typically warm, sunny spring day in Southern California, Angel City FC sporting director Mark Parsons made it clear that he wasn’t interested in doing things normally. Why? Because Angel City FC is not just another club.
Parsons requested to move his interview with ESPN from the team’s news conference room to his office down the hall, where a slideshow presentation being projected onto the wall answered most conceivable questions about Angel City’s future. The interviewee had become the host, a subtle metaphor for how one of the world’s most famous women’s soccer teams is trying to take control of its own narrative on the field.
The presentation to ESPN was the same one, minus a few confidential pages, that Parsons had recently given to players and staff upon taking the job in January. His mission — and the reason the club hired him — is relatively simply laid out in the first slide: “Be world leaders in women’s soccer on and off the field.”
Indisputably, Angel City has quickly built a recognizable brand with its off-field moves since launching five years ago.
The Los Angeles-based NWSL franchise made a splash with a celebrity ownership group that includes Hollywood actress Natalie Portman, tennis icon Serena Williams, and pop star Becky G. The team broke ticket and sponsorship records before players kicked a ball in a competitive match. The team made headlines by mandating that all sponsors dedicate 10% of their deals to local philanthropy. Last year’s sale of the team at a $250 million valuation made it the most valuable women’s sports franchise in the world.
Success on the soccer field, however, is yet to follow. The team has never won a playoff game and has made it to the postseason only once in three attempts. Last year’s 12th-place finish was further marred by the first points deduction in NWSL history as punishment for salary cap violations. The team’s general manager and head…
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