How mission and capital can co-exist as sports is becoming a compelling alternative investment. A conversation with Julie Uhrman on how Angel City FC is changing the game in sports and business

Today, we have a guest on Alt Goes Mainstream who lives at the intersection of culture and finance as sports is increasingly becoming an investable asset class.

Angel City FC Co-Founder & President Julie Uhrman and I had a fascinating conversation about how sports and investing are merging together – and how that’s informed how she’s building Angel City FC.

Julie and team have been innovative in the way that they’ve engaged fans, players, and investors.
 

We discuss: 

• How ACFC has used entertainment to have an impact.
• How athletes are building their own platforms on and off the field - and what that means for player, fans, and teams.
• How new types of investors — both professional funds and celebrities — are leveraging their platforms for impact to help sports teams build a differentiated brand and business.
• How ACFC is taking lessons learned from innovations in technology, community-building, and Web3 to engage fans and create new revenues for sports clubs.
• How mission and capital can co-exist together as sports becomes a compelling alternative investment.

Julie is a serial entrepreneur and force of nature who is bringing her deep expertise in gaming, media, and entertainment to build our her most ambitious project yet – Angel City FC, the expansion professional women’s soccer team in her native Los Angeles.

And build is what she and the team have done.

In a mere two years, Julie and team have built one of the most recognizable and successful brands in women’s football — without yet having a team on the field.

They’ve done an incredible job of creating purpose driven content and engaging fans across various social media channels.

They’ve secured a top tier front of kit sponsor in DoorDash and have achieved record season ticket sales in the NWSL.

They’ve built a true fan community to the point where ACFC has passed the "tattoo test" – some fans have gotten inked!

And they’ve brought on a diverse, talented group of investors whose life and work aligns with Angel City’s mission as the club looks to make a positive impact in the community and on women’s soccer.

It’s no surprise that Julie has been able to build up ACFC in such a short time.

She was most recently the President of Media for PEI, where she oversaw the company’s media offerings across all verticals. Prior to PEI, she served as the EVP & GM of Over-The-Top Ventures for Lionsgate, building and managing the company’s multiple streaming franchises. She also founded and was CEO of OUYA, a pioneering Android-based game console for the living room which raised a record-breaking $8.6M in crowdfunded capital on Kickstarter and VC funding from Kleiner Perkins and Alibaba before selling to Razer in 2015.

She’s deservedly been given a number of awards for her work, including being named to the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company and one of the most Creative 50 by Ad Age.

Thanks Julie for coming on the AGM podcast to share the story of your pioneering work at Angel City FC. We look forward to watching ACFC continue to grow on and off the pitch.