Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Yi He is a stealthy but influential woman leading Binance, Simone Biles is getting back on the mat, and we share an excerpt from journalist Macaela MacKenzie’s new book Money, Power, Respect: How Women in Sports Are Shaping the Future of Feminism. Happy Thursday!
- Money, power, respect. Jessica Smith came to Angel City FC after a 20-year career in sports. Angel City “seemed idealistic at the time,” she says, but her gut told her she had to be a part of it. The Los Angeles–based team was cofounded by actor Natalie Portman; she leads an ownership group that reads like an Oscars after-party guest list, two-thirds of whom are women. The team joined the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022.
Smith’s first task as head of revenue was to sell jersey sponsorships—the logos you see on the front, back, and sleeve of pro sport jerseys around the world. What these sponsorship spaces sell for sets the tone for brand investment in the team, serving as a microcosm of a team’s valuation; top-tier men’s soccer teams can sell jersey sponsorships for tens of millions. “I’ll never forget the first [league] call I was on,” Smith tells me. After the perfunctory welcome to the NWSL, they asked what she planned to charge for ACFC’s front of jersey. She named a figure more than twice what would have been considered aggressive for the league. “And I’m not exaggerating, multiple people laughed. They laughed out loud in the meeting,” she says.
