The Angel City Football Club is getting stronger financial wings, thanks to one of Los Angeles’ most prominent couples: Willow Bay, dean of USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and her husband, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger.

The women’s soccer club on Wednesday announced an agreement with Bay and Iger, allowing them to join the club as controlling owners. As part of the arrangement, which is subject to the National Women’s Soccer League’s approval, the couple also agreed to provide $50 million in cash to expand Angel City FC’s budget and ease its losses.

Bay and Iger’s investment — which values Angel City at $250 million, making it the most valuable women’s sports team — comes amid increasing popularity of women’s sports and a growing recognition that female athletes often are as big a draw as their male counterparts.

The couple’s contribution tops $100 million, according to two people familiar with the deal who were not authorized to discuss financial terms.

Once the transaction is finalized, Bay will assume control of the team’s board of directors and become its league representative, replacing entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, the founding controlling shareholder. Ohanian, co-founder of the online discussion site Reddit and husband of tennis legend Serena Williams, will remain on the board.

This season, Angel City FC ranks 11th in the league, which has 14 teams. It has a record of four wins, three draws and nine losses.

“We’re really looking at this as a long-term commitment,” Bay said in an interview. “We know this is a long road and that’s part of what excites us.”

Angel City long has had Hollywood connections.

The club was founded in 2020 by actor Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman. The seeds were planted as part of a heightened awareness of systemic gender inequities in the workplace and in sports that came about during the #MeToo movement and formation of the now-defunct Time’s Up coalition.

“Women’s sports is having a culture-defining moment,” Bay said. “Participation is on the rise, viewership is on the rise, and appreciation for the level of the skill that these athletes demonstrate also is on the rise. All of those things, we really believe, add up to the momentum that we know exists for this team.”

Due to his position at Disney overseeing sports broadcasting behemoth ESPN, Iger will recuse himself from all business matters dealing with the women’s soccer league, Bay said.

Late last year, the league unveiled a $240-million media rights deal with CBS, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps’ network ION, which has been central to expanding the league’s revenue and visibility. So far this season, more than 7 million viewers have watched the league’s national broadcasts, according to the club.

There has been tension over the team’s spending. While Angel City generated the most revenue in the NWSL last year at $31 million, it also was spending enormous amounts.

Angel City’s board of directors unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the next 30 to 60 days.

Bay said she and Iger are confident the club’s prospects are bright.

The team plays home matches at BMO Stadium near USC, south of downtown L.A. The club is in its third season. Olympic gold medalist Angela Hucles Mangano is general manager and Becki Tweed is the head coach.

Bay did not disclose the family’s ownership percentage.

To become a controlling shareholder, owners must hold more than a 35% stake, according to a knowledgeable person not authorized to comment publicly.

“We’ve followed the team as fans and friends since its inception,” Bay said. “We’ve attended games, we’ve brought our kids and granddaughters. … We love what [the team] has brought to this community.”

Angel City has a large ownership group that includes current and retired sports stars Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Candace Parker, Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Lauren Cheney Holiday, Abby Wambach and Lindsey Vonn.

Music star Becky G and prominent actors Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria and Lilly Singh also hold stakes, as does activist Glennon Doyle and NFL players Matthew Stafford and Ryan Kalil.

“We know they are the right partners to lead us into this new era — they are committed to further strengthening ACFC’s position as a preeminent organization and brand in women’s sports and to championing the team’s broader mission, including the advancement of equity for athletes and women-founded businesses,” Angel City FC’s board said in a statement.

Times staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.

News that flag football will be a part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has piqued the interest of many NFL stars who would love to showcase their skills on the global stage. 

Add San Francisco 49ers veteran fullback Kyle Juszczyk to that list.

“I 100% want to play flag football in 2028,” Juszczyk told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday. “And whoever’s in charge of that selection committee, please go watch my 2022 Pro Bowl highlight tape. That is my resume for the Olympics. Hopefully, I can find a way to get in there.”

The NFL Pro Bowl introduced flag football into its festivities in recent years, and Juszczyk was running all over the field with flags on his hips in the friendly exhibition against his fellow stars in the league. 

But simply being able to call himself an Olympian isn’t the only reason the Harvard product wants to play in 2028.

His United States pride is the main reason for wanting to get out there in Los Angeles on the gridiron.

BENGALS’ JOE BURROW EXPRESSES OLYMPIC ASPIRATIONS AS FLAG FOOTBALL WILL MAKE DEBUT IN 2028

“I’ve always said, not that it’s a regret of mine, but something I wished I had the opportunity to do was compete in the Olympics and represent your country. I think that is so, so cool and special and unique,” Juszczyk said while also discussing the Purina for the Win Challenges.

“Football, we just haven’t had that opportunity. But now to have something with flag football would be really cool. I’m all on board if they’re interested and, at the time, need a 37-year-old fullback to go out there and represent our country. I’m ready.”

Juszczyk is set for year 12 in the NFL this season at 33 years old, and who knows if he’ll still be throwing blocks, catching passes and scoring touchdowns by the time the 2028 Olympics comes around.

But there are many NFL stars who agree with Juszczyk, saying they would love to represent the United States in an event that surely should lead to a gold medal with football being the country’s biggest sport.

NFC fullback Kyle Juszczyk of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates during the Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium, February 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Among them was Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow, who recently told the “Pardon My Take” podcast that he’d definitely be willing to play for Team USA in 2028. 

“I really want to play for the Olympic flag football team,” Burrow said. “Like me, Ja’Marr (Chase), Justin (Jefferson), me and my friends out there playing football. … I think it’d be really cool.”

Burrow even said what many were thinking: It’d be “embarrassing” if the U.S. didn’t win gold in flag football in four years.

Other players who have shown interest to date are Miami Dolphins speedster Tyreek Hill and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

With other professional leagues seeing their stars participate in the Olympics – many NBA players will be representing the United States in Paris next month – there will surely be more in the NFL who wish to participate four years from now.

Kyle Juszczyk (Chris Unger/Getty Images)

Juszczyk is now focused on making it back to the Super Bowl this season for some redemption after losing to the Chiefs in February, but he’s putting his hat in the ring now for the chance to be playing football for the United States.

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Shohei Ohtani wasn’t able to participate in this week’s Home Run Derby. But the Dodgers slugger didn’t leave All-Star week in Texas without a memorable big fly.

In the third inning of Major League Baseball’s 94th All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field, Ohtani wowed the 39,343-person crowd the best way he knows how: smoking a no-doubt, 400-foot home run halfway up the right-field stands in the American League’s eventual 5-3 win over the National League.

“At this point, it’s normal for him,” teammate Teoscar Hernández said. “It’s Shohei being Shohei.”

The blast was Ohtani’s first home run in the Midsummer Classic, where he is now two for six with three walks in four appearances (he also has a win as a pitcher, making him the only player in MLB history with both a home run and win in the event).

It was the first All-Star Game homer by a Dodgers player since Mike Piazza in 1996, and only the second by a Japanese-born player after Ichiro Suzuki’s inside-the-park home run in the 2007 game.

However, it was also the only scoring for the NL on Tuesday, denying Ohtani potential most valuable player honors that instead went to the Boston Red Sox’s Jarren Durran, a former Long Beach State and Cypress High standout, who broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning with a two-run homer.

“In general, I haven’t really hit well during the All-Star Game, so I’m just relieved that I put a good ball in play,” Ohtani, who also had a first-inning walk, said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I was really just focused on having a regular at-bat, as if I was in the regular season.”

Ohtani’s blast opened the scoring Tuesday night, coming on a 2-and-0 splitter from Boston Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck. Like everyone else in the ballpark, Ohtani began to admire the drive as soon as he hit it, leaning back in the batter’s box with a long gaze before flipping his bat and rounding the bases.

From the dugout, Dodgers teammate Freddie Freeman flung his arms in celebration, while Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow’s jaw dropped.

As Ohtani came around third, he also put his arms in the air — doing the same hip-shaking, Dragon Ball Z-inspired long ball celebration that accompanied the NL-leading 29 homers he hit for the Dodgers during the first half of the season.

“It felt inevitable he was going to do it,” Freeman said. “He steps in the box, and you kind of figure he would come through. Pretty awesome.”

The Dodgers had three other players in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. A night after winning the Home Run Derby, Hernández started in center field but went 0 for 2. Catcher Will Smith entered the game in the sixth inning and recorded a single. But, in the next at-bat, Freeman came off the bench and grounded into a double play, stepping on the foot of Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor for an awkward out that required a video review.

Glasnow, a first-time All-Star, watched the game from the dugout, unable to take the mound because of a back injury that landed him on the injured list. Glasnow has been throwing this week, and expects to return from the IL when eligible next week.

But as usual, no one topped Ohtani’s exploits Tuesday night.

Houck said he was trying to throw a low splitter to Ohtani, but left too much of it over the heart of the plate.

“Just a good swing,” he said. “The boys were going out there swinging today.”

Oakland Athletics closer Mason Miller, a flame-throwing 25-year-old rookie right-hander, had better luck against Ohtani in his last at-bat in the fifth inning, striking him out with a couple of 100-mph fastballs and a swing-and-miss slider below the zone.

“I wasn’t giving him one up,” Miller told the Fox broadcast. “That’s for sure.”

When Ohtani met with reporters during the eighth inning, he was asked if he was rooting particularly hard for an NL comeback given his MVP candidacy (a player from the losing team hasn’t won All-Star Game MVP since Carl Yastrzemski in 1970).

“In an ideal world, yes,” he said with a chuckle.

Still, “it’s an honor just being here,” he added.

Indeed, even without any award-winning hardware, Ohtani managed to once again be a main attraction on baseball’s biggest night of stars.

Missing glove

As Freeman dug through his locker in the NL’s visiting clubhouse a few hours before the game, he realized something was missing.

“Where’s my glove?” he asked out loud, with a laugh. “I seriously don’t have a glove.”

Turns out, as he was packing up his stuff at the end of the Dodgers’ series in Detroit on Sunday, Freeman’s first baseman’s glove was accidentally packed in the bag he sent back to Los Angeles.

A Little League-esque sequence ensued.

First, Freeman sought out NL starting first baseman Bryce Harper, knowing he and the Philadelphia Phillies star share Rawlings as an equipment sponsor.

Before first pitch, however, Freeman learned that New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso had an extra mitt with him in Texas.

“He was like, ‘Hey, I don’t a have a glove,’” Alonso chuckled. “I was like, ‘Well, that’s a problem. I have an extra one. Would you like to use one of mine?’”

Old friends from their days playing against each other in the NL East when Freeman played for Atlanta, Alonso joked he didn’t charge Freeman anything for the rental, either.

“Nah,” he said. “Just friendship dues. That’s it.”

Dad duty

When Hernández became the first Dodgers player to win the Home Run Derby on Monday night, there were a few current Dodgers who were missing from the celebration.

While Glasnow stuck around to the end of Hernández’s dramatic win, the club’s three other All-Star hitters were all gone by the end of the three-hour slugfest.

The reason, for Smith and Freeman at least?

They were on Dad duty, having brought their young children with them to Texas this week.

“I had to leave early,” joked Smith, whose daughter Charlotte is almost 2. “My daughter was not having it.”

The same went for Freeman, who was in town with his three sons, Charlie, Maximus, and Brandon.

Hernández said he didn’t give his lineup-mates a hard time, joking he hardly even noticed until seeing social media users wondering about their absences Tuesday.

“At the end of the day, it was a good day,” he said. “I won. So that’s all that matters.”

During batting practice before Monday’s Derby, Freeman’s oldest son, 7-year-old Charlie, received big ovations from the crowd as he raced after fly balls.

In the visiting clubhouse after Tuesday’s All-Star Game, all three boys were climbing over their eight-time All-Star of a dad.

“This is what makes it fun for me now,” Freeman said. “Obviously it’s still fun to play in All-Star Games. But when you have the joy of him coming and shagging balls and stuff like that. To see their faces, that’s what makes it fun.”