Angel City FC and used vehicle retailer CarMax have signed a sponsorship agreement that will place CarMax in prominent public-facing positions across the NWSL club’s business.
Among the specifications of the deal are that CarMax will be the presenting partner of Angel City’s season ticket program, title night event and camps series, which comprises 10 weeks of youth soccer camps for about 500 kids in the Los Angeles region.
CarMax is among the main advertisers in women’s sports, having previously signed agreements with the NWSL’s league office, Gotham FC and a stable of WNBA organizations. This pact, brokered with the help of Wasserman agents, is worth six figures.
Over the past year, CarMax has upped its women’s sports commitments to the point that its women’s and men’s sports marketing outlay is now about even, according to CarMax chief marketing officer Sarah Lane. The increased focus on women’s sports has happened while CarMax pulls back slightly overall on how much of its total expenses go toward advertising.
In the fiscal year 2024, CarMax’s total advertising outlay was $265.6 million (about 11% of its selling, general and administrative expenses). That’s compared to $295.6 million spent on advertising in fiscal 2023 (12%) and $332.2 million in fiscal 2022 (14%), according to company filings.
“The initial cost of entry [for women’s sports] was quite low, so the ROI on that was growing and quite nice,” Lane said in a video interview. “Year over year, it’s just gotten better and better and better, and this current year, I can only imagine it skyrocketing.
“As long as what we’re getting for what we’re paying continues to be lucrative, which it has been, and was before this past year too, I think we’ll be excited to continue investing.”
Angel City, meanwhile, has spent this offseason rearranging its leadership team, with external hires at sporting director, chief revenue officer and most recently president of business operations. The club this week announced it appointed Carmen Bona for the last of those roles.
All NWSL franchises are technically still operating in the red, in part because of pricey up-front investments in new facilities and marketing programs. Angel City, which is based in Los Angeles, is seeking to fortify its revenue streams, with sponsorships an important component of its long-term financial health. At $250 million, Angel City was the top-ranked club in Sportico’s 2024 NWSL valuations and second in the league in revenue with $35.4 million.
“Achieving the status of the most valuable professional women’s sports team in the world is something we are incredibly proud of and a designation we intend to keep,” CEO Julie Uhrman said in an email.
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