While soccer has yet to fully be embraced by American culture, that hasn’t stopped famous Hollywood figures from going out there and literally investing in the sport… and turning it into a docuseries. Over on FX, there’s “Welcome to Wrexham,” which follows the aftermath of American Rob McElhenney and his business partner Ryan Reynolds as they purchase a UK soccer team and try to make it big. Now, we have HBO with “Angel City,” a series that follows Natalie Portman and her team of investors as they establish a new women’s soccer club in Los Angeles.
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As seen in the trailer, “Angel City” and “Welcome to Wrexham” share a lot of the same DNA, but there is one major difference between the two series— women. “Angel City” is not only a docuseries about famous people establishing a soccer club, but it’s also about the furthering of female sports and the struggles women face in a male-dominated industry.
“Angel City” debuts on HBO on May 16. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
ANGEL CITY is a captivating docuseries that goes behind the scenes and onto the pitch of the groundbreaking Los Angeles-based professional women’s soccer team, Angel City Football Club (ACFC). Founded in September 2020 by actor Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, ACFC breaks the mold by being the largest majority female ownership group in professional sports and includes 14 former US Women’s National Team players as investors. The series pulls back the curtain on the origin story through the 2022 inaugural season, and candidly reveals the passion and grit needed to build a franchise from scratch. While the athletes and coaching staff contend with training facility challenges and unexpected injuries, the club is tasked with filling the stadium and proving to the world that you can lead with passion and purpose and still turn a profit. As philosophies are debated and performance expectations aren’t met, the club must cope with the growing pains of a startup, begging the question: can this new ACFC model succeed both on and off the pitch?
