Multi-Club Organization · Women's Football

WE BACK
HER GAME.

Zealots is a multi-club organization obsessed with one thing: women's football. We buy and build clubs, grow the fans, and develop the players, betting early on the fastest-rising story in world sport.

Pitch your club Our Story
Scroll
Women's Sports★ Multi-Club Ownership★ Player Development★ Community First★ The Beautiful Game★
/ˈze-lət/

zeal·ot

noun

“A zealous person; especially: a fanatical partisan”, one who is intensely, unapologetically devoted to a cause.

Merriam-Webster
We picked the name on purpose. We are fanatical about women's sport, and proud of it.

Devoted, not diversified

Women's sport isn't one line in our portfolio, it's the entire thing. Exclusively, obsessively, by design.

Fans first

We back the players, clubs and communities with the intensity of the most committed supporter in the stand.

Conviction as strategy

The market is only now catching up to what we already believe: women's football is the defining growth story in sport.

/yo͞oˈnīt·əd/

unit·ed

adjective

“Made one; combined; relating to or produced by joint action”, stronger together than any single part.

Merriam-Webster
And United, because in football, together always wins.

The game's oldest idea

Manchester, Leeds, West Ham, "United" is woven into football's DNA for a reason. No player, and no club, wins alone.

A team of teams

What makes a great side true off the pitch too: our clubs share scouting, data, commercial muscle and player pathways, strength no standalone club can match.

One plus one is three

United, our clubs sell sponsorship as one, develop players as one, and learn as one. The whole is worth far more than the sum of the crests.

Why we exist
Women's football is the fastest-rising movement in world sport, and we're building the club system it deserves.

For decades, women's teams were an afterthought bolted onto men's institutions. Zealots flips the model. We build clubs, academies and brands designed from the ground up around women athletes, connecting talent, fans and partners across a shared, global network.

One vision. Many clubs. A generation of players and supporters who finally feel like the main event.

Zealots crest
0
Girls in academy pipelines
0
Titles at our flagship club
0
Of our roster under 24
0
Connected revenue engines
Women's MCO

The case for owning
many clubs, not one

Women's sport isn't women playing the men's game, it's a distinct, explosive market with untapped potential. Multi-club ownership is how we capture it, and women's football is where the economics finally line up.

0
Clubs now in MCO structures worldwide
0
Women's football fans by 2030
0
Of Big Five clubs now investor-backed
0
Club investment deals recorded in 2025
The 1990s of the women's game
Today's women's game mirrors men's football at the start of its meteoric rise.

Europe's "Big Five" men's leagues were worth under €2bn in 1995/96. Five years later: €4.7bn, a ~19% CAGR, and roughly 5x larger today. Budding matchday experiences, sponsors just waking up, the first broadcast deals. Sound familiar? And the women's-football audience is family- and female-skewed, more valuable across most revenue streams.

84%
Of women's-sport fans are purchase decision-makers
5x
Per-person spend vs the average sports fan
$7.29
Return per $1 of sponsor spend
2B
Viewers of the 2023 Women's World Cup
Lower entry

Smaller tickets, bigger multiples

Buying into the women's game costs a fraction of men's football, while the return multiple on invested capital is likely to run higher.

Shared engine

One back office, many clubs

Pooling scouting, data, medical and commercial functions across a portfolio spreads risk and compounds every advantage.

Clean slate

The model, done right

Fewer governance barriers and better-aligned economics give women's football a second chance to run the MCO playbook properly.

The portfolio effect

A centralised model built on resource-sharing and scale, unlocking efficiencies and accelerating growth across every club.

Access

Resources on tap

Expertise and infrastructure that individual clubs could never reach on their own.

Revenue

Combined leverage

Commercial creativity across the portfolio, pooling assets and growing data collectively, not club by club.

Cost

One central team

A shared senior team across the portfolio is far more efficient than full-time hires at every club.

Knowledge

Shared learning

Every club learns from the others' wins and mistakes, advantage that compounds over time.

The proof is already here: MCO clubs worldwide grew from 40 in 2012 to 340+ by 2023, and women's-first groups like Kynisca (Washington Spirit · Lyon · London City) and Mercury/13 have committed £80M+ to the model. Sources: UEFA, CIES Sports Intelligence, Clifford Chance (2024–25).

The numbers

A market on
a vertical run

Women's football is one of the fastest-growing opportunities in world sport. Global revenues for women's elite sport are projected to top $3B in 2026, up roughly 340% since 2022, with soccer alone about 35% of the total.

0
Global women's elite sport, 2026
0
Growth since ~2022
0
Soccer's share of the total
0
Global fans by 2030, from 500M
0
NWSL avg franchise value (Sportico '26)
0
NWSL avg value growth since 2023
0
Top club: Angel City FC (Sportico '26)
0
NWSL 4-year US media deal

World's most valuable women's clubs

Forbes 2025 · same-year, cross-market basis · USD millions

NWSL average franchise value

The US benchmark · USD millions
United States
Explosive · 2023–2026
Avg club valuation
$134–184M
Avg revenue / club
~$19M
Media deal (annual)
~$60M
Expansion fee
$2M → $165M
Europe
Accelerating · post-2022
Top club valuation
$250–260M
Revenue (top clubs)
$19–25M
Media deal (UK, annual)
~$16.5M
WSL revenue growth
+34% YoY
Asia
Early stage · high upside
Club valuation
Early / low base
Participation (China)
+300% since '19
Pro leagues
Newly formed
Position vs US
~10–15 yrs behind

Why it matters for Zealots: valuations and commercialization in Europe and Asia sit where the US stood several years ago, creating attractive entry points as the sport professionalizes. Sources: Sportico, Forbes, Deloitte Football Money League & SportsPro (2024–2026).

Market analysis

The market is
repricing fast

A handful of years ago, women's clubs were thrown in for free with men's-team sales. Today they trade for nine figures, and NWSL entry prices have exploded from about $2M to $165M.

NWSL expansion fees have exploded

Cost to launch a new franchise · USD millions
RegionTransactionYearValueNotes
USAngel City FC, controlling stake2024$250MBay/Iger deal; record women's sports transaction (from ~$2M expansion in 2020)
USSan Diego Wave FC, sale2024–25~$120MUp from a ~$2M expansion fee in 2021
USAtlanta, expansion fee2025$165MNew high-water mark for league entry
USNC Courage, minority stake2025~$155MImplied valuation on a minority sale
UKChelsea Women, minority (Ohanian)2025£200–245M8–10% stake for ~£20M implies this valuation
EUArsenal / Barcelona Femení2025$250–260MForbes valuations; elite European tier
AsiaJapan / Australia leagues, Early stageFew public sales; top Japanese club ~€3M revenue, ground-floor upside

The investment case: NWSL clubs trade at roughly 9–10x revenue, lower than mature men's leagues, with far higher growth multiples. The US shows the ceiling, elite Europe is catching up, and Asia sits years behind on the same curve, the exact entry points a multi-club strategy is built to capture. Sources: Sportico, Forbes, FSG Journal, Deloitte & SportsPro (2024–2026).

Selection criteria

How we choose a club

We're building a portfolio of complementary clubs, not cookie-cutter deals. We weigh combinations across nine variables to find assets that fit the platform and the moment.

01

Sporting strength

Quality of the squad, the staff, the culture and the academy.

02

Governance & structure

Type of transaction possible, relationship with the men's club, board composition.

03

Fan base

Current attendances at men's and women's matches, and the size of the community.

04

International recruitment

Visa requirements, roster regulations, and team culture for overseas talent.

05

Location

Attractiveness to live, work, visit, sponsor, and build a market and brand.

06

Brand

Strength and flexibility of the current men's and women's brands.

07

Facilities

Quality of training facilities, gyms and stadium.

08

Catchment area

Metro population, and distance to and strength of other clubs.

09

Business opportunity

Scalability of women's football, community support, and the local business community.

The Zealots model

One flywheel.
Three ways to win.

Our revenue streams are deeply connected: the stronger our teams get, the more we win, the more we win, the more engaged our community becomes, and the more valuable we are to partners.

Football Operations

Talent In, Value Out

Attract the best young talent from the US and overseas, develop them with a proprietary methodology, and build a winning culture.

B2C · Community

Fans as Members

Collabs, product drops, live events and membership benefits that turn supporters into a lifelong community.

B2B · Partners

Brands that Belong

A meaningful platform for sponsors to connect with engaged communities through campaigns, content and influencer networks.

Player Pathways

Develop & Transfer

Grow players who move on to bigger stages while we retain a share of their rights, value that compounds over time.

Player pathways

Transfers are
the compounding engine

Developing players who move on to bigger stages is a growing, global market, and by retaining a share of player rights, that value keeps paying out long after the first transfer.

0
International transfers in 2023
0
Median transfer fee
0
Of transfers under $1M
0
Transfers with a sell-on fee, 2023

International transfers per year

Global total · 2014–2023

Transfers with a sell-on fee

Rights that keep paying out · 2016–2023

The Zealots angle: we transfer or loan players while retaining ~30% of their rights, monetizing future moves, and sell-on clauses mean we share in every stage that follows. Source: FIFA Global Transfer Report.

How we build

Built for the
next generation

Everything at Zealots is engineered to develop not just great players, but great clubs, and a culture young fans want to belong to.

01

Scouting & Infrastructure

Strategic partnerships across LATAM and Africa, a comprehensive scouting network, best-in-class analytics, and open community trials four times a year.

02

Proprietary Methodology

Play and performance combined with modern training science, developing individuals who are not only great players, but have high football IQ.

03

High-Level People

Qualified specialists across training, physical preparation, and mental and pedagogical support guide every young athlete's journey.

04

World-Class Facilities

Top-tier training environments that give our athletes a competitive edge many established clubs still can't offer.

05

Values-Led Culture

Female athletes as icons of self-expression, a values-driven, digital-first identity that resonates with Gen Z and Alpha fans.

06

One Vision, Many Clubs

Unified women's football under a single cohesive brand, sharing knowledge, talent and fan energy across the whole network.

Valuation & value creation

Buy the discount,
build the premium

The best women's clubs in the world are in Europe. The biggest valuations are in America. That gap is the entire opportunity.

The world's best women's clubs are in Europe; the world's biggest valuations are in America. That gap is the whole opportunity. As Chairman, my job is to find undervalued women's football assets across Europe, Asia and Latin America, buy them before the market reprices them, and apply the US-style commercial playbook that turns a good club into a great business. We're not waiting for the world to catch up to women's football; we're buying in ahead of it.
Zealots United crest
Gary LaDrido
Chairman · Zealots United & AS Monaco Football Féminine
$340M
Top NWSL club · Angel City
~$190M
NWSL average franchise
$50–150M
Most top European clubs
1.5–3×
US valuation premium

The arbitrage: top US clubs trade at 8–10x revenue with clear valuation premiums, while comparable European, Asian and Latin American clubs sell for a fraction, often $50–150M against $200–340M in the NWSL. Zealots United buys at the lower entry point and applies US-style commercial, media and player-development playbooks to close the gap. Sources: Forbes & Sportico 2026 valuations.

The United Playbook

Many clubs,
united operations

The United Playbook is the set of integrations that make a portfolio of clubs act as one. We run a single operating system centrally and replicate it across every club, standardising what creates value, localising what creates connection. It's the same logic that unites City Football Group, Marriott, McDonald's and LVMH into world-class platforms across dozens of markets: united back office, independent local soul.

The 4 E's

The 4 E's of establishing a winning club

E1

Establish a Winning Culture

Build environments where teams, players and communities thrive, on and off the pitch. Winning is more than the scoreline.

E2

Establish a Player-Development Hub

Academy-to-first-team pathways, dedicated women's scouting, individualised development, and sports-science and data at every level.

E3

Establish Cultural & Social Strength

A women's-first brand, a fan base built on shared values, and matchday experiences designed for the modern women's-football fan.

E4

Establish Commercial Potential

Grow revenue at the club and unlock group-level sponsorship, storytelling and activations at a scale no single club could reach.

Centralise for scale · localise for relevance

Run centrally at Zealots

Costs too high for one club alone
  • Strategy & planning
  • Technology & procurement
  • Brand strategy
  • Global sponsorship & sales
  • Scouting & player trading
  • Data science & analytics
  • Finance · HR · accounting
  • Merchandise platforms

Run locally at each club

Where connection is made
  • Matchday execution
  • Community engagement
  • Local marketing & partnerships
  • Ticket & merch sales
  • Medical & physio
  • Match tactics & squad selection
  • On-field staff
  • Content creation

Why it compounds: the number of clubs inside multi-club groups grew from under 60 a decade ago to hundreds today. Pooling scouting, data, commercial and back-office functions spreads cost, builds a player supply chain across clubs, diversifies revenue across markets, and makes the whole portfolio a more attractive asset than any single team. Sources: Swiss Ramble, GIS.sport, Clifford Chance.

◆ United sponsorship

One deal. Every club. Every market.

The single biggest unification advantage: a sponsor doesn't buy one club, they buy the entire network. Zealots United packages and sells commercial and sponsorship rights across every asset in the portfolio at once, one partnership spanning France, England, Spain, Italy, Japan and the US. That gives brands multi-market, multi-club activation in a single relationship no standalone women's club could ever offer, and unlocks category deals (finance, tech, performance, lifestyle) at a scale the women's game has never been able to package.

One partnership every club Multi-market activation Pooled fan data Group rate-card premium reach
◇ Downstream value creation · future

Once the platform is built, the upside compounds beyond the clubs

Media & documentaries, project and club stories that build the brand and a new revenue line.
Cross-club camps & tournaments, shared training and competition across the portfolio.
US college & pro pathways, partnerships that feed talent between America and Europe.
A global academy, a development pipeline with clear pathways into our European clubs.
Spin-out agencies, fan data, matchday, marketing and content capabilities built once, sold to the wider game.
Institutionalising the category, first to build professional infrastructure at scale across women's football.
Portfolio & targets

United network,
many markets

A secured flagship in France, active target searches across Europe's top women's leagues, and a data-led eye on Asia, the footprint of a true multi-club organization.

AS Monaco Féminine crest

AS Monaco Féminine

🇫🇷 France · French football · flagship club
✓ Current holding
12
Teams · Première Ligue
Private
Top club value*
Undisclosed
Top club revenue*
Rising
Attendance*
Best for (MCO) European pedigree & elite development FFF investing €70M in the league Our holding AS Monaco Féminine
◆ AS Monaco · Football Féminin

The youngest team
on the Riviera.

A strong women's club with high growth potential and a truly unique position, the youngest side in the championship, competing in an untapped luxury sports market.

  • Positioned in an untapped luxury market, giving early movers category control.
  • A diverse roster blending local passion with international experience.
  • Over 100+ girls in the academy pipeline feeding a senior team committed to development.
  • Known for technical quality, individual expression, and the Monaco lifestyle brand.
0
Players
0
Titles
0
Under 24 years old
0
In the academy

Why France, our anchor: AS Monaco Féminine gives Zealots United a live operating base and a luxury-brand halo on the Riviera. As the founding club it proves the United Playbook in practice and seeds the whole network, feeding the shared academy, player pathways and premium hospitality that every future club plugs into, and anchoring the united-sponsorship story with a marquee market. Source: AS Monaco Féminine.

Visit AS Monaco Féminine ↗
🇪🇸

Spain

Liga F · 16 clubs · 2025–26
◎ Seeking target
16
Teams
$255M
Top club value · Barcelona
€22M
Top club revenue · Barcelona
36,276
Attendance · peak
Best for (MCO) Technical quality & youth development Barcelona top-3 globally 2023 World Cup winners

Why Spain, the talent factory: the giants (Barça, Real Madrid, Atlético) are untouchable, but the depth of Liga F means the right independent, women's-first club is out there, and Spain pairs elite on-pitch pedigree with one of Europe's best youth systems. That's exactly why it fits the network: a Spanish club feeds players and development methodology into the united player supply chain, raising quality at every other club we own. Sources: Liga F, Forbes, Deloitte (2025–26).

Full Spain rationale →
🇮🇹

Italy

Serie A Femminile · 12 clubs · 2025–26
◎ Seeking target
12
Teams · up from 10
Private
Top club value*
Growing
Top club revenue*
~1–2k
Attendance*
Best for (MCO) Affordable Big-Five entry & talent Fully pro since 2022 Precedent Mercury13 · Como Women

Why Italy, affordable European footprint: professionalization is accelerating with Serie A men's-club backing, and MCO interest is already here, Mercury13 acquired Como Women, proof the model is landing. Serie B Femminile feeds talent below. It's the cheapest entry into a Big-Five European market, and that's the integration play: the right Italian club, bought at a low base, instantly inherits the network's shared scouting, data, commercial and back-office, leapfrogging standalone peers and widening united-sponsorship reach into a major new market. *Valuations and revenues are largely undisclosed and being verified. Sources: Serie A Femminile, Deloitte (2025–26).

Full Italy rationale →
🇯🇵

Japan & Asia

WE League · the emerging frontier
◎ Emerging market
12
Teams · WE League
Private
Top club value*
~€3M
Top club revenue
26,605
Attendance · peak
Best for (MCO) Ground-floor entry & Asia gateway Pro since 2021 Catalyst AFC Asian Cup 2026
An $11.1 trillion sports & entertainment market, Asia's share keeps compounding.

Japan runs Asia's most mature women's league, the fully professional WE League, and by 2030 Asia will drive two of every three new middle-class consumers on earth. The AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 is set to pour fuel on the fire.

Japan WE League · our focus

Asia's middle class is exploding

Middle-class consumers · billions
0
Asian middle class by 2030
0
Of the new global middle class
$11.1T
Sports & entertainment TAM
2026
AFC Women's Asian Cup catalyst

Why Japan, the Asia gateway: the WE League has hit its 5,000 average-attendance target and drawn 20,000+ to single matches, early-stage valuations with the highest upside anywhere. For the network it does something no European club can: it extends the united brand and united-sponsorship platform into Asia, diversifies revenue across regions, and opens a player-trading corridor between Asia and our European clubs. Sources: McKinsey, Euromonitor, WE League.

Full Japan rationale →
🇺🇸

United States

NWSL · California cluster
◎ The benchmark
14→16
Teams · NWSL
$335M
Top club value · Angel City
~$19M
Top club revenue · avg
40,091
Attendance · peak
Best for (MCO) Scale, monetization & the benchmark League value ~$2.6B Media $240M / 4yr

Why the USA, the benchmark & monetization engine: the NWSL is the world's most valuable women's league and California its core, three clubs (Angel City, San Diego Wave, Bay FC), purpose-built stadiums and celebrity capital. It's the ceiling every other market is chasing. For the network, a US foothold plugs Zealots United into the world's biggest women's-sports market, completes a transatlantic player pathway, and hands the whole portfolio the valuation, media and commercial playbook we export to every earlier-stage club. Sources: Sportico, Deloitte, McKinsey (2025–26).

Two sanctioned Division I leagues

NWSL

Top division · the flagship
  • 14 teams → 16 in 2026
  • ~$2.6B collective value
  • ~$19M avg revenue · +22% YoY
  • ~10,700 avg attendance
  • Highest commercial maturity globally

USL Super League

Division I · challenger league
  • 8–9 teams · growing
  • ~2,500 avg attendance
  • Sanctioned Division I alongside NWSL
  • Lower budgets · affordable entry
  • Player development & loans

Why two leagues matter to us: the USL Super League is a lower-cost entry point and a development layer beneath the NWSL ceiling, a natural fit for a multi-club model built on player pathways and affordable market expansion. Sources: Forbes, Sportico, USL (2025–26).

Full USA rationale →
🇬🇧

United Kingdom

Women's Super League (WSL) · England
◎ Priority market
12
Teams
$260M
Top club value · Arsenal
€25.6M
Top club revenue · Arsenal
60,160
Attendance · peak
Best for (MCO) Brand, media & PL infrastructure Top-3 revenue €24.3M avg WSL digital ~36M followers

Why the UK, the commercial & media engine: the most commercially mature league in Europe after the NWSL. Arsenal (€25.6M) and Chelsea (€25.4M) rank #1–2 globally by revenue (Deloitte), top clubs are growing 35%+ a season, and big-match crowds top 35,000. That commercial firepower is the network's showcase, a WSL asset gives Zealots United its biggest media stage and the anchor tenant for united sponsorship, and its brand-and-media playbook is exported group-wide. London City Lionesses, the WSL's only fully independent club (owner Michele Kang, who also owns Washington Spirit and Lyon), recently broke the women's world transfer record for Grace Geyoro: proof the independent, united model works. Sources: Deloitte, Forbes, ESPN (2025/26).

Explore the WSL clubs →

The future of football
isn't coming. It's her.

Younger audiences don't just watch women's sport, they see themselves in it. Zealots exists to meet that energy with clubs, brands and experiences worthy of it.

Who wants in

Pitch us your club

We're actively evaluating clubs, partners and investors across France, England, Spain, Italy, Japan and the US. If you're building, or want to back, a women's-first club, tell us where you fit and we'll be in touch.

Goes straight to our team, we read every pitch. Prefer email? hello@zealotsunited.club