NWSL’s Angel City Fined $200K, Execs Suspended in Salary Cap Flap

The NWSL announced late Thursday that it would dock Angel City FC three points in the 2024 standings, fine the club $200,000 and limit the roles of two executives after determining it circumvented salary cap rules.

Club co-founder and CEO Julie Uhrman and general manager Angela Hucles Mangano are banned from “conducting duties relating to any player transactions” for the rest of the calendar year.

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According to the NWSL, Angel City arranged five side agreements with players, not disclosed with the league, that enabled it to spend money and provide benefits outside of reported outlay that went to the salary cap. As a result, the NWSL wrote in a statement that the team exceeded the salary cap by about $50,000 for four weeks in 2024—an amount that totaled $200,000.

A representative for Angel City has thus far declined to comment.

The conclusion of the NWSL investigation arrived soon after two financial deals were completed for stakes in the club.

Willow Bay and husband Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, recently became Angel City FC’s controlling owners in a purchase that valued the club at an NWSL-record $250 million. Separately, MLS team Los Angeles FC acquired a small stake in the women’s soccer franchise.

Angel City, based in Los Angeles, is only in its third season in the NWSL. But it is already worth more than any other club in the league, according to Sportico’s valuations, and has made it clear from the outset that it is determined to become a women’s soccer powerhouse at a time of rapid growth for the sport.

Angel City also received a $20,000 cash fine, plus a loss of $20,000 in unfunded allocation money, in 2021 for violating the NWSL’s tampering policy regarding then-Gotham player Allie Long.

As women’s sports in the U.S. is seeing massive growth, boundary-pushing has become more common.

In the WNBA, for example, the 2022 and 2023 champion Las Vegas Aces are under league investigation for salary circumvention, and had previously been punished for doling out “impermissible player benefits,” losing a 2025 first-round draft pick as the result. A newer probe into their 2024 partnership with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has not reached a public conclusion.

At Angel City, Uhrman and Hucles Mangano are allowed to resume full duties in two months, while the team faced an uphill battle to reach the 2024 NWSL postseason regardless of its lost points.

It was outside a playoff position before the sanctions, and with the points deduction has now fallen  to 12th place, nine points behind Bay FC for the final postseason qualification spot.

With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams.

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