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Watkins' stake signals athlete-investors now see NWSL franchises as revaluation plays ahead of the 2027 broadcast window.
27.6 points
per game
2026
The investment
29-6
record as a freshman
$1.5 million
before stepping on campus
JuJu Watkins, the USC women's basketball guard averaging 27.6 points per game, has acquired an ownership stake in Boston Legacy FC, the NWSL expansion franchise launching in 2026. The investment, announced Tuesday, makes Watkins the first active college athlete to hold equity in a professional women's soccer franchise. Terms were not disclosed.
Watkins is nineteen years old and entering her second season at USC. She led the Trojans to a 29-6 record as a freshman, finished second in national scoring, and signed NIL deals worth an estimated $1.5 million before stepping on campus. Boston Legacy FC, which paid a $110 million expansion fee to join the NWSL, is owned by a group led by Jennifer Epstein, the Boston Globe heiress and former Seventh Generation Capital partner. The franchise will play at White Stadium in Franklin Park after a $91 million renovation funded by the Epstein family and the City of Boston.
The structure matters more than the sentiment. Watkins is joining an investor roster that includes former USWNT midfielder Heather O'Reilly, venture capitalist Elizabeth Cutler, and Elisabeth Murdoch's Freelands Group. The move signals two things: Legacy FC's front office views athlete-owners as brand extensions, not dilution, and Watkins is already thinking like a portfolio allocator. Her NIL lawyer, Daniel Lench at Venable LLP, has structured deals with Nike, Klarna, and Waffle House. A fractional stake in a $110 million asset before her junior year reads like estate planning, not fan service.
The NWSL has been tightening its ownership vetting since 2023, when the league required prospective buyers to disclose all equity partners and banned private-equity control above 35% of a single club. Boston Legacy's investor group skews toward family offices and former players, a composition that appeals to commissioner Jessica Berman's push for aligned incentives. Watkins' involvement gives the franchise a direct line to Gen Z basketball fans, a demographic overlap that sponsors pricing Stadium Club seats and jersey patches care about. Legacy FC has already signed Amica Insurance as its kit sponsor; expect the club to announce at least one more founding partner before the March 2026 season opener.
Watkins' timing is also clean. The NWSL's domestic media rights are up for renewal in 2027, and the league is projecting $60 million to $80 million per year, up from $3.5 million under the current CBS-Paramount deal. If you own equity in a 2026 expansion team, you are betting that the next broadcast window revalues every franchise by 20% to 30% overnight. That math works if you think women's sports rights are still structurally underpriced. Watkins' investor peers apparently do: Boston Legacy FC's formation announcement last November drew 37 letters of intent from prospective minority stakeholders, according to two people familiar with the process.
Watch Legacy FC's coaching hire. The club has interviewed at least three candidates with NWSL head-coaching experience, including one currently employed by another franchise. Watkins' investment announcement arrives four months before the NWSL's 2025 amateur draft, a timeline that suggests Legacy FC is locking in its brand architecture before assembling the roster. The franchise will also need to finalize a practice facility by Q1 2026; the club has scouted sites in Allston and Somerville. Watkins is scheduled to appear at the NCAA Women's Final Four in April 2025. If she wears Legacy FC branding, you will know the deal included activation rights.
The NWSL has fourteen teams. Boston is one of three expansion clubs joining between 2024 and 2026. The league's aggregate franchise valuation has tripled since 2021, when the Utah Royals sold for $12 million. The San Diego Wave, launched in 2022, was valued at $120 million in a secondary sale last year. Watkins just bought a seat at the table before the next bidding round opens.
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