On Eve Of NWSL Challenge Cup, Business Has Picked Up For Gotham FC

The good news keeps coming for Gotham FC as the team finalized its roster this week ahead of the NWSL Challenge Cup on Saturday night against the North Carolina Courage.

The team has already doubled its season ticket base over last year, according to Gotham Chief of Business Operations Andrea Pagnanelli. The team’s website has seen a 425% increase in traffic, year-over-year, during the period from December 6, 2021 through March 4, 2022.

Eagle-eyed readers will recognize that as the day the acquisition of Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger was announced.

And between a new tech partnership with Algorand, and experienced women’s sports execs Kristin Bernert and Karen Bryant joining the team as minority owners, Gotham is looking to continuing expanding as it contends for a title on the field.

“We were in a phenomenal place,” Pagnanelli said in a phone interview earlier this month. “So we look at our players, and it all starts there, and we have some of the best players in the NWSL… t’s a new phase for Gotham. I think it’s also what’s exciting to have a partner like Algorand is they’re going to help us expedite that growth, and give our players and even louder voice and help improve that fan experience and allow this all to come to life in a bigger way.”

The vitals of the deal begin with the terms — a three-year deal that puts the Algorand name on the front of the Gotham jerseys, with an investment described by the club as “mid-seven figure” in cost.

The deal was put together by Excel Sports Management, an increasingly big player in the women’s sports space, as evidenced by the recent hiring of Erin Kane, sports agent to Elena Delle Donne, Ari Chambers and other icons in women’s sports.

“Excel’s investment in Women’s Sports representation isn’t just about building individual athlete brands, but also strengthening the entire ecosystem around women’s sports to continue to level the playing field,” Colleen Garrity, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Excel, said in an email. “There is an exponentially increasing value of women’s sports and the athletes that play them, and the Gotham and Algorand partnership is just one example of how we are seeing this play out across multiple areas of our business.”

For both Gotham and Algorand, a sense that the blockchain technology can help elevate the fan experience further was a critical part of the deal, Algorand CMO Keli Callaghan explained.

“You’ll see when someone goes to a game, it’s more than just sitting there and watching it,” she said. “You’re going to buy a soda… you’re going to buy a hot dog, sit there and watch it — there’s so much more. What if you had a hunt for NFTs around the stadium.?And as you were watching the game or in between in between periods, you were going and finding these NFTs and they had utility, and you could meet players you could greet players?”

Callaghan said the Algorand app would help make that entire process frictionless. And the ticket data suggests there will be more people in the stadium, trying it all out.

All of which makes it a no-brainer to bring Bernert and Bryant, two longtime executives with WNBA teams and plugged into women’s sports in a granular way, into the fold, along with current Gotham ownership group led by Tammy Murphy and Ed Nalbandian.

“The time to double down on women’s sports is now,” said Bryant. “It’s a privilege to join Gotham FC’s ownership group. These world-class athletes are social ambassadors, creators, and storytellers who deserve the same exposure and investment their male counterparts receive. I’m excited to work with Tammy, Ed, and Kristin to help make that a reality.”

That reality hits the field this weekend. But the preparation behind the scenes has already led to some clear-cut victories.