Monday, December 23, 2024

Angel City announces plans to take over old Rams training facility with multimillion-dollar renovation

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Angel City FC has trained on Cal Lutheran’s campus since the team’s inaugural season in 2022. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Come next season, Angel City FC will be getting an upgrade. The Los Angeles-based club announced Thursday that it will relocate to the former Los Angeles Rams training facility next year, after giving the center a multimillion custom renovation.

The performance center, located on California Lutheran University’s campus, will have a full-size pitch and 50,000 square feet of indoor space. The size will make it the largest training facility dedicated solely to an NWSL team, according to the team.

The remodel will be complete for the 2025 preseason, per the team’s release. Angel City will stay in the space “for up to four years”; the club’s plans for after that period of time are currently unclear.

Additional aspects of the remodel, per the release, include custom lockers (and a dedicated locker room for players under 18), a “hydrotherapy area” with pools (cold and hot) and saunas, a massive gym and medical treatment area, a large film and meeting room, a playroom for the children of players and staff, a studio for interviews and a custom boot wall.

ACFC has trained on Cal Lutheran’s campus since the team’s inaugural season in 2022. They maintain that partnership by moving across the campus to the former Rams site, which spans nine acres.

The Rams used the facility on a temporary basis when the team was moved from St. Louis in 2016, before moving to a permanent facility in Woodland Hills.

ACFC is not the only team with dedicated facilities: The Utah Royals built a new practice facility as part of the expansion team’s return to the league in 2024. The Kansas City Current unveiled its own facility in 2022, with the $18 million training center marking the first designed specifically for an NWSL team.

Angel City, currently valued at $250 million, is the highest-valued team in the league by a wide margin following the sale to Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay over the summer. Bay and Iger have also pledged to an additional $50 million into the club as part of the acquisition.

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