The Golden State Warriors have plucked Jess Smith, the head of revenue for the Angel City Football Club, to be the president of their new WNBA franchise. It’s the first move by the team since the league announced it was expanding to the Bay Area back in July.
Smith, already a Bay Area resident, will oversee the business operations of Golden State’s WNBA team. She has arguably the most critical task in the Warriors’ stated plan to be a paradigm shifter regarding the economic possibilities of the WNBA. The league made it clear it was choosing the Bay Area for an expansion franchise to take advantage of the Warriors’ elite business operations. Owner Joe Lacob, a longtime supporter of women’s basketball, said he’s joining the WNBA fold to essentially elevate the league. So Smith — named to two Under 40 lists last year by the Sports Business Journal and Leaders in Sports — will be in charge of making the Warriors’ money-making machine work for the WNBA’s newest franchise.
“It feels surreal to be leaving Angel City, candidly,” Smith, 37, said in a phone interview, “just having been a part of building it, unofficially and then officially, for four-plus years at this point, and what it took to do what we did. But to be able to build again here is going to be…
