Maybe I'm way off, but I was thinking that the biggest reason a pro club like LA Galaxy or LAFC or Seattle Sounders or Portland Timbers, etc. would be interested in fully funding Academy teams is that it will increase the profile of the youth clubs which spreads their brand. When LA Galaxy started taking on or taking over existing youth clubs a few years ago, I was skeptical because many of the teams were kind of crappy. But now when you look at the club standings, there always seems to be a Galaxy team in the top flights doing pretty well and the number of teams is constantly growing. When thousands of kids grow up playing for a team with the Galaxy logo, you're farming the next generation of fans to buy merchandise and watch games. If they end up with the best Academy team because it is free for the best players, it is probably a small price to pay in the overall marketing strategy. In other words, if LAG decided it was worth it to put their name on a youth club, they probably would prefer that they can claim to be the best. If Galaxy were synonymous with mediocre youth soccer, that's not good branding. At least that's the only way it makes sense to me that a pro club would fund a girls' Academy team.