San Diego Wave Owners Sue Jill Ellis for Alleged Broken Promises
The owners of the San Diego Wave soccer team have filed a lawsuit against the former team president, Jill Ellis, alleging that she misled them by promising to stay with the club after the sale, only to resign two days after the deal was completed.
Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, owners of the Wave and owners of the private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, are suing Ellis through a related company. They are seeking unspecified compensation for damages in a jury trial, accusing her of misrepresentation, concealment, and false promises.
The lawsuit is “baseless” and was filed in retaliation for Ellis’ request that she be paid deferred compensation.
Ellis, former coach of the United States women’s national team and first president of the Wave, an NWSL expansion team in 2022, is at the center of this legal controversy.
San Diego Wave, NWSL sued by five former employees.
Wave’s Jill Ellis files defamation lawsuit against former employee.
Leichtman and Levine acquired the Wave in 2024, in a sale that valued the team between $113 and $120 million, a record at the time for an NWSL team.
According to the lawsuit, Leichtman and Levine claimed that Ellis’s presence was a crucial factor in the purchase of the club, relying on his promises to lead the team for many years.
Under Ellis’s presidency, the Wave became the first NWSL team to reach the playoffs in its expansion season (2022) and won the NWSL Shield the following year.
The lawsuit was filed in the California Superior Court in San Diego on Monday.
According to the lawsuit, Ellis informed the plaintiffs about her resignation as president of the San Diego Wave FC two days after the completion of the team’s sale in October 2024. Ellis left the position to take on the role of FIFA’s director of football, which FIFA announced in December 2024.The plaintiffs allege that Ellis “had no intention of continuing any involvement with Wave FC when beginning her negotiations to join FIFA,” which makes her promises a misrepresentation. The lawsuit does not specify whether those promises were written or in a contract.
The plaintiffs allege that Ellis, by “focusing on his negotiations” with FIFA, led the team to a bad season in 2024, finishing in tenth place under the direction of three different coaches, and costing the team revenue in 2025. The lawsuit says that the loss of revenue “amounts to at least $40,000,000 in business value,” although specific damages sought are not specified.
Leichtman and Levine, through their company, are seeking a jury trial to determine damages.
Other unidentified defendants are mentioned in the lawsuit for having participated in the alleged false promises that, according to the plaintiffs, helped to “attract and induce the plaintiff to proceed with the purchase”.
Leichtman and Levine became friends with Ellis when she was the head coach of the UCLA women’s soccer team, which she led to an NCAA championship in 2013. Leichtman and Levine are frequent donors to UCLA women’s athletics and, according to the lawsuit, provided financial support to the women’s soccer team. They traveled with Ellis to the 2013 College Cup, according to the lawsuit.
According to a letter from Ellis’s lawyers sent to the Wave’s owners, Ellis signed a five-year contract in December 2021 that paid him $1 million in his first year, with subsequent increases. The agreement also included annual deferred payments of $250,000 that would be paid upon his departure from the club.
Ellis has claimed that he is owed more than $1.23 million in deferred payments and penalties.
A spokesperson for the San Diego Wave provided the following statement:
This is a legal matter between the Levine Leichtman Family Office and Jill Ellis. The San Diego Wave FC is not part of this lawsuit. Our focus as a club remains on our players, our fans, and the community, as we continue to build an exciting future for women’s soccer in San Diego.
The Monday lawsuit is at least the third piece of litigation surrounding the Wave and Ellis’s mandate.
Last year, Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit against former team employee Brittany Alvarado after Alvarado posted a message on her social media alleging a toxic work environment at the Wave and claiming that Ellis “fostered an environment where abusive behavior among her subordinates is allowed to flourish.”
Later in 2024, Alvarado joined four other employees in suing Wave and NWSL, alleging multiple forms of discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. A sixth plaintiff, and a second Jane Doe who alleged she had been sexually harassed while at the club, joined the lawsuit in early 2025. Ellis was not named in that lawsuit. In a July filing, the NWSL argued that it had no “duty of care” towards the six women suing the club and the league.
