Michelle Kang You know the question is coming before it’s asked.
No, she never imagined she would end up owning one, much less three, women’s soccer teams. But Mr. Kang knows an investment when he sees it.
“I really fell in love with this game and its possibilities. I saw where the possibilities were and where it could be,” she said. “I’m just grateful for this opportunity to be a catalyst and start a fire.”
Kang owns the Washington Spirit. National Women’s Soccer LeagueLondon City Lionesses of the English Women’s Super League and OL Lyons of the French Premier League. All three teams are proven teams, with the Lionesses promoted from the Women’s Championship last year, the Spirit lifting the NWSL trophy in 2021, and Lyon achieving a record eight Women’s Champions League titles and 18 league titles.
It is not uncommon for men’s teams to have multiple club owners. These include City Group, which owns Manchester City in the English Premier League and many other teams, and Austria’s Red Bull, which owns multiple teams including RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga.
However, on the women’s side it is rather rare, and having three teams in three top-level leagues is certainly unusual. Mr. Kang also took over. President of Olympique Lyon Last year it was on the men’s side.
“My model is very different to the men’s multi-club model because of where women’s football is in terms of development compared to men’s football. My model really respects the traditions of each club,” she said. “So it’s about actually giving them what they need, the basic, important things, and seeing how far they get.”
Kang’s influence extends beyond team ownership. She travels around the world as the piper of women’s soccer. She lured Swedish international Kosovare Aslani to London City before the team’s promotion, raised the bar for big-name signings and recently helped US star Trinity Rodman re-sign with the Spirit. She is also a philanthropist, funding projects at U.S. Soccer, including dedicated research on female athletes to develop the best training methods and prevent injuries.
Kang enters the sports world
South Korean-born Kang founded medical technology company Cognosante, which he sold in 2024. Forbes magazine estimates her worth at $1.2 billion.
She joined the soccer world at the end of 2020 by purchasing a minority stake in the Spirit, before purchasing the team outright in 2022. The following year, it acquired Lyon and London City, and in 2024 brought all three teams under the umbrella of Kiniska Sports International, a women-led global sports organization.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said, “We are obviously excited to be a part of her origin story.” “Obviously her first big investment was through the Washington Spirit. She fell in love with women’s soccer through the NWSL and I think it’s safe to say she’s now spreading that love around the world.”
Kang’s influence was recently highlighted in a report by Spirit. a contract agreement was reached With Rodman.
“I’m very grateful and very happy that she ended up with a positive outcome,” Kang said. “This is one of the most important deals ever, not just for the Spirit, but for the league. So I was very involved, from the strategy to every turn and every little challenge we faced.”
Rodman, who has been with the Spirit since 2021, became a free agent at the end of last season. The team was eager to re-sign her, but the league’s salary cap hindered that process.
One agreement between the two teams was scrapped by the league prior to the creation of the “high impact player” rule, which allows teams to sign players who meet certain criteria for $1 million over the cap.
Using this rule, the Spirit was ultimately able to re-sign Rodman, but that rule is now Subject of complaint Depends on the players association.
“She’s a big believer in women’s sports, especially soccer,” Rodman said. “How dedicated she is to us, and when you have an owner that dedicated, it’s like you can’t help but love your job 10 times more. So it’s great to have that kind of support.”
More than just an owner
Kang is also passionate about the science and technology behind women’s sports, recognizing the need for innovation in areas such as training, performance and recovery. She said relying on the drills used in men’s soccer is untenable because “women are not little men.”
In 2024, she promised $30 million The gift to U.S. Soccer represents the single largest investment in the women’s program in the federation’s history. Most recently, her Kynisca Innovation Hub was integrated with the federation’s Soccer Forward program to foster research and innovation in women’s sport. The Kou Women’s Research Institute was announced in December.
“[We’re]really flipping this around and essentially saying, ‘OK, what have we always done for women’s soccer and women’s soccer? In fact, it was a transfer from men’s soccer.’ If we were to start with a completely blank sheet of paper on what’s best for female players, what would this look like?” said Rex Shara, director of the Soccer Forward Foundation.
Kang’s vision is practical. Athletes and their performance are at the core of her business.
“One of the problems in women’s football is that there are a lot of anecdotal little projects here and there, but nothing is being done on a large scale. And unless we can do this kind of thing on a large scale, a thousand flowers will bloom and they will all wither and nothing will happen,” Kang said. “So we wanted to make sure once and for all that this is done properly at scale. There’s no reason why multiple organizations need to do this. We can combine.”
Kang’s philosophy is in line with U.S. national team coach Emma Hayes, who said she has never met anyone like Kang.
“It’s easy to focus on the money she’s putting into it, but when you meet her and get to know her, she’s very passionate about women’s football around the world and determined to play an important role,” Hayes said. “As well as shaping the next direction for women’s football and leading its investment, her commitment to research, teaching and developing insights that go back to stocks that will have a greater impact is significant” in relation to the wider game. ”
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