Michele Kang stays busy. When she’s not acquiring women’s soccer clubs to add to her portfolio, she speaks at summits on the global game and hosts international clubs at the Washington Spirit. Kang has put leagues in multiple countries in conversation with each other, from the Spirit to London City Lionesses to the venerable Lyon in France.
She’s seen the writing on the wall, which says to invest now before it’s too late — and be willing to think global as seen in the recent U.S. tours by Arsenal and Chelsea that included a stop in DC.
Advertisement When Kang first bought into NWSL as a primary owner, her $35 million (£26.5m) takeover of the Spirit was seen as a blockbuster financial move compared to the $5 million purchase of the Kansas City Current and the approximate $2 million original entry fee for the Utah Royals. The price wasn’t necessarily an objective valuation, coming after months of increasingly acrimonious negotiation with former co-owners Steve Baldwin and Bill Lynch, who drove up the initial asking price from $21 million .
Still, it was a turning point in the valuation of NWSL teams, a rubicon from which there is no going back barring some unforeseen disaster. The NWSL is part of a booming global women’s soccer market as multiple leagues build audiences and each successive Women’s World Cup outgrows the last . The latest NWSL collective bargaining agreement only strengthens teams’ ability to participate in this market by eliminating restricti.