Latest news with #MicheleKang
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
FAQs about the Spirit's coaching shuffle. Plus: USWNT meeting Hayes' deadline
Full Time Newsletter ⚽| This is The Athletic's weekly women's soccer newsletter. Sign up here to receive Full Time directly in your inbox. Meg is off today enjoying a rare sunny day in Vermont, so it's me, Emily Olsen, here with Tamerra Griffin — welcome to Full Time! Another coaching change in Washington Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Washington Spirit have changed coaches. Two-time UEFA Champions League-winning coach Jonatan Giráldez is headed to OL Lyonnes, another club under owner Michele Kang's umbrella. Let's start with the news. I've covered the Spirit in some capacity since 2015. If I had a nickel for every coaching change I've seen in that decade, I'd have nine. NINE! Sure, it's not enough to afford the new Inciardi art prints the team sells on game day, but that's still a lot of change for one team. Those changes include coaches dismissed for misconduct, interims, a single-game stint by Angela Salem in the ill-fated 2022 season and now the give-and-go situation happening with Giráldez and González. Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, one of the faces of NWSL, has yet to have a single coach for more than one season at her club. When I asked her at the end of last year how the team was able to get to two NWSL championships (winning one), she took an approach à la Bane's 'I was born in it' comment in 'The Dark Knight Rises': 'It's almost scarier when it's smooth sailing,' she said. Advertisement What to expect from González González is no stranger to Washington. In fact, he might be one of the most consistent head coaches in the last few years, even if some of that time was spent as both an interim and assistant coach. González led Washington through preseason last year and to a 10-1-4 record through the first fifteen games. He helped the team to some of its best expected goal stats since 2021. (He did so with a healthy roster, something the Spirit haven't had recently.) During the Olympic break last year, Giráldez took over. He built on González's strong start to lead the Spirit to the 2024 NWSL Championship, which they lost 1-0 to the Orlando Pride. Now, a year later, the reverse will happen. The Spirit have dealt with a spate of injuries this season, headlined by Rodman, but are currently fourth in the NWSL table with a record of 6-1-3, five points behind No. 1 Kansas City Current. González will have the international break, starting June 23, to reset with the team. However, the organization saw his familiarity with the players as a positive. Kang said González 'knows the team and has earned this organization's trust.' Is this a bad thing? Multi-club models have long been seen as corporate cash grabs at best and sportswashing at worst (on the men's side). Kang has been well aware of that perception since she first looked to create Kynisca Sports International, a multi-team global women's soccer organization, by purchasing OL Lyonnes in 2023. She later purchased the only independently owned team in England's second tier of women's soccer, and her investment helped the team get promoted to the WSL. The businesswoman told Forbes last year that the multi-club model is a 'necessity' in the women's game, especially when it comes to resource sharing. However, Kang has made it clear that players don't fall into that category. Advertisement Despite the awkward optics here, González has a strong track record as Washington's coach, so Kang seems to be keeping up her promise not to sacrifice the good of one team for the other. And she isn't the only one expanding, as Kansas City Current owners Angie and Chris Long showed last week with their investment in Danish club HB Koge. Whether women's soccer is paving a new way forward or adopting the bad habits from the men's side will take time to become clear. Hayes' team 'on track' for June deadline Head coach Emma Hayes said last week that the USWNT is still 'on track' to meet her June deadline for establishing a core group of players that will lead the U.S. in World Cup qualifying next year. She's even found the space to start developing the under-23 group the way she hoped she could at the start of the year (more on that in a sec). Despite not having Triple Espresso (Rodman, Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson), this team isn't totally without its caffeine. Sam Coffey scored her second U.S. goal with a wonder strike in the team's 3-0 win over China on Saturday. Pick out that corner, Sam 🔥#USWNT x @VW — U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) May 31, 2025 Coffey — who leads with devotion, as she recently told Tamerra — is part of a midfield that's finally jelling, alongside Lindsey Heaps and Lily Yohannes. The team also has its 'security blanket' back with the return of Naomi Girma. A fun aside: Coffey's game-worn jersey from the match, along with several other U.S. players' jerseys, were up for auction during the game (and there's still time to bid). Coffey's jersey is currently a great value pick for a goal scorer. Keep an eye out for the youths Hayes has been as adamant about developing this younger national team as she has been about narrowing down her group for 2027 World Cup qualifying. She sees the two projects as interdependent. That's why players like Jaedyn Shaw (20 years old), Korbin Albert (21) and Mia Fishel (24), who have senior caps (and in Shaw and Albert's case, Olympic gold medals), were named to this camp. This is your reminder to start paying attention to the U-23s, made up almost entirely of professional players, during this camp. They played in two very fun (and refreshingly well-attended!) matches against Germany near Stuttgart on Friday and again today. The teams split results, each side claiming a dramatic 2-1 victory sealed in the final minutes. Ironically, in the May 30 match, it was Evelyn Shores — the only collegiate player on the roster — who netted the go-ahead in the dying seconds of stoppage time to give the U.S. the win. Today, in the second fixture, Albert converted a penalty drawn by the Portland Thorns' Caiya Hanks to get the U.S. on the board. But this time, German midfielder Tuana Mahmoud was the national hero with a soaring strike that U.S. and Bay FC goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz managed to only get a few fingers on. Props to the German Football Federation for streaming both matches on YouTube. — Tamerra 📺 USWNT vs. Jamaica Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, Max and Peacock The U.S. closes this window with a friendly against Jamaica at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Mo. The game was originally scheduled to be a second against China but had to be changed due to a scheduling conflict for the Chinese. 📺 Spain vs. England Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET streaming on Fubo UEFA Nations League continues tomorrow with the final round of matches before this summer's European Championship in Switzerland. And after an emphatic 6-0 win over Portugal to silence the Mary Earps chatter from the public, England take on Spain for a final test before Sarina Wiegman unveils the squad she's taking to the Euros. Never too late: USWNT midfielder Lo'eau LaBonta became the oldest player to debut for the U.S. women when the 32-year-old took the field in place of the 17-year-old Yohannes on Saturday. Meg Linehan caught up with the KC captain last week to discuss her first call-up. Teaming up: The Mexican Football Federation will join the U.S. as co-host for the 2031 Women's World Cup, a federation spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic on Friday. The two nations originally went in on a 2027 bid before backing out. Brazil will host that year's tournament. Tears, anger, end of hope: Blackburn Rovers' senior Women's team have been demoted from the Women's Super League 2 after the club decided against meeting the required licensing criteria to retain their tier-two status, plunging the women's set-up into an uncertain future. Megan Feringa reported on the anger, sadness and loss of trust from those impacted by the decision. 📫 Love Full Time? These stories can also be found on Yahoo's women's sports hub, in partnership with The Athletic. Also, check out our other newsletters.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Adrián González Becomes New Head Coach Of The Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit has announced that Assistant Coach Adrián González will become the new head coach of the club, effective on July 18. Jonathan Giráldez led the club as the head coach for 11 months and will transition to become the Head Coach of OL Lyonnes. Michele Kang is the majority owner of both the Spirit and OL Lyonnes, which recently received a rebranded name from Kang. 'I am excited and honored to become the Head Coach of the Spirit,' said González. 'Our focus remains on continuing to deliver performances that make our fans proud. I want to thank Jona for his leadership and friendship over the years, and I look forward to continuing to build upon the foundation we have established together.' Last season, the Spirit appointed González as the Interim Head Coach and led the team with a 10-4-1 record as they waited for the arrival of Giráldez, who led the club for 11 months with González by his side. 'It has been a privilege to lead this incredible group of players, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been part of the Spirit family,' said Giráldez. 'I am especially proud to see Adrián step into this role. He's not only a highly skilled coach but also someone who truly embodies the Spirit's vision and values. I have full confidence he will thrive and continue driving the team forward.' González was the Head Coach of RCD Espanyol Femení in Spain and the performance of his team allowed them to promote to Liga F. 'Adrián has proven that he is ready for this role,' said Kang. 'He knows the team and has earned this organization's trust through his hard work and dedication. I am looking forward to watching what this team can achieve this season and beyond under his leadership.' The Spirit started off the 2025 NWSL regular season with a strong start as they won the NWSL Challenge Cup in penalty kicks to earn their second Challenge Cup title since 2021. Following the international break, the Spirit are currently ranked No. 4 in the NWSL standings with a 6-3-1 (wins, losses, ties) record. Giráldez's final game with the team will be on June 22 as the Spirit face San Diego Wave FC on Sunday, June 22. In their next three games, two of their opponents are also currently ranked in the top five spots of the NWSL standings. The Spirit will host the North Carolina Courage on Sunday, June 8, which will mark Giráldez's final home game.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Jonatan Giráldez ‘Transitions' Between Clubs Owned By Michele Kang
The day after Joe Montemurro stepped down as coach of OL Lyonnes, his replacement was confirmed as Jonatan Giráldez, a man working for another club owned by Michele Kang. Giráldez, the youngest-ever coach to win the UEFA Women's Champions League in his time at FC Barcelona, moved to the United States last summer to coach Washington Spirit, the NWSL club owned by United States businesswoman Kang. She has also acquired the eight-time European champions, Olympique Lyonnais, who she recently separated from the men's team and rebranded as OL Lyonnes. With her head coach Montemurro leaving to coach the national team of his native Australia, Kang did not look far for his replacement. In 2024, Kang established London-based Kynisca Sports International as the umbrella group for her multi-club ownership of The Spirit, OL Lyonnes and London City Lionesses which she intends to expand into South America. Kynisca promised to pool resources between their teams and now it seems this extends to their head coach. Last summer, I asked Kang whether she would eventually move players between her teams. She was adamant she would not "This is not to say, we own multi-teams, everyone else exists to make one team successful. . . We are not going to sacrifice one team to make another team successful. Absolutely not. Our goal is to make every team the champion in each of their leagues.' Giráldez has signed a contract with OL Lyonnes until 30 June 2028. Until Montemurro, every coach of the club this century has got them to a Champions League final, since 2010 every coach except Montemurro had won the Champions League title. The club said 'this appointment confirms OL Lyonnes' strategic commitment to strengthening its international reach and increasing its competitiveness.' Kang added 'Jonatan's commitment to excellence and performance is unmatched. His leadership, tactical acumen, and dedication to player development will propel our club to the next level, both domestically and internationally." 'We are grateful for his decision to remain part of the Kynisca family. He will play a crucial role in elevating OL Lyonnes to new heights for the players and fans.' Washington Spirit announced simultaneously this afternoon that Giráldez will be replaced on July 18 by his assistant coach Adrián González as Giráldez 'will transition over to become the Head Coach of OL Lyonnes' in time for the start of the new French league season. Kang intimated that the expected arrival of Giráldez's second child next month may have played a part in his decision to return to Europe. Giráldez said 'it has been a privilege to lead this incredible group of players, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been part of the Spirit family." 'I am honored and excited to join OL Lyonnes,' said Giráldez. 'The club's history, ambition, and talented squad represent a fantastic opportunity, and I look forward to building on the club's successes as it enters a new chapter.' "I am especially proud to see Adrián step into this role. He's not only a highly skilled coach but also someone who truly embodies the Spirit's vision and values. I have full confidence he will thrive and continue driving the team forward.'
Associated Press
a day ago
- Business
- Associated Press
OL Lyonnes appoints Jonatan Giraldez as new head coach
LYON, France (AP) — Former Barcelona and Washington Spirit coach Jonatan Giraldez has joined French powerhouse OL Lyonnes as a replacement for Joe Montemurro. The eight-time European champions made the announcement following Montemurro 's appointment Monday to guide the Australian women's national soccer team. Giraldez signed a three-year deal, the club said. The Lyon women's team was recently rebranded OL Lyonnes, combining the city's name with the French word for a lioness. Giraldez led Barcelona to a historic finish in his final season, winning the Liga F, the Copa de la Reina, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League. He then joined Washington Spirit in June last year. OL Lyonnes and Washington Spirit are both owned by Michele Kang. 'Jonatan's commitment to excellence and performance is unmatched. His leadership, tactical acumen, and dedication to player development will propel our club to the next level, both nationally and internationally,' said Kang. 'He will play a crucial role in elevating OL Lyonnes to new heights for both players and fans.' ___ AP soccer:
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Inside Washington Spirit Owner Michele Kang's Plan To Revolutionize Women's Soccer
Settling into a gray upholstered chair in her living room in central London, beneath an enormous chandelier that makes even the nearby grand piano look compact, Michele Kang finds her mind drifting to the PBS home improvement series This Old House. She is fresh off a meeting with architects—down a glass-encased elevator to the conference room below her five-bedroom Knightsbridge apartment—and she has buildings on the brain. She enjoys design, she says, clad in a cardinal-red double-breasted Valentino dress coat against the chill of a February afternoon, but she doesn't have the patience to slog through a long television season. 'I just want to see the before-and-after picture,' says Kang, 65. 'Who cares about the middle? I want to see the final product.' Her entire life, Kang has focused on the endgame. Her outcome-oriented approach has made her a phenomenally successful tech entrepreneur—ranking 28th on Forbes' 2025 list of America's Richest Self-Made Women (which publishes on June 3) with a net worth estimated at $1.2 billion. But while she might privately wish that she could skip the process, she's also a woman who, after earning an economics degree from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Yale, meticulously mapped out the next 30 years of her career. She decided she would spend ten years consulting, to learn all aspects of a business, and then a decade as an executive before finally achieving her lifelong dream: becoming a CEO. She checked that last box in 2008 when she founded Cognosante, a health care IT company, which she sold last year for more than $1 billion. Acquaintances and business partners describe Kang as unfailingly prepared. John Textor, a former executive chairman of sports-focused streaming service FuboTV, says he will try to catch her off-guard at her other home in Florida, but 'it doesn't matter how early I get to her. She's still perfectly ready to go—couture, perfect hair, on her game. She's been taking notes while I'm still waking up.' Even so, Kang never could have foreseen her second act. Six years after a chance meeting at an event on Capitol Hill awakened an interest in professional soccer, she is the owner of three prominent teams: the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), OL Lyonnes of France's Première Ligue and the London City Lionesses, recently promoted to England's Women's Super League. Even more unexpected, the humble Kang finds herself widely recognized as the global face of investing in women's sports. GOAL GETTER | Michele Kang's London City Lionesses (top) earned promotion to the Women's Super League by claiming the title in England's second division this year—and it wasn't her first championship as a team owner. Her Lyon club (middle) has won back- to-back titles in France, and the Washington Spirit, built around star Trinity Rodman, won the NWSL Championship in 2021. By The FA/getty images; uefa/Getty Images; brad smith/isi photos/getty images 'I didn't know who Leo Messi was,' she says of the Argentine soccer superstar, laughing. 'Now, here I am.' Kang took control of the Spirit in 2022 at a $35 million valuation, then considered an astronomical price for a women's team. In reality, it was a bargain. Forbes estimates the Spirit are worth $130 million, and they aren't the only NWSL club to have seen such dramatic appreciation. Last year, L.A.'s Angel City FC sold at a record $250 million valuation to Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife, Willow Bay. Then, in January, the league selected Denver as its 16th franchise for a $110 million expansion fee. 'Michele really set the valuation boom in motion,' NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman says. Once again, Kang has an ambitious goal in mind, and this time, she is expecting her grand plan to take a lot less than 30 years. In the not-too-distant future, she believes, women's soccer teams will be trading for $1 billion or more—and she's willing to spend whatever it takes to make that happen. Between purchasing her three clubs, seeding a handful of women-focused sports startups and donating $30 million to the U.S. Soccer federation, Kang entered the sports world with an ante of at least $200 million. And she's not done: Her February meeting with architects centered on her plans to construct a practice facility in Kent, southeast of London, for the Lionesses, and in April, she announced what amounted to a $25 million donation to U.S. Soccer as she handed over the nonprofit research arm of her holding company, which focuses on the biomechanics of female athletes. At the same time, Kang and her fellow owners face a steep climb to approach the valuations of the 124 teams in the four major North American men's sports leagues, which are all worth at least $1 billion and have appreciated nearly 1,800% on average since Forbes started valuing them in 1998. By comparison, the women's leagues are still in their infancy, and many of the clubs have yet to show they're able to generate real money. For example, despite having won the NWSL title in 2021 and reached the 2024 championship game, Kang's Spirit posted roughly $15 million in regular-season revenue last year. Meanwhile, Major League Soccer's D.C. United, playing home games at the same stadium, collected $90 million in 2024, according to Forbes estimates. Those concerns—paired with massive pay gaps between male and female players, unequal media coverage and occasionally outright discrimination—have led some critics to write off the recent women's sports boom as nothing more than a social cause. Kang isn't buying that. 'This is not charity; this is not some corporate DEI project,' she says. 'I'm on a mission to prove that this is good business—not just a business, but a good business.' Kang considers herself a 'very, very private person' and says she is still adjusting to the spotlight that has come with her involvement in professional sports. Sitting with a reporter in her home, she chuckles. 'You're going to interview me for an hour?' she says. 'I don't have a story for an hour.' But don't mistake her modesty for timidity. 'When she comes in the room, she commands that room, and that's hard to do—especially in a male-dominated situation,' says billionaire NBA legend Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, who joined the Spirit last year as a minority investor and strategic partner. Berman, the NWSL's commissioner, remembers her first time meeting Kang, at a breakfast in 2022: 'She was the most put-together human I had ever seen—a little bit intimidating for me.' From her earliest days, Kang has had no trouble taking charge. Growing up in South Korea as a self-described tomboy, she refused to practice piano and would play sports instead. (Years later, after a few of her friends went on to study at Juilliard, she joked with her mother, 'You should have made me practice!') While Kang, whose given name is Yongmee, aspired to follow in her father's footsteps by studying in America, her parents weren't exactly keen to see their youngest daughter cross the Pacific. But she managed to convince them that, amid the 1980s political unrest that pushed South Korea from dictatorship to democracy, they were better off paying for college than saving for a wedding. 'I used a slight threat that 'If you don't let me go, then who knows what could happen to me?'' Kang, now divorced, recalls with a knowing smile. After business school, she became a partner at Ernst & Young, specializing in the high-tech and telecommunications sectors, and in 2000 she jumped to TRW as head of corporate strategy for the nonautomotive divisions at the conglomerate, which developed weapons and spacecraft. When the company was acquired by aerospace giant Northrop Grumman in a hostile takeover two years later, she saw an opportunity. 'They gave me this health IT business that was failing miserably,' she says. 'They felt like, if you screw up, you can't really do damage.' In fact, Kang's timing was perfect. In 2004, President George W. Bush began a push to guarantee Americans access to electronic medical records and created the Nationwide Health Information Network to help. Northrop Grumman was among the four companies selected to build the network and secured a $68 million contract to digitize the medical records of U.S. Defense Department employees. Between 2003 and 2007, Kang more than tripled the revenue of her division. Armed with new expertise in health care IT—an industry that was (and some would argue remains) technologically antiquated—Kang then decided to strike out on her own. In 2008, from an office above her garage in Bethesda, Maryland, she launched Cognosante. To hear Kang tell it, nothing Cognosante did was revolutionary. But she recognized that as hospitals and pharmacies moved their paper records online, too many systems were popping up that couldn't communicate with one another—using different file formats for insurance information, for instance, or different codes to identify diseases. Cognosante essentially connected the dots, helping doctors and health care professionals access notes and imaging results from anywhere, with a particular focus on improving the flow of information at state government agencies. This go-round, her timing wasn't ideal. Within months of Cognosante's founding, the subprime mortgage crisis sent the economy into a nosedive. With banks in disarray, Kang sold around $700,000 of her Northrop Grumman stock to fund her business. 'I had a lot of offers to invest in what I was doing, and I didn't take any of the money—not because I didn't need money but rather because, if I took their money, I could not take the kind of risk that I was planning to take,' she says. After emerging from the financial turmoil, Cognosante expanded its client base to federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It also extended its services into areas such as cybersecurity and Medicaid fraud detection. The company got to a point where, Kang says, she had two options: go public or bring in new management. Last year, she chose to sell, to a subsidiary of Irish IT giant Accenture. 'At some point, if you really want to take the company to the next level to compete against the big guys, then you need a different set of leaders,' Kang says. 'Even when I started, I knew that ten years was going to be the maximum for me to lead this organization.' Kang imagined that her next decade would center on philanthropy, and that was still the plan when she wrote a roughly $2 million check for 35% of the Spirit in 2020, not long after meeting the team's owners at a D.C. reception held for the U.S. women's national soccer team, which had just won the World Cup. 'It was not an itch—I didn't know anything about it,' she says of the NWSL at that time. But she liked the idea of supporting female athletes, and she believed that if the league could help close the gap with men's sports, 'the future is just incredible—not only for the players but, more importantly, a lot of young girls.' Besides, she says, across her career, 'I'm the first one to jump in when everyone else is trying to figure it out.' 'I see the value, and if I don't start valuing it, who else is going to do it for us?' says Kang, who paid $35 million for her first team. Kang got her chance after a scandal engulfed the team a year later. Three players told the Washington Post that Spirit coach Richie Burke had repeatedly screamed at them, insulted them and threatened to bench them, during games and at practice. Kaiya McCullough, a rookie defender, told the Post that Burke had made racially insensitive jokes and that the experience had sent her 'into survival mode.' She questioned whether she would ever play soccer again. Burke denied any wrongdoing but was fired, and an ensuing leaguewide investigation uncovered similar allegations against coaches at three other clubs. The Spirit's players published an open letter calling on Steve Baldwin, a tech executive who was then the club's CEO and majority owner, to sell the team to Kang. Negotiations turned ugly, with Baldwin reportedly accusing Kang of organizing 'a coup attempt,' but she eventually took control by besting an offer from billionaire bond investor Todd Boehly, who turned around and bought the men's and women's clubs of English soccer powerhouse Chelsea FC for a combined $5.2 billion in May 2022. Kang's $35 million price tag shocked observers, given that valuations in the NWSL historically had been under $5 million and that, despite the success of the U.S. women's national team, women's pro soccer had a bumpy track record. The Women's United Soccer Association, a $40 million effort to capitalize on American excitement around the 1999 Women's World Cup, began play with eight teams in 2001 and folded after three seasons, reportedly racking up $100 million in losses. A second attempt, known as Women's Professional Soccer, also managed to eke out three seasons, from 2009 to 2011. The NWSL arrived in 2013 and showed more promise—enough that Kang was comfortable raising her stake to an estimated 80% in the 2022 sale, despite the league's lack of profitability. 'I see the value, and if I don't start valuing it, who else is going to do it for us?' she says. 'Whether I paid $5 million or $35 million wasn't going to make a whole lot of difference.' Changes came quickly, with investments in the Spirit's front office and coaching staff and a reinforced roster around superstar forward Trinity Rodman (the daughter of NBA great Dennis Rodman). When Kang first joined the Spirit, its annual revenue was an estimated $5 million; by 2024, that number had tripled. Attendance climbed to nearly 14,000 per game, up from fewer than 6,000 in 2022. 'She hasn't wavered on spending money not only to make the Spirit better but also women's sports better, period,' says Magic Johnson, who notes that he had an opportunity to invest in the NWSL's Angel City FC but was won over by Kang and ended up putting his money in the Spirit. 'She won't stop until she's happy about where women's sports can go and she's achieved the goal of taking it there, even if she had to do it herself.' Looking beyond Washington, Kang agreed in May 2023 to buy 53% of the French club then known as Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, separating the operations of one of the world's best women's teams from its male counterpart. Later that year, she acquired the London City Lionesses and formed Kynisca Sports International to house her soccer investments under one roof, in London. She is now targeting a South American squad. Multiclub ownership is common in men's professional sports—for example, City Football Group owns more than a dozen soccer teams, including Manchester City and New York City FC. But that model—and the operating efficiencies that come with it—is a new development in the women's game. By centralizing global scouting and player and coach development, Kang can reduce the organization's spending, and she hopes to attract global brands as sponsors because of her presence in multiple countries. The company is also developing best practices with its facilities as Kang works to build new training centers for all three of her clubs. 'Michele shows up, and she starts talking about the incidence of ligament injuries during the menstrual cycle—she's putting money into research on women's bodies and how to train as women,' says Textor, whose Eagle Football Holdings owned the Lyon team, now known as OL Lyonnes, before Kang's purchase and maintains a minority stake. 'She's definitely not the boat floating up on the rising tide. She is the reason the tide rises.' Now, others are—finally—matching her enthusiasm. The NWSL has added blue-chip sponsors including AT&T and Google in the past year, and it achieved a financial breakthrough in 2023 when it signed media rights deals with CBS, ESPN, Ion and Amazon Prime Video collectively worth $240 million over four years—roughly 60 times the league's previous fees. Kang, at the center of it all, has a hard time wrapping her mind around everything she has accomplished in five years, saying, 'The fact that I'm talking about the word legacy is surreal.' But she is also enjoying the moment and taking pride in her teams, trying to travel to most Spirit games. When the topic of the 2024 championship game loss is broached, she can only laugh and say, 'Don't go there.' So will the Spirit avenge the defeat and raise the trophy in November? 'Absolutely,' she says with a grin. 'Mark my words.'
