After accusations of former Head Coach Richie Burke’s abuse of players and staff were published, chief executive Steve Baldwin sold the team to Kang, making her the first woman of color to own a National Women’s Soccer League team, and soon, she’ll be the first woman to own a multiteam soccer organization composed of both the Spirit and French club Olympique Lyonnais.
Kang grew up in Seoul in the 1960s with parents who valued academics. She studied business and economics, which led her to eventually move to the United States, the “center of the business world”. She went on to earn a degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Management.
Kang aspired to become the chief executive of a big company. She moved almost 30 times to pursue that dream. Then, in 2008, the global financial crisis hit. Kang decided to start her own company, Cognosante, instead, which later became a multimillion-dollar company.
“I had a successful company. I thought that was my career,” Kang said.
She was wrong.
In 2019, Kang was invited to join the Spirit’s ownership group after the USWNT won the World Cup. However, she wasn’t familiar with soccer. At the time, she didn’t even know who Messi was, but she was curious and open to trying something new.
“Let us be clear. The person we trust is Michele,” a Spirit player wrote to Baldwin. “She believes that this can be a profitable business and you have always said you intended to hand the team over to female ownership. That moment is now.”
Kang officially became the owner of the Washington Spirit on March 30, 2022. Soon, she wanted to expand her influence. She’ll gain ownership of Lyon, a powerful European team, in late June.
Kang’s not the only person who’s recently becoming involved in women’s soccer. In 2022, Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, Mia Hamm, and Serena Williams debuted two new women’s soccer teams, Angel City F.C. and the San Diego Wave. The NWSL is also expanding to two more teams in 2024, Bay F.C. and the Utah Royals.
Economist Stefan Szymanski says these changes signal two transitions in the soccer world.
“One is the rise of women’s soccer, which is long overdue, and which seems to be going places quite rapidly at the moment,” he said. “The second is the transformation of soccer ownership and the management of clubs worldwide.”
Unfortunately, that transformation won’t be easy where there’s a history of abuse. Kang wants to solve that problem through trust.
“I don’t want to overplay that I’m a woman of color, but there is a little bit of a sense of trust and comfort and familiarity that I am very glad to provide so that they feel comfortable coming up to me and talking about any issues.”
One of the ways Kang plans to improve the team culture is by treating players properly. She’s already enlisted experts to develop training programs tailored to menstrual cycles.
“We’re not going to borrow a manual from the men’s soccer team. We want to understand women’s physiology and biology and train our athletes according to that.”
Kang’s mindset has led to her quickly gaining popularity among both players and fans.
“She continuously puts players’ needs and interests first. She listens,” one Spirit player said.
Kang is changing what it means to lead a soccer team; instead of simply focusing on winning, owners must care for their players.
Kang grew up in Seoul in the 1960s with parents who valued academics. She studied business and economics, which led her to eventually move to the United States, the “center of the business world”. She went on to earn a degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Management.
Kang aspired to become the chief executive of a big company. She moved almost 30 times to pursue that dream. Then, in 2008, the global financial crisis hit. Kang decided to start her own company, Cognosante, instead, which later became a multimillion-dollar company.
“I had a successful company. I thought that was my career,” Kang said.
She was wrong.
In 2019, Kang was invited to join the Spirit’s ownership group after the USWNT won the World Cup. However, she wasn’t familiar with soccer. At the time, she didn’t even know who Messi was, but she was curious and open to trying something new.
“Let us be clear. The person we trust is Michele,” a Spirit player wrote to Baldwin. “She believes that this can be a profitable business and you have always said you intended to hand the team over to female ownership. That moment is now.”
Kang officially became the owner of the Washington Spirit on March 30, 2022. Soon, she wanted to expand her influence. She’ll gain ownership of Lyon, a powerful European team, in late June.
Kang’s not the only person who’s recently becoming involved in women’s soccer. In 2022, Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, Mia Hamm, and Serena Williams debuted two new women’s soccer teams, Angel City F.C. and the San Diego Wave. The NWSL is also expanding to two more teams in 2024, Bay F.C. and the Utah Royals.
Economist Stefan Szymanski says these changes signal two transitions in the soccer world.
“One is the rise of women’s soccer, which is long overdue, and which seems to be going places quite rapidly at the moment,” he said. “The second is the transformation of soccer ownership and the management of clubs worldwide.”
Unfortunately, that transformation won’t be easy where there’s a history of abuse. Kang wants to solve that problem through trust.
“I don’t want to overplay that I’m a woman of color, but there is a little bit of a sense of trust and comfort and familiarity that I am very glad to provide so that they feel comfortable coming up to me and talking about any issues.”
One of the ways Kang plans to improve the team culture is by treating players properly. She’s already enlisted experts to develop training programs tailored to menstrual cycles.
“We’re not going to borrow a manual from the men’s soccer team. We want to understand women’s physiology and biology and train our athletes according to that.”
Kang’s mindset has led to her quickly gaining popularity among both players and fans.
“She continuously puts players’ needs and interests first. She listens,” one Spirit player said.
Kang is changing what it means to lead a soccer team; instead of simply focusing on winning, owners must care for their players.