Last week, Michele Kang’s purchase of 52.9% of Lyon Feminines was confirmed. The deal had been in the works for a number of months and made Lyon the third club to become part of Kang’s portfolio, with Washington Spirit and London City Lionesses also owned by her.
Kang has been widely lauded for her purchases and in truth is probably the most recognisable business figure within women’s football, if not women’s sport as a whole, right now.
Kang’s stated intention is to build a global multi-club group and she now has three teams all in separate markets. The challenge she faces is navigating those markets which all have very different demands and risk calculi. Washington Spirit play in the closed NWSL, Lyon are dominant in France and London City Lionesses are towards the bottom of the very competitive English second division.
Kang is a hugely popular figure within women’s sports predominantly for her purchase of Washington Spirit which took place at a time of immense hurt within the organisation. Kang had originally come in as a minority investor but when the existing ownership was accused of nepotism and retaliatory behaviour in the fallout from Richie Burke’s sacking for abusive behaviour, they were eventually forced to sell. By becoming the first woman of colour to be a majority owner of an NWSL club, she represented a changing of the guard as women’s football in America reckoned with the revelations of abuse and misogyny coming from across the league.
At the end of the day, Kang is a businesswoman and it is going to be intriguing to see how she maximises profit with these clubs.
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