Michele Kang becomes Washington Spirit’s controlling owner originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Spirit are now officially in the hands of Y. Michele Kang.
Washington’s National Women’s Soccer League team announced an ownership shift Tuesday as the businesswoman ‘will acquire the interests of other team owners Bill Lynch and Steve Baldwin,’ and become the controlling owner, per a team news release.
“I can’t wait to begin work with our talented, resilient players and staff,” Kang said in the announcement.
Per the Spirit’s release, she will work with other holdover investors in the new ownership structure but hold a controlling interest. Together, the new ownership group hopes to usher in a new era of D.C. women’s soccer with a commitment to new financial investments into the well-being of the team, including operations and infrastructure, according to the statement.
The change ends an ownership struggle that has ensued since October 2021. Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, Kang improved her chances of taking control of the team after the NWSL’s Board of Governors unanimously approved changes within the ownership group.
It allowed non-equity partners in the Spirit to become fulltime shareholders, giving them voting rights into the control of the team. The new minority owners were set to pledge their support to Kang over Baldwin.
The announcement did not say how much was paid to purchase Baldwin and Lynch’s shares. In December, Kang made a $35 million offer to buy controlling interest in the team, according to multiple reports. Baldwin pledged in 2019, when he became owner of the Spirit, to donate any profits made from a sale to the Maryland Soccer Foundation.
The Spirit are on the heels of their most successful on-field season ever after they defeated the Chicago Red Stars to take home the team’s first NWSL Championship. However, their season also saw a great deal of off-the-field controversies.
Baldwin resigned as CEO back in October in the wake of allegations of a toxic workplace environment within the organization. His departure followed that of former head coach Richie Burke, who was fired a week earlier due to abuse allegations. Lastly, the team forfeited two games due to a violation of the league’s COIVD-19 protocols.
Following Baldwin’s resignation, Spirit players tweeted out a joint statement, saying Baldwin needed to sell the team to Kang, the founder and CEO of health care consulting provider Cognosante.
— Andi Sullivan (@sunshine_sully) October 5, 2021
“I am pleased that someone with Michele’s commitment to the Spirit will lead the team in its next chapter,” Baldwin said in Tuesday’s news release. “I spoke with Michele this morning and told her that Bill and I decided to sell her the team. I sincerely wish her, our wonderful players, and our staff the best.”
No formal statement in response to the sale has been released by the Spirit’s players. Selected players plan to speak to the media during their training session on Thursday.
WTOP’s José Umaña contributed to this report.
