First she hard-balled the Washington Spirit (USA) out from under two very unpopular co-owners. Then she purchased the women's half of Olympique Lyonnais (FRA). Now she's purchased the London City Lionesses (ENG), and with confirmation that someone in NWSL is trying to snatch Barcelona's (ESP) coach, who else could it be (or could afford it) other than the person who fired one of NWSL's most storied coaches despite getting the best year-to-year turnaround in the league's most competitive ever with basically no roster change? (She's also planning on adding at least one more team this year and eyeing teams on each continent, per the Equalizer.) I know there are a few super-owners in the men's game, and while City Football Group in particular also has somewhat of a foothold in the women's game with six of their twelve clubs also sporting women's sides, we really haven't had a WoSo-focused super-owner before to my knowledge, (or at least no one incredibly visible,) and it seems like Kang might be breaking that ground. I know Spirit fans (and players) love her for saving the team from the previous owners, but there's also a little bit of growing uncertainty about split focus and priorities, especially after the somewhat harsh firing of Parsons. So I'm curious - how does she look from the international viewpoint? Do people think this American businesswoman sweeping in is a good thing, and is she unique or do you see other super-owners stepping up in the future?
Funnily enough, she was at the game attended yesterday in the Championship. Quite a big entourage as well. I think the Lyon fans are hoping she will carry on investing to keep the team as strong as possible. Now I wonder how much she wants to spend on teams because the Lyon annual budget is at least $10M and the London city budget should be a least $ 1.2M. If you add the Spirit costs... Of course teams like OL and Spirit actually have a very good turnover, so not loss making, but LCL certainly are
Kang just bought Giraldez from Barca (rumour has it he will earn 5 time more than his contract in Barca) #Exclusiva 🔐 El destino de Jonatan Giráldez: el Washington Spirit de Michele Kang, la magnate del fútbol femenino.Como adelantó Relevo, el técnico dejará el Barça al final del curso para vivir su primera experiencia en 🇺🇸.✍️ @SandraRiquelme_https://t.co/596XpcOiS9— Relevo (@relevo) December 18, 2023
"one of NWSL's most storied coaches despite getting the best year-to-year turnaround in the league's most competitive ever" I thought the biggest turn around was from Gotham and Juan Carlos. They went from last place to 6th place and then went on to win the Championship. WS went from 11th to 8th under Parsons.
You cut out a very important part of the quote immediately following! Gotham had huge roster change last year to this year, Washington didn't, so that's why I think the Spirit's turnaround was more impressive. I was also focusing more on the points swing than the actual position precisely because it was such a competitive year, but you are right Gotham did better than the Spirit even there too (+18 vs +11) so I should've have said "best" through my homer bias.
Yeah, that's the hope! I guess as long as that happens, there's no reason to be particularly concerned about playing under a super-owner. I know one thing we've very much seen here in the States is that advertising really works at getting people to show, so if she sinks money in that way, maybe the losses shrink a lot?
Kang likes to remove managers. The London City Lionesses Carolina Morace was sacked mid-season and her interim replacement RemI Allen is not staying either. We know she did not keep managers very long at Spirt and Sonia Bompastor at Lyon left before she was pushed.
Kang's still on a shopping spree... .. it's now time for Liga F. Levante Las Planas or rather now Levante Badalona as club will change its home from Sant Joan Despí to Badalona. Estefania Banini is the first notable transfer, and rumour has it more are on the way...
I'm not surprised she's adding more teams, but I am surprised that she's adding a third in Europe before any more in other continents like previously reported.
Michele Kang announces launch of Kynisca Sports International, Ltd The multi-team organisation aims to bring together elite clubs and invest in other organisations operating across the African, American, Asian and European continents to advance innovation in women’s sport. Under Kynisca, each club will retain its identity, heritage and community. The new management will continue to invest strategically to improve the infrastructure and grow each club’s fan base. In parallel, significant resources will be dedicated to developing skills common to all teams, such as performance science and technology, data analytics, global scouting and team development. (Original article in French. Translations by Google)