She is the boss.
Photo taken by:Norbert Grisay
You might be wondering how the likes of a woman who specializes in health information tech and has never played football is related to the game, but i am here to tell you that this woman is a huge reason as to why the teams you love are given the means to succeed. that woman’s name is michele kang… and she is the boss.
no matter the league you support, there is a good chance michele kang has dipped her toes into that pond. kang is the owner of OL Lyonnes (The most successful club in europe), majority owner of the Washington Spirit (2021 NWSL champions), and owner of the london city lionesses (who were recently promoted to the wsl). she has invested in women’s football across the board. literally.
Michele is the founder and CEO of the techn company Cognosante which has become one of the most highly influential trailblazers in the health care space. she decided to take her visionary talents to the pitch in 2022 with the washington spirit.
Kang embodies the fact that women’s sport is a business opportunity that should be capitalized on. in doing so, other teams within the nwsl have followed suit and gone up in value. the washington spirit is now worth $130 million, the san diego wave was sold for a whopping $120 million, and recent expansion team bay fc projecting to hit $30 million in revenue in 2025. women’s football is booming with value, and michele kang made that even more obvious to the world.
on the women’s side she is the first multi-club owner, which in many cases turns heads in an interesting way. but according to kang, “I get questions about if Lyon, Washington Spirit and London City are going to play, who are you going to cheer for? My answer is to let the best team win. 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” (Kang, 2024).
because of visionaries like michele kang, the women’s game is growing, players are being given the treatment they deserve, and fans are provided the football experience of their dreams. the impact does not just touch the teams she oversees, but it creates a ripple effect through the entirety of women’s football. this is what a real business woman looks like.
and that is why … she is the boss.
