Kang takes over as Spirit’s controlling owner

Michele Kang is the new controlling owner of the Washington Spirit, ending a lengthy battle over the team.

Kang acquired the interests of co-owners Bill Lynch and Steve Baldwin to form a new ownership group, the National Women’s Soccer League team announced on Tuesday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The battle over the NWSL-champion Spirit had been contentious since October, when Baldwin, then the controlling owner, announced he was selling his share of the team.

Fans of the Spirit called on Baldwin to relinquish control after coach Richie Burke was fired for violating the league’s antiharassment policy in September. The Spirit’s players also released a collective statement calling on Baldwin to sell and throwing support behind Kang.

Kang, who also owned a stake in the team, offered to buy out Baldwin but he initially rebuffed the deal.

The Spirit also had a number of investors with non-equity positions, who were not voting members of the ownership group. The NWSL Board of Governors last month approved the conversion of some of those investors to equity shareholders, which gave them voting rights. The board also approved the transfer of some equity stakes to Kang.

Baldwin said he and Lynch informed Kang on Tuesday morning that they had decided to sell her their stake in the team.

“I am incredibly proud of what the Spirit has accomplished over the past few years, culminating in the 2021 NWSL championship,” Baldwin said in a statement. “I am pleased that someone with Michele’s commitment to the Spirit will lead the team in its next chapter.”