Angle 1: her early history and moving to america
Angle 2: How she got to a billionaire
Angle 3: Owning the soccer teams
Angle 4: Is multi-club ownership good for the game?
Opening Statement/joke
Today on the show I’m trying something new. Today’s episode is all about famous soccer team owner Michelle Kang. Since it’s a biography, I’m only allowed to make 1 fart joke per episode. Which is such a gas. *record scratch* and I’ve used it already. What am I gonna do for the rest of the episode? *joke sting* Besides play ads, like this one.
Copy Yonosim ad here
Biography part 1
We start the Michelle Kang story by going waaaay back in time to 1959 when she was born in Seoul. I accidentally typed that as 1599 but my editor caught it in time. So no, she is not a vampire lord *joke sting* though that would make a cool TVIng drama series. Anyway, as the youngest of 3 sisters, she grew up in a fairly well-off family, with a dream to become a basketball player or a teacher, but her father pushed to study business administration. She attended Ewa University and Sogang University in her early 20s then realized she would have more opportunities in the United States. Also happening at the same time was the Gwangju Massacre and start of the Chun Doo-hwan takeover so she had pretty good reason to leave, according to reports in The ESK podcast. But in later interviews she said quote Even if you graduate with the highest score, you would probably be an assistant to the chairman. Then, when you get married, you will be voluntarily or involuntarily asked to leave unquote. This cultural expectation of career-minded women being ceiling-ed because of family demands is still an ongoing issue here. Her family accepted her wishes and gave her a loan that was meant for her wedding, and in 1981 she started attending the University of Chicago where she studied economics. After graduating from there she went to Yale and got a master’s in public and private management. She worked as an management consultant for various companies then became a partner at Ernst & Young, a London-based IT company. I’m not sure if she was there when the planned merger with KPMG services failed, but she was there at some point in the 1990s. Ernst & Young had several accounting scandals during the 90s and early 2000s, so maybe she got tired of dealing with their bullcrap. I can imagine the conversation now in the parking lot.
“Hi Ms. Kang? Here for court again?”
“Yup, once again Officer.”
“I saved your favorite spot. That Arthur Anderson guy was a creep again!”
“Thanks Miguel. You’re a sweetheart!” *joke sting*
Ernst & Young were later involved in more accounting scandals and a sexist training program scandal, so can you blame her for leaving in 2000 to go to…Northrup Grumman! I mean…yeah they make stuff that blow people up, but they aren’t the ones ordering the attacks so it’s a moral gray area. While at the company, they went through several costly scandals that started before she got there, like the space program overcharging scandal and the defective aircraft scandal. Anyway she was in charge of their Health & Science Solutions unit which I can’t find any information about on the company website or wikipedia page. Hmm a proper mystery here… but at any rate she wasn’t in charge of the weapons programs which is a common criticism about her on soccer fan pages. It was also during this time she was fighting breast cancer, a battle she successfully fought while managing the unit and increasing their profits 4 fold. That was where she really got into health care and joined the board of Rexahn Pharmaceuticals in 2006. She left Grumman in 2008 and started her own company in 2008 which is where the real money comes in. We’ll talk about that after this short break.
Part 2
So how did she become a billionaire? An exec at Grumman doesn’t jump into that tax bracket, unless they have a killer jump shot *joke sting*. Well, like many people in the business world, they become entrepreneurs. She started Cognosante, a health IT company in the room above her garage. What? Why didn’t she start in the garage??? Have you seen American garages? All the kids stuff be in there! All the spiders and possums be up in there too! She didn’t need them distractions~! *joke sting* Based on my limited research, Cognosante was some kind of health IT company that worked with state and federal health agencies. You know, medicare, medicaid, VA hospitals, that kinda stuff. She also started at the same time Cognosante Ventures, a venture capital firm that targeted IT health startups. So, what was going on after 2008 that really uplifted healthcare spending in the united states? If you said the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare, you get a gold star for political memory! Also it didn’t hurt that she had contacts in the healthcare and military industry following her previous employment. It was, and in some ways, still is a good time to focus on healthcare IT solutions and integration. While running both companies, she set up a foundation for underprivileged and underresourced individuals that provided funds to Young Invincibles and set up a fellowship for 1st gen college graduates. She donated money to HBCUs, helped hire women in STEM and disabled veterans and others with disabilities. Eventually she sold Cognosante to Accenture Federal Services, but just before that, she again took an interest in sports, in a way she hadn’t foreseen as a teenager a half-century ago.
Part 3
So how did a business focused philanthropist get into team sports ownership, you might ask? It was kinda happenstance, really. In 2019 she was invited to the USA women’s team world cup celebration on capital hill by her colleague and board member senator Tom Daschele. See folks, sometimes you gotta go to the fun parties to rub elbows with the right people. (pause for 2 seconds) I uh… no I didn’t have much luck at the party. I threw elbows not rubbed them *joke sting*. While at the party she met Steve Baldwin the owner of the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League. You might know of them because Trinity Rodman plays there. Anyway, Baldwin got her to join the ownership group in 2020. I use the verb got in the loosest sense because she was quite wowed by the Spirit players and knew she wanted to lead the team. She picked a fun time to join the league too because COVID hit and at the same time the league and team were involved in player abuse scandals that resulted in the removal of coach Burke. After a long negotiation with Baldwin and owner Bill Lynch she took majority ownership on march 30th 2022, becoming the first woman of color to own an NWSL team in the United States. While she was on the board the team won the 2021 championship. You’ve probably noticed a pattern thus far. We’re gonna talk about that soon enough, but keep in mind this purchase wasn’t her only one. There’s a reason why she’s called a tycoon, and you don’t get called that if you only own one team. (pause for two seconds) What about Jerry Jones? No he’s a sports tyrant not a tycoon. There’s a difference *joke sting*.
Moving on. She joined the board of directors of Eagle Football Holdings in 2023 which she had to bail out of significant financial trouble. Eagle owned Olympique Lyonnais as well as its women’s teams and OL Reign, an NWSL team in Seattle. This put her in a tight spot as it was frowned upon in football for one owner to control 2 teams or more teams in the same league. So the OL group hired an outside manager and sold the Reign to the Carlyle Group in 2024. While that was going on, Kang became a high-level owner in Eagle Football Holdings, which ran into trouble because Olympique Lyonnais was 200 million euros in debt and getting relegated to ligue 2 for the 2025 season. Kang saw an opportunity and got hired as team president on June 30th. She then sold 2 top player contracts and reduced the salary of 2 players, dunno if they agreed to that or not, and made some other moves to get the budget under control and on July 9 the team was allowed back into ligue 1. Starting this year she will be majority owner of Olympique Lyonnais, through a series of events hotly contested by Eagle football founder John Textor. Textor alleges in an interview with Front Office Sports Kang and Ares Management set up a secret side deal to run the team without his knowledge, something Ares partially denies saying it set up a side deal to protect its interests considering Eagle was in technical default and owed 200 million euros to it. So there’s some business wars going on with her takeover of OL. Are we surprised? Anyway, OL wasn’t the only team in Europe she was working with. She purchased London City Lionesses at the end of 2023, which was a total mess with players asking the owners to sell it and the roster only half-filled. She brought in a Paris St. Germain coach to manage the team, moved it to Bromley, and announced plans for a training center in Kent. Because of these moves and recruits, the team got promoted to the women's super league in 2025. Have you noticed the pattern now? She joins a messy organization, fixes it up, and it goes on to succeed, sometimes in great ways. But the way that success has happened has drawn some detractors, whom we’re not gonna focus too much on, after the break.
Part 4
And now we come to the elephant in the room. No she’s not buying the elephants, they’ve been gone for years. No, we’re talking about how she acquired both teams. According to an article written by Paul Quinn in the ESK, when Kang needed to remove a hostile controlling owner, she converted debt holders into equity holders, thereby manufacturing a new shareholder base aligned with her interests. She also may have a relationship with Ares management before they teamed up to capture OL in that she was listed as a possible minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles back when they were teaming up to purchase them in 2024. But these are fundamentally unimportant things to the main point the fans are getting at.
We’re talking about multi-team ownership. Those of you that paid attention to the Kia Tigers and Samsung Lions episodes know what I’m getting at. Putting a lot of team control into the hands of the elderly is a recipe for disaster, though it seems Ms. Kang is in better health than those Chaebol heads were. And also she doesn’t have a dictatorship to mollify. So now we’re onto the second problem; whether or not multi-team ownership is good for the game. In her defense she told the Athletic “multi-club is a necessity, not luxury or greed. Because we need to invest to professionalize women’s football to the level that they deserve and the potential that women’s football has. We need to invest. Because of the lack of media dollars, there isn’t that much money to invest.” unquote. Some of her recent investments have been in Kynisca Sports International and Innovation Hub to advance female athlete health and training. I think she said something about sports medicine seeing female athletes as smaller men, so there has been a need for decades to create healthcare solutions and better shoes for female athletes. Bloomberg news said “6% of sports science data is focused exclusively on women”. I can hear my listeners shouting finally in the distance. But yeah this should have been done ages ago. The main issue fans have is with priority. To cut costs, multi-team owners often cut salaries and players from their other teams to focus on a main team. And of course, it be your favorite team that gets cut *joke sting*. Kang saves some money by having staff like trainers work on all 3 of her teams. It’s not a negative per se, but one issue fans have is that by hiring the best players, you’re neglecting your academy system to focus on short-term winning. Eventually this comes back to haunt teams and ownership groups. Looking at you San Francisco Giants, and you Detroit Red Wings, and so the story goes. It also makes it harder for some locals, especially in Europe, to build up interest in the team if they think it’ll get axed to save money or not hire locals. I think some of that comes from the spectre of private equity infesting its way into sports. But Kang has a plan to avoid some of those issues. She told the Financial times quote Why hasn’t women’s soccer succeeded as a business yet? “A lot of people are all becoming very impatient. English men’s professional football, she points out, is more than a century old. The US National Women’s Soccer League started in 2012.” unquote. Getting women’s league up to profitability worldwide is quite the task. Perhaps Ms. Kang feels she can make it happen. We at Hwai-ting sports podcast will be watching. Unfortunately, she hasn’t taken an interest in the KWFF so we won’t be watching her that much *joke sting*.
Worst Person
Radon #1: Shin Tae-yong Suspended by KFA for One Year, Retains Indonesian Role
Bulhwa: LG Twins Reshuffle Coaching Staff After Losing Streak
Platinum #2: I’m blaming the weather Heatwave Cancels Two Futures League Games also two pro baseball games on the 1st.KBO Heatwave Game Decision Sparks Backlash
It’s that time, listeners! Time for an extra long edition of Worst Persons in the Korean Sports world! Because whoooo boy there are a LOT of things that got me heated and its not just the weather *joke sting*! First up is the Bulhwa award which goes to… the LG Twins for reshuffling their coaching staff after a losing streak. When LG lost to Hanwha 14 to 4 after giving up 10 runs in the 8th inning, which was a few games after an 8 game losing streak, the GM made changes to the hitting, battery (pitching and catching), and defense coaching staff. Manager Yun wasn’t thrilled with this and told reporters in a press conference quote “In my experience, I’ve never seen a team that changed its coaching staff mid-season and then improved its performance.” unquote. Has it helped or was coach Yun correct? Well, in the past 10 games at the time of this writing, LG is 3-1-and 6 losses and is now in 3rd place. Sooo, yeah that clearly didn’t work. Way to waste everyone’s time, LG Twins management staff!
We’ve got a Nap award for Gimpo FC and 8 other teams! According to reports in the Chosun Biz and other outlets, civic groups such as The Institute for Economic Justice held a news conference in which they announced series of filed complaints with the National Police Agency against those 9 club's representative on charges including breach of trust, embezzlement in the course of duty, and violations of the Act on the Management of Local Government subsidies. What did these CEOs do? They went to Cancun during the World cup and 7 of the CEOS flew business class all on the taxpayers 십원! Those 7 clubs were Gangwon, Gyeongnam, Gimpo, Daegu, Bucheon, Seongnam, Ansan, Anyang, and Incheon. So what were they doing in Cancun? According to the civic groups the KPFL set up a 2 day junket there for a quote 2026 K League Academy–CEO course unquote. The business class tickets cost around 15 point 9 million won each per person. Yeah about double the usual cost, well because it was World Cup, which the CEOs attended because of course they did. Two team CEOs like Suwon FC and Yongin flew economy and if you know anything about either team, that ain’t surprising *joke sting*. Anyway the civic groups found that the Cancun portion of the trip was not detailed to the clubs, and the CEOs had a morning seminar then spent the afternoons touring historical sites and quote other activities unquote. (pause for 2 second) Sounds like a pretty sweet gig to me. Where do I sign up? *joke sting* The civic groups also want to file a resident audit request against the relevant local governments the clubs belong to. (pause for 2 seconds) On second thought, naah I don’t want that job. I can go to Cancun any vacation period I want. I don’t need the auditors looking through my underwear drawers *joke sting*. Also at the press conference was Rebuilding Korea legislator Kim Jae-Won who also was at the KFA hearing on Yeoido the day before, said quote "They say there isn't enough budget to spend on players and youth, but they spared no taxpayer money on club representatives' business-class seats and stays in Cancun." unquote. (pause for 2 seconds) People need to be tuning in to my show, then this shit wouldn’t happen! We talked about this in the deep dive on Saemalgeum, with the city reps going on overseas junkets instead of learning how to run a scout jamboree. Did y’all learn anything about the 4 4 2 formation or did you learn about 4 tequila shots? *joke sting*
And now for the Radon award, which goes to… Shin Tae-yong for being suspended by the KFA for one year, which doesn’t affect his coaching job in Indonesia! He got suspended due to the results of an investigation into a player assault while coaching at Ulsan HD last year. On video he is shown slapping a player, which probably was the final straw considering the raft of issues he had created with the team. According to reports in the Chosun Daily, Shin explained at the time that Jung was a cherished mentee he had worked with for a long time and did not agree with the characterization of the incident as assault. However, he acknowledged that his expression was excessive and apologized if Jung felt uncomfortable. Well fuck man I would be uncomfortable too if a coach slapped me! If you would like to express what you would do to a coach, please vote in my poll on Spotify or on our facebook page.
And we have a second Radon award for radioactive bullcrap, step up to the stage…GIMPO FC again! This time the CEO resigned on the 18th of July due to an investigation of an employee that was accused of embezzling public funds amounting to 5.8 billion won according to reports in the Chosun Biz. The employee was supposed to deposit the funds into short-term deposit accounts at local banks but instead kept them, and later stole some more money in the amount of 2 point 5 billion won. This case was uncovered during an internal audit after the club itself detected abnormal signs. I.E Where’s those bank accounts I told you to set up, sir? So the CEO said in a statement posted online quote I bow my head in sincere apology for causing great shock and disappointment to citizens and fans due to the embezzlement of public funds that occurred at Gimpo FC. unquote. It should also be noted that he was one of the primary sponsors of the team and helped create it. This is like Ballmer quitting the Clippers because of the Kawaii Leonard fiasco, sort of. LA city would have to own the Clippers for it to be a true metaphor and he’d have to be unaware of the payments…. yea that dog ain’t hunt. But you get the idea. Gimpo is…in 8th place about 5 points out of the playoffs.
Finally we come to the Plutonium award which goes to… the weather and the KBO! Thanks to a recent heatwave, many Future’s league games have been canceled and two pro games were canceled over the Aug 1st weekend. Ironically they were games that DreadROK’s Damas Waygookin tour was going to see. Talk about bad timing. Anyway, the Lotte Giants game on Sunday went ahead at 6:30PM even though the stadium seats were recorded at 68 degrees celsius at 5:20pm. Lotte Giants players complained about the game’s start, with one saying his shoes were burning which reminds me of the lava game for some reasons *joke sting*. Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung was also not impressed, saying Does it make sense for the KBO to look at an app or forecast from their office in Seoul and tell us to proceed because temperatures will drop at 6 p.m.? They should come to the stadium and stand there for an hour, or even 30 minutes. Isn’t it like covering one’s eyes and pretending not to see if they decide to proceed just because the weather app shows falling temperatures?” Samsung’s manager, who’s usually a cool guy *joke sting* made a statement about how the league will listen to voices on-site but the KBO doesn’t seem to be listening, especially with the day’s temperature being higher than yesterday’s. So what did the stadium and team do? They set up cooling centers in the stadium as well as a heatstroke mitigation room, then put a sign on the screen saying “Beware of burns,” to spectators. (laughing) look man, if you gotta warn your fans about being burnt up like a hot dog you forget to take off the grill, then you shouldn’t be playing the game. Hopefully there won’t be strikes from angry groundscrews due to unsafe conditions this week. On Tuesday night an SSG fan got heatstroke and passed out in the stands and needed to be resuscitated along with 25 other fans who needed to be treated for heat illnesses. The league has finally taken it more seriously and canceled games on Wednesday and Thursday. And this is why the heatwave and the KBO are todays! WORST PERSON! In the KOREAN SPORTS WORLD! Don’t get roasted Korean Baseball Fans!
GOTW
Do I even want to recommend baseball this weekend? I can’t guarantee there won’t be cancellations. There might be some showers this weekend so you’re either getting wet or steamed. Take your pick, but if you wanna gamble, I’d go with Kia vs LG in Jamsil on Sunday night.
In footie I’m suggesting Saturday night’s Pohang vs Ulsan, a local Gyeongsang derby! Since it’ll be around sunset they won’t have to worry about the heat as much. Tonight though I’m reccing Hwacheon KSPO hosting Gyeongju. Both are competing for a playoff spot so it’ll be the best game of the night.
In basketball the Wheelchair league will be playing in 고양홀트종합체육관 this weekend with matches starting in the early afternoon. I think the most interesting match will be 춘천 vs 제주. Also if you want to stay indoors, the 45th president’s cup national swimming championships will be going on in Jeonju. Competitions from Elementary to Adult divisions, with Water polo from Aug 7 to 11 at 전주완산수영장. I’ll put the schedule in the description.
And if you wanna get sweaty, Mr and Mrs Korea will be next weekend at 경상북도 경주화백컨벤션센터. Look at all the hot bodies on stage, if that’s yo thang.
Copy Ending from previous single host episode
A shoutout to our listeners in Lucknow India and Beyoğlu Turkey! Lucknow is the home of the Lucknow Super Giants which is the worst Cricket team in India. Ohhh, probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. Uh, OK on to Turkey. Beyoglu Turkey in Istanbul is home of the Beyoglu Sports club which was started by Greek residents in the early 20th century. Quite the interesting history there.
The show will return on the 28th and I’ll be covering the SSG Landers! I’m sure there’s a good reason they chose this name and not Wyverns which was a better name. You can tune in while suntanning at the beach, Korean Sports Fans!
(AI voice) Guests of the Hwai-ting sports podcast get new shoes from FUK small shoes! FUK has the most stylish pumps and crocs on the peninsula! Using their patented delivery system, their delivery drivers will yeet them through your windows whether they are open or closed. Just like your cranky grandma! (speed up) Shoe yeeting technology still unproven! Not responsible for brain damage from shoe impact. No returns allowed!
Notes
Michele Kang: ambition, complexity, and the Textor question
"메시 누군지도 몰랐다"던 그녀, 세계 女축구 '보스' 된 사연 | 중앙일보
Y. Michele Kang - Horatio Alger
Washington Spirit Owner Michele Kang on Leaving Seoul to Study in America
Michele Kang: TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026
A letter to our Spirit family from Michele Kang 💛
Michelle Kang. : r/WomensSoccer
https://unwall.app/frontofficesports.com/the-american-sports-owners-feuding-over-french-soccer-team/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Football_Holdings
michele-kang-womens-soccer-investment/
https://www.korswim.co.kr/11/345
Fan nearly dies of heat illness - Chosun biz
Civic groups accuse nine K League CEOs of taxpayer-funded Cancun junkets - CHOSUNBIZ
Gimpo FC CEO Hong resigns after employee embezzled over 8 billion won - CHOSUNBIZ