There’s never a dull day in women’s soccer.
On Wednesday, a convoluted series of events saw Lyon offhandedly announce that they’ve begun the process to sell OL Reign, their Seattle-based NWSL satellite.
The situation began with a potential bombshell report from L’Equipe, which asserted that Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang has reached a deal with Lyon owner John Textor to purchase a majority stake in Lyon’s women’s team. Per the report, Kang would acquire a 52% share of OL Féminin and assume the club’s annual operating debt, estimated to be just under €12 million.
Pro Soccer Wire reached out to the Washington Spirit on Wednesday about the rumors concerning Kang. In a press conference Thursday, a club spokesperson said the club had no new information to provide at the moment.
Meanwhile, Lyon issued a press release Wednesday afternoon disputing details of the report. In particular, they referred to a claim that club human resources director Vincent Ponsot had met with players to inform them of the sale as “factually and formally impossible” due to most Lyon players being away on international duty while Ponsot himself was said to be traveling abroad.
Surprise! OL Reign are up for sale
After multiple paragraphs pushing back on L’Equipe’s report, Lyon then casually tossed out a huge piece of news: the club is in fact looking to sell OL Reign.
“Some confusion may have arisen following discussions that have taken place in recent days around OL Reign,” read Lyon’s statement. “Indeed, OL Groupe announces that it has given a mandate to sell its NWSL franchise to the investment bank of the Raine Group.”
Equalizer Soccer reported that sources with the Reign were not familiar with a move to find potential buyers, with the Reign later supplying Sounder at Heart with a statement directing questions about the sale back to Lyon.
An NWSL spokesperson provided the Philadelphia Inquirer with a statement saying that the league “is aware” of Lyon’s move to sell OL Reign, and is working with them to complete the move.
A statement from a #NWSL spokesperson to The Inquirer:
“We’re aware of OL Group’s interest in exploring the sale of OL Reign and will continue to work closely with them to ensure any potential owner(s) are aligned with our league’s vision and values.”— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) April 12, 2023
The Reign are the third NWSL team out of 12 to find themselves up for sale. At least in this case, the team is for sale in a (relatively speaking) normal, voluntary manner. Raine Group has previously worked with Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings, and most recently became the broker appointed to aid the sale of Manchester United.
That’s a stark contrast to NWSL owners who have been hounded out of the league for poor stewardship at their clubs. Merritt Paulson put the Portland Thorns up for sale in December after a cascade of issues including their handling of Paul Riley’s dismissal and misconduct in their front office and within their training staff. The Chicago Red Stars are also up for sale after pressure from the team’s players, the public, NWSL, and other Red Stars owners saw majority owner Arnim Whisler eventually accept that the team should be sold.
On one hand, the Reign changing hands would make plenty of sense. it’s hard for Lyon to run a top-class club in France, and also a second top-class club an ocean away in the world’s best league. The Reign are one of NWSL’s most decorated teams, and have a history to be proud of. They deserve the kind of investment and focus that generally only comes from a dedicated, undistracted ownership group.
While their move back to Seattle has been a boon, playing at Lumen Field (capacity: 68,740) on a beaten-up NFL turf surface is very much a temporary measure. They don’t control the venue, and are the third major tenant there behind the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders. After some less-than-stellar past training arrangements, OL Reign relocated to Starfire Sports, a complex in Tukwila that sits roughly 14 miles south of Lumen Field.
That represents progress — training on a new grass surface is a big plus — but it’s again a venue the team does not control. NWSL has entered a new era: the Kansas City Current have built a pristine training facility of their own and have a stadium under construction. Kang told reporters at Audi Field last month that the Spirit are honing in on potential sties for a 70-100 acre training ground.
Lyon selling OL Reign could well represent the moment one of NWSL’s proudest clubs starts catching up in terms of off-field infrastructure. However, the nature of the announcement does open the door to questions over just how serious the vetting process will be. The Reign have been NWSL pioneers in a lot of ways, but may now be something of a guinea pig in terms of how the orderly sale of a club is supposed to work in a more sturdy, well-run league.
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