Understand the formation of the first multi-club women’s football company – Futebol

In a deal involving the US company Eagle Football Holdingstogether with its subsidiary in France, OL Groupand American businesswoman Michele Kang, announced last Tuesday (16) the creation of the first multi-club women’s soccer organization, led by women.

A central character of the business, Michele Kang is the owner of Washington Spirit, current leader of National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the premier women’s soccer league in the United States.

On the other side, we have Eagle Football Holdings, a company owned by the American John Textorwho also owns the Football Anonymous Society (SAF) do Botafogoand its subsidiary in France, OL Groupe, which owns the rights to Olympique Lyonnais, or simply Lyon, as it is better known in Brazil, a club that competes in Ligue 1, in France.

OL Groupe announced that 52% of Lyon’s women’s team, which is valued at €50 million (about R$267.9 million at current prices), is being transferred to the newly created company in partnership with Michele Kang. The other 48% will continue with OL Groupe.

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The Lyonnais Féminin is one of the biggest showcases of Lyon today. The club is the most successful in Europe, having won no less than eight titles in the Champions League Feminina over 21 editions of the continental tournament.

It is worth noting that Michele Kang is a minority shareholder in Eagle Football Holdings, owned by John Textor, and is also joining the Board of Directors of OL Groupe, thus forming a sports conglomerate.

With investment potential, the new group has already stated that it intends to buy women’s clubs in at least three continents. “This new global platform will seek to acquire additional clubs in other countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia,” OL Groupe said in an official statement.

The deal must pass the National Women’s Soccer League and “various third party approvals in France”. The closure, according to OL Groupe, should take place at the end of June 2023.

OL Groupe owns another team competing in the NWSL, OL Reign, currently second in the league. For this reason, the group started a formal process of selling the club, due to the restriction of ownership of multiple teams in the same league.

Pioneering spirit

This will be the first multi-team global women’s football organization to be led by a woman.

“This agreement represents a major step forward in the history of women’s professional football. The complete alignment and support for this vision between the OL Groupe board and key directors, including Jean-Michel Aulas, John Textor and myself, is very powerful.”

Michele Kang, businesswoman

“The combination represents hope, determination and the business steps needed to shape the future of women’s football.”

It is worth remembering that in the last week, John Textor took over Lyon’s interim presidencyafter Jean-Michel Aulas, who remained in the post for 36 years, stepped down.

“With a winning tradition unrivaled in the world of women’s football, the [Lyon] Féminin has a unique opportunity in this growing market to build the global Olympique Lyonnais brand to the benefit of OL Groupe and our athletes. The agreement with Michele creates the ideal vehicle to achieve this goal, ensuring an exciting future”, highlighted John Textor.

official note

On its official website, OL Groupe detailed part of the negotiation. See the full:

At the OL group level, the transaction will result in the OL Association (an independent association governed by the French law of 1901, consolidated by the OL group) contributing to its women’s football business, in exchange for a 12% stake in the new joint entity, without voting rights.

OL Groupe will also hold a 36% (non-voting) stake in the new joint entity, in exchange for granting a 50-year license to the OL brand.

OL Groupe will be represented on the governance bodies of the new structure and will benefit from certain liquidity rights linked to the liquidity of the majority shareholder.

OL Groupe and its subsidiaries will provide services to the new entity. The new ownership will continue to invest strategically to upgrade infrastructure and grow each club’s fan base. In parallel, significant resources will be devoted centrally to developing capabilities that will be shared by all teams, such as performance science and technology, data analysis, global foresight and sports team development.

The text also guaranteed that “each club will maintain its own established identity, respecting its heritage and community foundations”.