KANSAS CITY, Mo. (TNS) — Angie Long didn’t grow up dreaming of playing professional soccer, let alone owning a pro soccer team. When she was a young girl, neither goal was very realistic.
Today, in the world in which her kids are growing up, Angie Long co-owns a women’s pro soccer franchise that boasts a majority-women ownership and executive group.
Angie and her husband, Chris Long, co-founded Kansas City’s new National Women’s Soccer League team in December 2020. Their children, and kids throughout Kansas City, can see first-hand that it’s possible for women to occupy, and excel in, such roles.
Long’s no longer an anomaly. In fact, majority women-led ownership groups are becoming the norm across the league.
“For their whole generation, the fact that it is an option is amazing, and I love being part of that,” Angie Long said.
The incoming L.A. and San Diego NWSL expansion teams will be led by women, and some established franchises have recently added women as owners, as well. L.A.’s Angel City FC has 34 women in its founding ownership group, the Washington Spirit has added 22 women to its ownership group since December and the Chicago Red Stars in May expanded their ownership by 30 — including 12 women.
Before KC NWSL and Angel City FC were unveiled as new teams in 2020, there were just three women among the league’s nine ownership groups: Teresa Predmore at OL Reign, Tammy Murphy with Sky Blue FC (now NY/NJ Gotham FC) and Kay Rawlins of Orlando City SC.
In the last year alone, 72 women have joined ownership groups within the expanding league.
One of those owners is Angel City founder Kara Nortman, Angie Long’s former classmate at Princeton.
“It has been fun for us to do that together,” Long said. “She’s been calling it ‘the old girls’ network,’ but it’s just it’s been fun. I think there’s still not enough women in ownership, but I think that that’s changing.
“And the more women that we have involved, the more comfortable it becomes for other women to be involved.”
KC NWSL chief operations officer Amber Cox said she’s seen a shift in the way people view careers in women’s sports. The mindset used to be that a job in women’s sports was a stepping stone, where one could start a career.
Now, it’s the end goal for many. It’s a career that people aspire to have.
“The shift is now you see people that come into it wanting to make a career to grow in the NWSL, to grow in the WNBA,” Cox said. “Starting from intern on up, that’s the goal. And what’s so fantastic is you’re seeing these franchises do so well and the league really growing, and those opportunities continue to expand and they continue to be highlighted as opportunities.”
Long said it was “absolutely important” to include women in the team’s ownership and executive positions — positions that would represent the organization’s front office. Other women in KC’s ownership group include club president Jen Gulvik and former pro soccer player and fitness entrepreneur Brittany Matthews. Pam Kramer has also helped lead the club in the role of transitional chief executive officer.
