KC Current owners go global, acquire Danish club

Angie and Chris Long ushered successful a caller epoch of the National Women's Soccer League past twelvemonth when, arsenic superior owners of the Kansas City Current, they opened the league's archetypal purpose-built stadium. Now, the Longs are expanding their empire.

The Longs, done their household concern institution Ballard Capital, person purchased Danish nine HB Køge, they person revealed exclusively to ESPN. Chris Long called HB Køge "the precedent transaction" successful the Long's quest to make a planetary web of clubs.

"We're not stopping here," Chris Long told ESPN. "When we deliberation multi club, we consciousness similar we've got a blueprint with the Kansas City Current. We consciousness similar we tin instrumentality that aforesaid blueprint, usage it present -- though I deliberation there's immoderate decidedly antithetic aspects, community-wise -- and past we person immoderate different conversations ongoing to widen it further."

The Longs are the latest owners to articulation the inclination of gathering a planetary multi-club network. Fellow NWSL proprietor Michele Kang owns 3 teams and counting, and Sixth Street, the bulk proprietor of the NWSL's Bay FC, precocious announced plans to get much clubs and found a planetary network.

The Longs volition ain 100% of the HB Køge's women's squad aft separating the concern from the men's side. They said the volition support the team's existent identity. They declined to stock the acquisition terms of HB Køge, who won 3 consecutive Danish league titles from 2021-23, starring to 3 consecutive UEFA Champions League berths.

The Longs said that successful HB Køge -- located astir 30 southbound of Copenhagen -- they saw a beardown pipeline of endowment improvement and they fell successful emotion with a assemblage that Chris Long compared to Kansas City's "Midwest values." They were embraced from their archetypal sojourn to Denmark by politician Køge politician Marie Stærke and the women's team's lone dedicated sponsor, Danish slope Spar Nord.

"We've been looking astatine this for a portion and looked crossed a batch of antithetic countries and areas, and we're ace excited astir this accidental successful Denmark," Angie Long told ESPN. "If we look astatine our pillars arsenic a club, this accidental lines up truthful much. It's a spot to wherever we deliberation we tin truly pull and make endowment connected the subordinate side, besides connected the unit side."

The Longs' expectat to marque HB Køge a perennial champion successful Denmark and accordant UEFA Champions League participant. Chris Long said an speech of players and unit is possible, though helium noted the spot of Denmark's league and its quality to pull apical players.

What made HB Køge basal retired to the Longs was the concern potential. They spot a important accidental to amended commercialize a nine that was not pulling "so galore gross levers," Chris Long said -- a batch similar the opportunities they saw erstwhile they joined the NWSL successful precocious 2020.

Chris Long said they volition instantly treble concern into HB Køge's academy with the extremity of making it "the champion academy successful Scandinavia," a portion historically affluent with talent. They person besides brought backmost Walid Khoury, co-founder of Southern California younker powerhouse nine Slammers FC, to go the CEO of HB Køge's women's team. Khoury was the team's wide manager during its astir caller qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

The Longs purpose to summation sponsorship for the club. Through their travels and research, they person observed however galore women's teams are often treated arsenic ad-ons to sponsorship deals superior sold for men's teams, a signifier that inherently devalues the women's merchandise and artificially limits its concern potential.

Some of the commercialized fixes are simple: Chris Long said HB Køge's women's squad does not presently merchantability merchandise, a immense accidental mislaid for revenue.

HB Køge's men's squad volition proceed to beryllium owned by George Altirs and his American sportswear marque Capelli Sports. Separating the businesses of the men's and women's teams has been "a learning curve," Chris Long said, but it is simply a indispensable measurement that the Longs expect to instrumentality again with aboriginal clubs.

The Longs person already displayed what their semipermanent imaginativeness looks similar with the Current. They are successful the mediate of constructing a $1 cardinal Kansas City riverfront revitalization anchored astir CPKC Stadium. They expect to their interaction to widen into the assemblage successful Denmark, too.

Where the Longs grow to adjacent volition beryllium connected a fewer factors.

There are ample planetary opportunities to instrumentality implicit a nine and amended its business, Chris Long said, but determination are less opportunities among those that person the close assemblage enactment and shot operations. HB Køge checked each 3 boxes for the Longs.

They inactive person their eyes connected adding much clubs -- but they are inactive looking for different close assemblage and team.

"The concern side, it's wide open," Chris Long said. "There's conscionable truthful small absorption connected what the women's broadside tin genuinely beryllium from a concern position that we cognize that's going to beryllium retired there. It's the archetypal 2 [pillars] that are the ones that we're truly striving for."