The Houston Dash are on the brink of a $120 million sale, with Sportico reporting on Wednesday that owner Ted Segal is in advanced talks on a deal that would sever the NWSL club's ties to their MLS counterpart, the Segal-owned Houston Dynamo.
Any agreement is likely to face extensive reviews, however, with questions arising about the funding sources of the buyer, RHC Group.
Namely, RHC Group founder Richard Hsiao is the 24-year-old US-born son of Chinese billionaire Jianhua Xiao, who's currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for what the Chinese government described as financial crimes.
According to Sportico sources, RHC's funds do not have ties to Hsiao's father, but instead originate from "the independent wealth of Hsiao's mother, Zhou Hongwen."
While the NWSL traces the proposed deal's funding, Hsiao is already going through the league's standard background check, a process he reportedly began months ago.
Characterizing the league's "due diligence process" as "ongoing," the NWSL said, "As with all such matters, the NWSL Board of Governors retains full authority to approve or deny any ownership change based on the league's governance standards."
Should the Dash sale go through, the prospective new owners reportedly intend to invest in club infrastructure while keeping the team in Houston.