The Washington Spirit have finalized a new ownership structure, authorizing Y. Michele Kang to acquire the interests of fellow team owners Bill Lynch and Steve Baldwin. Kang will assume majority ownership of the team alongside a new, female-led ownership group, the Spirit announced in a statement Tuesday.

She will be the NWSL’s first non-white, female majority owner.

On Tuesday, Kang thanked Baldwin for his “leadership, vision and formidable drive in building the Spirit and the outstanding roster that won the 2021 NWSL Championship.”

She also recognized Lynch for his work with the Spirit.

“I personally appreciate, and want to publicly recognize Bill Lynch’s pivotal work as the founding owner of the Spirit bringing women’s professional soccer back to our nation’s capital,” Kang said. “I can’t wait to begin work with our talented, resilient players and staff.”

Baldwin said he is “incredibly proud” of what the Spirit have accomplished in the past few years.

“I am pleased that someone with Michele’s commitment to the Spirit will lead the team in its next chapter,” he continued. “I spoke with Michele this morning and told her that Bill and I decided to sell her the team. I sincerely wish her, our wonderful players, and our staff the best. My hope for 2022 is that the Spirit become the first ever DC premier league sports team to win back-to-back championships. Go Spirit.”

Kang and Baldwin have been in a heated custody battle of the team for months. The saga began when former head coach Richie Burke was fired amid allegations of verbal and emotional abuse. A subsequent NWSL investigation found that the Spirit front office was fostering a toxic work culture for its female employees.

Baldwin had reportedly offered to sell the team to Kang last April. That offer was later rescinded.

Last October, Baldwin said he would sell the team by the end of the year. He later entered into talks with a group led by Todd Boehly and Jennifer Mackesy, who reportedly offered $21 million to buy the club. Kang then offered a reported $35 million for majority ownership. Despite this, Baldwin pushed ahead with the offer from Boehly and Mackesy, a decision some of the club’s minority owners met with resistance.

In mid-January, Kang turned the tables on Baldwin, with The Athletic reporting that she had rallied other co-owners to her cause and acquired the number of votes needed to approve a sale of the club to herself. Following the reports, Boehly withdrew his bid. A few weeks later, the NWSL’s Board of Governors said in a statement that it approved of Kang’s potential ownership of the club.

In a last-ditch effort at the end of January, Baldwin sent out an email to Spirit investors in which he aired his grievances against Kang and admitted that the matter was “personal.”

Kang declined to comment, with her attorney saying in a statement that she and Kang “are ready to move forward and focus on the next, exciting chapter for the Washington Spirit and women’s professional soccer.”

The new ownership’s vision for the team, according to the press release, is “Premier, Professional and Proudly DC.” The locally-based group plans to make substantial new investments into the team’s staff, operations and infrastructure to achieve those goals.

NWSL preseason is currently underway, with the 2022 Challenge Cup set to begin March 16. The Spirit will open play against the Orlando Pride on Saturday, March 19.

The world No. 2 USWNT returned to winning form on Sunday, avenging Thursday's upset loss to No. 23 Portugal by capping the pair's two-game friendly series with a 3-1 victory.

USWNT midfielder Olivia Moultrie led the charge, securing a brace within the opening 10 minutes before second-half sub Sam Coffey flicked in a 77th-minute corner kick to cement the 3-1 scoreline.

"[US head coach] Emma [Hayes] said before the game, 'I don't care what the result is, but no matter what, I want it to feel like we played like us,'" said 20-year-old Moultrie postgame.

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Hayes significantly shifted away from Thursday's struggling lineup, replacing eight starters and relying on a starting XI with an average age of 21.7 years old — including teenaged midfielders Lily Yohannes and Claire Hutton.

Defender Emily Sonnett captained the squad, and her 111 senior team caps singlehandedly outranked the other 10 players on the field, whose USWNT appearances combined totaled just 100 matches.

"You can't cut a corner to success, and you can't cut a corner with development," said Hayes, impressed by the young group's growth since falling to both Brazil and Japan earlier this year.

"I think last game was a blip," Hayes continued. "And that, for me, is not something I expect to be happening on a regular basis."

How to watch this week's USWNT friendly

The No. 2 USWNT will close out October's international window with a friendly against No. 33 New Zealand in Kansas City on Wednesday.

The match will kick off at 8 PM ET, live on TNT.

The Tour de France Femmes confirmed its course for 2026 this week, setting up next year's event as the longest iteration of the race in the women's tour history.

The 2026 course will run in nine stages starting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on August 1st and continuing through the finish line in Nice, France, on August 9th.

Cyclists will cover a total of 1,175 kilometers, with 18,795 meters of climbing.

The course will feature three flat stages and three hilly stages as well as two mountain stages and one individual time trial, with riders tackling Mont Ventoux — an iconic climb from the men's event — for the first time.

Though 2026 will only by the fifth edition of the modern Tour de France Femmes, the race will make its debut in a standalone time slot one full week after the men’s race ends, with recent record viewership fueling the move to separate the races rather than continue the previous tactic of scheduling the two events back-to-back.

"We no longer need men for the Tour de France Femmes to exist,"  said race director Marion Rousse at Thursday's course unveiling. "There's no need to have the men's race as a platform to launch the women's race. Now people are waiting to see us."

"People have embraced us," Rousse continued. "The new dates, separate to the men, prove it."

This weekend's slate of international soccer features more than one blockbuster matchup, as some of the summer's top performers, including England and Brazil, begin the long process of preparing for the 2027 World Cup.

Reigning UEFA Women's Euro champions England will be hosting 2025 Copa América Femenina winners Brazil at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Saturday, when the Lionesses officially kick off their four-game Homecoming Series to close out 2025 play.

The match between world No. 4 England and No. 7 Brazil will serve as the first of the series of friendlies that will span the final two international breaks of the year, with the Lionesses closing out the opening pair of games against No. 15 Australia on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, while England fans will be enjoying the team's victory lap after their second-straight Euro title, other top UEFA competition are honing in on 2025 Nations League play.

Behind a long-range goal from winger Klara Bühl, No. 5 Germany snagged a narrow 1-0 victory over No. 6 France on Friday morning, taking the lead in the pair's two-leg semifinal.

The second Nations League semifinal round kicks off at 2 PM ET on Friday, when No. 1 Spain faces No. 3 Sweden live on Prime.

How to watch England vs. Brazil this weekend

England takes on Brazil at 12:30 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage streaming on Prime.

The Wings have found their next sideline leader, as multiple reports on Thursday linked longtime University of South Florida (USF) head coach Jose Fernandez to the open position in Dallas.

Fernandez is still finalizing his contract with the WNBA team, with the 53-year-old exiting USF having led the Bulls for 25 years, making 10 NCAA tournament appearances along the way.

Calling his impact "profound," USF athletics CEO Rob Higgins acknowledged that Fernandez is leaving for a WNBA position in a Thursday statement.

"While this is a bittersweet moment for our program, it is a well-deserved opportunity for Jose," said Higgins. "We are incredibly proud of him."

Replacing Chris Koclanes after one year, Fernandez will become the fifth Dallas head coach in seven seasons, with the Wings trying to build a title-contending roster around 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 1 pick and reigning Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers.

Fernandez will also be the third WNBA hiring out of the college ranks in the last two years, joining Atlanta Dream boss Karl Smesko (FGCU) and LA Sparks manager Lynne Roberts (Utah).

Hoping to improve on a 13th-place 2025 finish — and make the WNBA Playoffs for the first time since 2023 — Dallas could claim a second straight No. 1 draftee next year, with the Wings entering 2026 with the highest odds to snag the top pick in the league's draft lottery.