Reports: Steve Baldwin rescinded offer to sell Spirit to Y. Michele Kang

Washington Spirit co-owner Steve Baldwin made an offer to sell the team to fellow co-owner Y. Michele Kang, only to rescind the move later, according to a report in The Athletic. D.C.-area businessman Bill Lynch, who owns a third of the club, also planned to sell his shares to Kang, leaving her as the near-sole owner of the team.

The Athletic’s Meg Linehan and Pablo Maurer lay out the ordeal, stating that legal representation presented Kang with an offer on Wednesday, with Baldwin selling his stakes for an overall valuation of $22 million. Sources cited in the story claim that Baldwin initially wanted to sell the team for $30 million, nearly three times what the club was valued at earlier this year, when a new investment group joined the Spirit.

Despite the bloated price tag, Kang was prepared to accept the offer and write a check for the team. On Thursday, however, sources tell the Athletic that the deal was taken off the table before Kang could officially accept or negotiate.

This isn’t the first time Baldwin has presented an ill-fated deal to sell the club. Kang outlined a previous commitment to sell the Spirit in an open letter penned in September, the first offer coming in April and another commitment presented during talks with former NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird in August. 

Now, Baldwin is reportedly planning to sell his stakes to a local group or potentially to an interested party outside of the D.C. area.

The Washington players have made it clear that they want Baldwin to sell the team to Kang, saying as much in their open letter to the Spirit co-owner, writing, “The person we trust is Michele.”

So now it looks like Steve Baldwin (with the supporting vote of Bill Lynch, mind) would rather try to sell to literally anyone but Kang to the point they'd prefer an ownership group that *moves* the Spirit out of D.C. than accept 2x what the club is worth. #NWSL

— Steph Yang | Horrible Soccer Goose (@thrace) October 8, 2021