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Cleveland Soccer Group (CSG), which submitted a bid for Cleveland to be awarded a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) expansion team, announced today that it is being backed by a group of 15 local, influential businesswomen as investors. However, the money they have raised thus far has not be publicly disclosed. If successful, this would be Ohio’s first women’s professional soccer team.
“Women have been a driving force in a watershed couple of years for sports, innovation and athletes across the industry,” Tricia Griffith, president and CEO of Progressive Insurance, said in a written statement. She is part of the investor group. “And it’s just the beginning of this new era. My co-investors and I are proud to help Cleveland get into the game.”
CSG recently submitted a competitive bid to become the NWSL’s 16th expansion team. The bid underscores what makes Northeast Ohio the ideal market for the league – and that CSG is the right ownership group to ensure the team’s success. CSG is also seeking $90 million in public-sector financing to help support construction of a $150 million, 12,500-seat stadium in the South Gateway area near Downtown Cleveland.
“The commitments from these women are material part of CSG’s private capital raise for the project but we are not commenting on actual amounts at this time,” said CSG spokesperson Nancy Lesic in an e-mail to NEOtrans.
This investor collective includes:
- Nancy Benacci – Board Member, Cincinnati Financial Corp, The Payden & Rygel Investment Group, and Regis Corporation; Former Managing Director and Head of Equity Research, KeyBanc Capital Markets.
- Kimberly Bigelow – Co-Owner, McRann Bigelow Acquisitions
- Jaime Buehl-Reichard – CEO, Fowler’s Mill LLC
- Carly Cahlik – Founder & CEO, OHR Rents and FleetNow
- Juliana Pabon Carrus – Owner, Valley Bloom Therapy Group
- Ashley Charek – Principal, Charek Capital
- Lauren Rich Fine – Senior Managing Director, Gries Financial; Former Managing Director Merrill Lynch Equity Research/NY
- Tricia Griffith – President and Chief Executive Officer, Progressive Insurance
- Maia Hansen – Current Board Director, Carlisle Companies Incorporated; Former COO at Athersys; Former Managing Partner (Cleveland Office), McKinsey & Company
- Rupal B. Malani, M.D. – Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
- Ariane Kirkpatrick – CEO, The AKA Team, Jabali Development Group and The Mavuno Group
- Sarah Rathke – Co-Head, Sports & Entertainment Practice and Litigation Partner, Squire Patton Boggs
- Robyn Minter Smyers – Partner, Executive Committee Member and Former Partner-in-Charge (Cleveland Office), Thompson Hine LLP
- Michelle Tomallo – Co-Founder & Chief People Officer, FIT Technologies
- Vanessa Whiting – President & CEO, A.E.S. Management Corp.
Bringing women to the table and increasing diversity have been priorities for CSG. The collective features senior leadership from some of the region’s largest companies, respected firms and small businesses, entrepreneurs and prominent community leaders.
Griffith was appointed president and chief executive officer of Fortune 500 company Progressive Insurance and was elected to the Board of Directors in July 2016. Minter Smyers, Kirkpatrick and Whiting have each been honored as Black Professionals of the Year by the Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation. They are each widely respected as successful black women business and community leaders and are representative of our city, its power and potential.
“We’ve seen it across the league: teams thrive when there’s representative leadership and investment,” says CSG Co-Founder and CEO Michael Murphy. “More than that, this is a group of local Cleveland powerhouses who want to change the landscape of women’s sports – and Cleveland sports. We’re proud to have this opportunity to invest in this bold future together.”
Women’s sports have become a focal point for investors in recent years, with investments in the NWSL and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) growing significantly year over year.
“When women invest in and support women’s sports, it changes the game,” says Minter Smyers. “Consider the NWSL, WNBA and the Paris Olympics – it’s evident what results can be achieved when you put the right resources, access, investment and support into women’s sports. The results are powerful.”
Viewership and revenues for women’s major sports events – including gymnastics and swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup – have set records and eclipsed men’s events in recent years.
Stand-out athletes – like Caitlin Clark, Simone Biles and Sophia Smith – have shown the strong economic power of women athletes. In Cleveland, the 2024 Women’s Final Four featured three sold-out games and gave the region a glimpse at the excitement, energy and economic impact women’s sports can have locally, too.As of August 2024, the NWSL is in the process of considering bids for the 16th expansion team. An announcement is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024. CSG has already secured a Major League Soccer (MLS) NEXT Pro developmental league team, to start play in 2025, and want to add the NWSL team starting in 2026. The stadium could also host soccer games for area universities and high schools along with concerts and other outdoor events. CSG was founded in 2022.
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