Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts is leading a diverse group — comprised predominantly of women — that has agreed in principle to purchase the Red Stars of the NWSL.
“I am honored to lead this group of Chicago business and civic leaders in our effort to purchase the Chicago Red Stars,” Ricketts said in a statement. “Our respective backgrounds in professional sports, finance, turnaround management, commercial real estate, marketing and advertising, paired with our deep community ties, make for a powerful combination that will serve us well in our ultimate goal: building a championship organization on and off the pitch.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed and the sale is subject to approval from the NWSL board of governors.
In total, there are nine women joining Ricketts in pursuit of this purchase, including fellow Sky minority owner, chair and CEO of smartly.io Laura Desmond. Ricketts and Desmond invested in the Sky in June when owners sold a 10% share in the team to the new ownership group at an $85 million valuation.
“We wholeheartedly believe in and are excited about the future of the Red Stars and the NWSL,” Ricketts said in the statement. “There is unprecedented fan growth in women’s soccer globally, and we want to be a part of building on that momentum here in Chicago.”
Red Stars majority owner, Arnim Whisler, began the process of selling the club nearly a year ago after being urged to do so by the board of directors and the team’s full roster. Their desire for Whisler to sell the club followed the release of a scathing report from former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates detailing systemic abuse that permeated the league.
The report exposed that Whisler had explicit knowledge of verbal and emotional abuse to players by former coach Rory Dames dating back to 2014. Dames remained on staff until he was permitted to resign with a statement at 11:54 pm on Nov. 21, 2021. His late-night statement came hours before a Washington Post report was published detailing claims of Dames’ abuse which were later corroborated in Yates’ report.
An exodus of franchise stalwarts followed.
Danielle Colaprico signed with San Diego FC, Morgan Gautrat signed with Kansas City FC and the last blow was local product Vanessa DiBernardo’s decision to join Gautrat on the Current.
Beyond the abuse that was permitted to fester in Chicago, the Red Stars are not a free-agent destination. That was further solidified when former Red Stars captain and two-time World Cup champion Julie Ertz announced her return to the NWSL following a two-year hiatus to sign a one-year deal with Angel City FC.
What all three clubs have in common are ownership groups with standard-setting practices on investment in women’s soccer.
In Kansas City a new $117 million stadium is set to be open for the first home match of the 2024 season. The team opened its $18 million training facility last summer.
“The organization, the ownership, the facilities, everything in Kansas City is world-class,” Gautrat said in December when she signed with the Current. “I’ve always wanted to experience something like this where the support is there, the resources are there and the team is there.”
Similar to what she brings to the Sky, Ricketts’ involvement comes with an unwavering level of knowledge and expectation for what it takes to not only successfully operate a sports franchise but turn it into a household name. According to Sportico, the Cubs are valued at $4.7 billion, the fourth most valuable franchise in MLB.
While that didn’t happen overnight and that same recipe for success can’t be copied and pasted to the Sky and Red Stars, it indicates the direction both franchises are headed in.
“Building a championship culture begins with treating our players with the respect they deserve as women and athletes,” Ricketts said. “We look forward to completing this transaction so that we can begin this new chapter for the team and the fans.”
