U.S. "has led the way" in women's soccer growth, Washington Spirit owner says

What they're saying: "Women's soccer has been underresourced," Kang told Axios' Sara Fischer, but added that it's the U.S. that is leading the charge on that front.

• "More than half of our NWSL teams are independent, not affiliated with men's teams," Kang said, contrasting that with Europe, where more than 90% of women's teams are affiliated with a men's team.
• "They all got started because they should have a women's team."
• Kang also owns a pair of European women's clubs: French team Olympique Lyonnais and the London City Lionesses. She said that she's starting to see more women's teams in Europe separating themselves from their male counterparts.
• "I think the U.S. has led the way."

The other side: Kang credited the European teams for how they develop their players and coaches.

• "There are some other structural things that I think Europe has done better than us, which is a lot of the youth academy development. A lot more systematic approach than pay-to-play in America," she said. "There are certain things that we can learn in terms of the development of the players and coaches."

What's Next: Kang, who started her career as an entrepreneur in health technology, said women's soccer is already closing the gap with men's soccer in terms of audience, ad dollars and investment, but she takes the long view. "

• "Especially in the U.S., women players should get paid more because our female players win gold medals and win World Cups."

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