Michele Kang establishes research institute within U.S. Soccer dedicated to researching women athletes

The GIST: On Tuesday, U.S. Soccer announced the creation of the Kang Women’s Institute, a research platform within the organization funded by the aforementioned Kang’s generous $55M in total commitments to support women’s soccer. The platform aims to close the gaps in scientific research around women athletes in the lead-up to the Women’s World Cups in 2027 and 2031.

• This could have major implications on the ecosystem around women’s soccer — let’s explore what this means for brands that partner with the women’s game.

The details: As mentioned above, Kang’s initiative cites research showing that only about 6% of sports research focuses exclusively on women athletes, something the institute plans to combat with the first-ever national study dedicated to evaluating the comprehensive needs of women soccer players.

• More specifically, the research study will allow the scientific community to better understand pressing topics in women’s soccer such as injury prevention amid an ACL injury epidemic, workload management, and issues affecting mental health and menstrual health.

The ecosystem: To fill the research gap, emerging brands like IDA Sports (which Kang has also invested in) offer science-backed designs specifically for women athletes. Adidas recently followed suit, developing their first-ever boot designed specifically for women, which USWNT star Trinity Rodman helped bring to life.

• Creating new products designed specifically for women athletes requires this essential research, and it’s been a challenge to build the business case for these products without data to illustrate what women need.

• This means U.S. Soccer’s forthcoming study alone could spur a wave of new, necessary products and brands around the unique physical, mental, and menstrual health of athletes (something that came into play at the 2023 Women’s World Cup).

Zooming out: Women’s soccer players have long operated in systems that weren’t quite built for them, but this investment and the WSL’s new guidelines for building women’s soccer stadiums are showing the ROI of creating dedicated spaces. The innovative CPKC Stadium is expanding and has enjoyed sellouts since opening in 2024, while IDA saw triple YOY revenue growth in 2024.

• Women athletes need this, but many youth athletes and families also stand to benefit. Women’s soccer fans are uniquely aware of and loyal to supportive brands, which helps explain why IDA is thriving.

• Let’s not forget the health and women-focused brands that are already lining up around the women’s game, like pain relievers Tylenol and Haleon, baby-care brand Joie, and menstrual care startups like Here We Flo, ModiBodi, and Alea Protection. It’s about bloody time.