here's what i see: jack and sahlen SEEM to be the perfect models. players get livable salaries and housing is provided. someone said magicjack was paying a boat load for housing. well, not really. water front property in FL is in the tank. i wouldnt be surprise if he gets those condos for 600 a month for 2 bd x 12 units for his 24 players which is about half of kelly smith's salary. it just seems an owner needs a business which can be connected to the team or the team benefits the company. fitz and the old owners dont have that luxury so you hear these 5-7k contracts for 7mths coming from their camps so they can try to break even. i dont think anywone at this pt is trying to make money off of the teams, just work at bit in the black. if that is true, ,then they should at least take care of housing and give players a monthly food allowance if a player ends up with a 7k/7mth contract.
i'm absolutely sure they did. they just didn't get 2 billionaire owners who were willing to fund the league thru the money losing years. you have to have that or a close facsimile thereof. i think wps is doing the best they can under the circumstances. is it sustainable? not if the owners can't afford 1 to 2 million in losses for the next 2 or 3 years. the big hope is an mls savior, or a small tv contract from somebody - which i don't think is going to happen.
It looked disgraceful on FSC today. The stadium looked 90% empty with about a 1000 people there although I'm sure it had to be more. There's no way a team will survive too long with crowds like that unless the owner is willing to take losses.
camera was on the wrong side of the field. wps and fox need to get that straight. camera should be facing the benches.
It's good to see they're getting smart with contracts by paying out only $7K. With contracts like that this league could survive.
No. Cutting costs might help but in the end it is the money coming in that will determine the fate. The franchises simple don`t generate enough income. Deep pockets and a slim cost structure help to build up a reputation and fanbase - it helps to hang in during tough times like now but in the long run you need to see the light. They are never going to make profit if the revenue doesn`t increase significantly.
Mother's Day would be a GREAT opportunity if the resources are there to market it correctly. Especially utilizing the players who are mothers and or the relationship between a player and their mother. Talk about a great bonding opportunity. To see a women's sports match with your mother. Most cameras are usually on the home side of the field. Soccer is not really known to use as many cameras (or at least as often) as other major sports such as Football and Basketball, though they also use one view or angle more predominantly than others. To be fair most Easter services should have been over by the time the match started.
They tried that once at the Soccerplex, but unfortunately that meant the cameras were looking right into the sun and getting glare as a result. They never did that again. Judging by the Google Maps view and the shadows during the game, the KSU stadium has the exact same orientation problem.
Into the sun and on the opposite side from most of the fans. And do you move the VIP, on-field seats, too?
What is saving the MLS and making it grow is the supporter's culture.. the Barra Bravas.. the Ultras..the "firms".. women's soccer does not have this and really can't have this dynamic.. Look up "Football factories".. on you tube and yes you will see scary stuff.. holliganism at its worst but you will also see passion..PASSION.. bring passion and you will have fans..no not casual fans..but supporters.. people who bleed for the shirt.. Yes it sounds almost barbaric..but Passion is what makes soccer go forward..Passion belive it or not makes the MLS tick.
We can't do that. It's not lady like and our audience is more "family based" so content must be family friendly. You can't get too competative because people don't see the humor in it and get offended. It's definately a rock in a hard place type situation.
REPPED! Seriously though I grew up in a male sports environment and sometimes I do find it harder to adapt. I'm a female but I love being a rabbid fan and taking a few chops at the opposition. I would never be malicious, but it makes it a bit harder when you have to think of the children ( you can't let them know their idol needs a diaper change). You have to be more creative. I'm not too sure if I could get away with some of the things I say on here or while I'm viewing a match on tv or comp, if I were at a game in the stands. I think I'd also feel like a raving lunitic amongst quaint peaceful Middle American nuclear families. I think they should have crazy sections to put all the loonies in.
What?? WPS teams do have supporter's groups. At least several of them do. And WHERE do you get this fantasy that MLS is successful?? It's true a few teams are but overall the league is NOT! In 15 years the ratings have basically not changed AT ALL! Any real sports league has their championship on network TV but the networks won't touch MLS since it draws flies! 99% of Americans still don't know MLS even exists or if they do they don't care about it and ignore it. Case in point when the host of the NFL Fox Pre-Game show said NO other league has a one and done playoffs but the NFL. LMAO! After all this time he doesn't even know MLS exists! The Beckham effect has basically died out. It never really helped the ratings anyway. Most teams in MLS are still losing money and I've talked to hardcore soccer fans who say MLS is boring as hell!!
Philly vs Blue and ATL vs WNY's second halves were better than any MLS game i've slept through this season. Just have to figure out how to sell women's soccer the way WTA sells women's tennis on TV and the WPS is here to stay or gone after this season. Seriously, you'd think one of the CEOs at ABC, NBC or CBS has granddaughters playing soccer and would throw a dead Saturday spot for a weekly game instead bowling or midget racing.
Meh, I think MLS is pretty dang awesome... but that's just my opinion, not trying to say yours is wrong. As for ratings and average attendance not changing, that's far better than the old NASL which was in crutches by its 16th season. I'll take a 17,500 league average, thankyouverymuch.
But the stadiums that are sometimes appear 90% are a big turn off. That's a good point though since plenty of people have kids/grandkids who play soccer so WPS should be tugging at their heartstrings. It takes connections and I'm just surprised no one at WPS or US Soccer has any! I mean you would think US Soccer is only too happy to help WPS.
On a national scale it's a failure. When MLS started in the 90s I remember they talked about the championship would one day be on national TV and everyone would watch it like they do the World Cup. LMAO! I agree they have improved locally in SOME locations and places like Seattle are a shock as to how well they draw but nationally they don't exist in the national sports landscape. ESPN doesn't even cover MLS during Sportscenter and neither does any other national sports report.
I thought American sports fans didn't want the kind of soccer passion seen in other parts of the world? I have been told the American sports fan just want's to be entertained with a good product. The rabid international soccer fans mocked in the states should and would remain a niche on U.S. soil, only talked about in fondness by euro snobs who don't know the nature of the U.S. sports fan. WPS as a product should fit right in with this, shouldn't it? Oh wait it's women's sports As a women's pro sports league, all we ever hear is the need for it to be a light family fun experience, always to be focused and pushed towards little girls. I just don't see that practice as truth in the present, or in the future. The number of girls playing the game just doesn't equal a large or immediate fan culture. Will the stands of Germany during WWC play be filled with young girls and boys, elderly people, and loads of families only? When you see a good noisy crowd in a women's game, it's likely not going to be from a mass of ultras, but instead more knowledgeable adults than any number of kids. The fear of offending players or kids in the stands with mature fan culture is bull. Everything you see and hear (the girls can curse with the best of the men's game) on the field of play from the women is supposed to be the top of elite level soccer, so how can the stands be ever hoped to be full with viewers who don't care? Driven by a present day lack of identity, people think what worked in 99' will work now. Soccer fan culture in America has grown up since then though, and young girls and boys can see soccer from all over the globe and domestically which show what soccer games at there best look and sound like. Saying women's soccer is just for kids dismisses it from the serious wider appeal it will eventually have if pro leagues are ever going to survive.