Top 25 Assets 1.) Jeld-Wen Field (Death Star and Thorn Nation) 2.) Houston Dash and BBVA 3.) Alex Morgan 4.) Abby Wambach 5.) Sahlen Family, Stadium, and Meats 6.) Hope Solo 7.) Relationship with Fox Sports 8.) Keeping up with the Cushing and Ohai's 9.) Christine Sinclair 10.) Christen Press 11.) NWSL Fantasy League 12.) Megan Rapinoe 13.) Sydney Leroux 14.) Nike 15.) Erika Tymrak and shorts 16.) Washington Spirit's SoccerPlex and fan loyalty 17.) Title Boxing Club 18.) Ocean Spray 19.) Space Needle watching over the Reign 20.) Nadine Angerer 21.) Chicago Red Stars kit 22.) Progression of Minor League farm system 23.) Harvard Stadium and Riptide 24.) Aussies in NWSL 25.) Japanese players coming to the league
Let me get this straight...out of 25 things, 5 are in Portland and 5 are in Seattle, making 40% of your list from within 180 miles. And Six of nine players worth mentioning are part of that 40%, and one of the 3 others mentioned is because of her shorts? And the Death Star is Providence Park now.
But much love to the federation, the delegation, the culture, and the acceptance into NWSL. They play as team, as opposed to by individual. It's only fitting to keep them as "one". That's the way they play.
Here are the top 10 assets of NWSL because half of your list can be summerized or are a result of the top 10. The order of importance here can be debated but I think this covers it. 1.) Stable ownerships 2.) A smart business plan 3.) Portland and Houston's projected attendance numbers. 4.) Abby and Alex's involvement 5.) US Soccer's involvement 6.) Canadian Soccer's involvement 7.) Internationals choosing to play here 8.) National Sponsorships 9.) All games available online or on tv 10.) Volunteers and interns keeping operation costs down
I think Hagen is now a Top 25 (individual) player asset for this league. NWSL has done a great job this offseason in bringing over the rest of the top Americans who weren't in this league last year. Press, Hagen, Klingenberg, Engen, Averbuch. Even Camille Levin and Kendall Fletcher are back. And the international firepower is growing. Even Rincon is jumping on board, plus more Aussies (not to mention, some of Japan's best). Someone needs to give a call to Ali Riley and tell her to get her butt on board. Same for Vero.
Vero's currently earn 165 550 SEK/Month (25 800$/month), doubt any NWSL club can afford it. But since her current one actually cannot either she should be up for grabs at end of season. should probably go for something like half or a third of that by then. And for Ali, the only time I heard or read anything from her that sounded anything like bitter is when talking about the end of the WPS. It closed so late so she almost hadn't a club to play in to prepare for WWC2011 in and I think that really hurt and scared her, so I doubt you'll see her in a US league during the WWC(2015) or Olympic(2016) years, possibly 2017.
But Vero may still want to play for a powerhouse for less money, even if it's not for a full season. I could see Vero signing with TPFC.
But her current contract goes IIRC until the end of the Swedish season and that ends after NWSL, so that do not look likely until 2015
Yeah, I was thinking more in line for 2015. If she were coming in 2014, we would have probably already heard by now. And I said TPFC when I meant to say PTFC. Thortland Porns FC?
WPS, can I add the Seattle Reign stream techno theme song. Love that song! After last year's season was over I re-watched the Reign streams just to hear that techno song. Does anyone know who produces that song? What DJ? Cascade? Who?
I think they are really close. US involvement has been crucial. But a lack of clear leadership on rules and making rules on the fly has been to the detriment of the league which I think gives Abby and Alex the edge here.
Rules and backdoor deals don't matter. Subtract USSoccer and the MLS looks the other way because they aren't paying open market salaries. The league never happens or is a financial mess like the WPS USS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wambach and Morgan I believe in the end it will be hard to move the cap because the MLS clubs will fight it. And USSoccer will have to cover NT salaries to the day the league ends.