Good post redcard. So, TV is not the most important issue in the beginning but still isn't FSC going to step up and support the league with just 1 game a week or something? They've got 24 hours a day of programming so they could fit 2 hours of one WPS game a week, you know?
what about streaming the matches? something like ussoccer does with matchaccess; they can even have sponsors here and there...
Not anymore. They've been banished to the Versus channel starting in 2009. ESPN didn't renew their contract to host the whole season. ICS is only on ABC for the Indy 500 now and 4 other select races. The rest of the series is so far up the dial now it can't breath, it's even above Oxygen.
Exactly. There has to be success first before TV. There has to be people in the stands, so the best thing we can do is attend games, and demand coverage of our teams in local news. First things first.....
They have to at least do something on the internet. I'd be happy with a magazine-type 30 minute weekly wrap-up show of some sort. I live in Florida, therefore I cannot attend games (or view local coverage) until at least 2010 when Atlanta begins. I'm realistic, but hopeful. I'd happily pay the 15 or 20 bucks (or more, though I can't see them expecting too much) for something similar to mls.tv.
mls.net is actually going to be free next season (though now with commercials) according to this article, and it sounds like SUM is considering working WPS in or something like that: http://www.mls-rumors.net/2008/09/report-free-again-mlslivetv-to-be-free.html
"It was actually higher than I anticipated" Florida Marlins relief pitcher Joe Nelson, on the the total of 584 fans who attended last week's home game against the Atlanta Braves. The stadium's capacity is 38,500.
Marlins have been having attendance woes for year, and it shouldn't shock anyone. They're owned by the same douchebag who drove the Expos into the ground before selling them off to MLB in 2002.
If it wasn't for some revenue sharing in baseball the Marlins players would only be making a few hundred bucks a week based on the pathetic gate revenue!
We can hope WPS will live stream all the games. I read somewhere they were talking to FOX Soccer.tv. I think they will get more exposure through the Internet, and with playing during baseball season, and everything else, might be hard to get air time. Streaming is more convenient anyway, I would enjoy being able to watch all the games, not just Bay Area ones. Now, how to get the boy's sports shows to report on games........this is crucial to get exposure, but virtually never happened with WUSA.
FSC or some channel on the sports tier for Charter Cable shows women's college soccer so why not WPS? The sports tier is only about 10 channels. But you can forget about Sportscenter showing WPS highlights since they don't really do that with any women's team sports except maybe the WNBA finals or something and I don't know why on earth anyone watches that.
SportsCenter showed one spectacular Freedom defensive play back in the WUSA days as one of their "top 10" thingies.
And they would occasionally maybe do scores at the bottom of the screen on the sportsticker ... Or maybe that was headline news.
No way this league is on TV in its first year expect maybe for the championship game on ESPN2 or something like that. Women's sports gets absolutely no ratings and no broadcaster will spend a dime until it sees that there is an audience. My guess is if the league does well in its first year MAYBE a channel like Lifetime or Oxygen which cater to women would televise a handful of games. These channels are looking to carve out deeper niche markets and competing against each other and others like Bravo and TLC for viewers. Becoming the first to exclusively televise a women's league might be a great financial move. Beyond that, don't expect to see anything on the standard sports channels (including FSC).
FSC shows women's college soccer for crying out loud, I'll be absolutely shocked if WPS doesn't get some coverage with them. First year included. Otherwise I agree with the rest of your post.
If they aren't on TV, what I'd like to see them do is try to go on a talk oriented show, like Best Damn on Fox sports and try to get them to do a recurring guest segment where once a week, or once every two weeks (or once a month, whatever they will give you!) a player will go on the show (Hope Solo was on before, I know). Like the other guests, the player might hang around and talk about other sports subjects too, but there would be a "highlight" segment. Doesn't even have to be all serious highlights, could be stuff like bloopers too, maybe a minute or two minutes of clips from games. Then the player could give an overall update on how the season is going, how their team is doing, etc.
FSC gets paid to show that. I don't know if FSC would be interested in showing WPS without getting paid. At least in any event they should get coverage on FOX Sports Report in any event.
That's how WPS will have to be at first if it's going to be on TV. It'll be a pay to be played kinda deal. Which I doubt WPS will be able to afford out the gate.
something like Brandi playing again ( a-la-Dara-Torres) or Wambach coming back full force as a scoring machine despite her injury.
A lot of games will be televised in the first year. Those who are closest to Tonya know the details. Nothing has been finalized yet, but there is interest, and deals are almost worked out. Advertising is still going to go some distance here. There are some corporate sponsors interested, not just in helping up front, but in getting television exposure as well. Prominent investors such as Steve Nash have also helped behind the scenes, and believe me, they want the games on TV. Everyone interested in the league, that has put money into it, wants the league on TV. Tonya is pushing hard as well. Apparently, from those closest to Tonya, a deal is going to be worked out "Nationally" with Fox Soccer Channel. This package could include up to 12-16 games for the first year (game of the week, and possibly a 2nd game at times during the week at the latter end of the regular season). Then the playoff games would be shown. Heck, even the W-League Final, and at times the W-League Semifinals, have been shown on FSC in the past. In terms of regionally and locally, there is television interest in the local cities and regional areas. Fox regional sports networks (all owned by the same conglomerate giant as Fox Soccer Channel) are also interested. Fox regional networks, such as Fox Midwest, Fox West, Fox New England, etc., would show the games of those city teams in the region, if a deal is reached. Those networks have a lot of duplicate programming on, and are looking to expand their niche, especially in soccer coverage. Locally, some Comcast SportsNet, Cox, Charter, and Time Warner local sports channels, would show local coverage in those cities that have a WPS team (like the old days when these local networks showed some of the WUSA games in the local cities for that local team). Overall, they're looking at.......... 1.) National coverage (FSC) (apparently the ESPN family wasn't as interested as the Fox family and Fox Soccer Channel) 2.) Regional coverage (Fox regional sports channels. If you have DirecTV's sports pack, then you're good) 3.) Local market channels This league will not survive if it's not on TV, and Tonya and the rest of the WPS executives and investors know that. They are not stupid, and they are also pushing the equal opportunity card real hard for women's sports on TV, and starting a new minority intensive business (women's sports) venture/business (women's soccer league) in getting equal coverage. Of course, they won't get equal coverage as the men's teams, but the harder they strive, the more coverage they will get. They have investors and corporate sponsors that are helping them push. There is money to be made, and to help fund the league. If there isn't, and if there is no TV coverage, or solid ratings (compared to other women's sports that is), then the league will fail, just like the WUSA did. They need more "Regional" and "National" interest, as opposed to just local city interest only, if this league is to survive long-term. The Locals and Regionals need to go to the games. The Regionals and Nationals need to watch and follow the coverage, and help boost TV ratings. We are watching these highly-skilled and athletic women move gracefully with technical skill in playing soccer professionally and scoring/assisting goals, as they are not just standing there while others are watching them stand up and take a dump on the field without any skills. Therefore, there's no excuse to why they can't increase TV coverage and television exposure (ratings) while crossing lines and reaching new audiences that have an open mind about soccer (curious interest in soccer). That is their goal. The WPS is not interested in "Sex Appeal" or being "Sexy" to draw additional audiences. Their goal is to do it on strictly soccer in a "family" sense. Steve Nash will also apparently be in a couple of commercials next spring/summer to help draw the young crowd (i.e. college crowd, high school crowd, etc. 18-30 age range), and young daddies in their late 20's, early 30's, with a young soccer-loving daughter, etc.