A bit of comparison as the season ends in England: http://www.thefa.com/news/fawsl/2015/oct/fa-wsl-1-record-attendances-2015 Football fans just cannot help falling in love with the women’s game in this country – with FA Women’s Super League 1 experiencing a 48 per cent rise in attendances for the 2015 season. The average league attendance per match was 1,076 compared to 728 in 2014, as supporters flocked to witness another thrilling race for the top-flight title, with Chelsea claiming their maiden crown on the final day of the season.
They are not going to hold it in a stadium with capacity less than 10k. That shows a huge lack of ambition. The league needs to grow in places other than Portland. Hosting it in Portland again is very short-sighted and pointless. The whole league cannot run on Portland's success alone. It needs to have a growth plan for no-portland cities. What does "big event" specifically mean? Will there be a media blitz and a ad campaign? because otherwise it's not going to be very popular. I think the league should do a lot of cross promotion between the USWNT and NWSL during the Olympics. After the Olympics they can hold a USWNT vs NWSL all stars or a USWNT match and a NWSL friendly match double header. IMO the league really dropped the ball this year. There was almost no cross-promotion. Most people who watched the USWNT don't even know that the NWSL exists. I agree. Predetermined Final Site Advantages - More time for sales. - Better media access -"Big event" - Convenient for WoSo fans in far off cities. Disadvantages -Possibilty of no home team in final which will reduce attendance. - Attendance depends on travelling fans and neutral fans. -Neutral fans dull the atmosphere.
NWSL is the only womens soccer league in the world which can dream of being profitable as a whole. That is why comparison with any other league will be apples and oranges.
Here is where I have concerns about having a non MLS team hosting the championship game, and even Houston and Orlando, while maybe not as big a problem, but a problem none the less, when it comes to what kind of attendance can be generated to cover necessary costs, facility rental, advertising, etc., to make it worthwhile. We saw how Portland, in a short amount of time, managed to generate 13,000+ for the championship game. Can any of the other teams do better? I doubt it, at least not for right now. The luxury you have with Portland, Houston, and now Orlando is they are in a far better situation to structure any bid to host the championship game, since they control the operational aspect of the facility. Still there will be a bottom line, and can even Houston or Orlando guarantee getting 13,000 or more to host such an event. Which brings me to the non MLS teams. While Portland's cost structure probably allowed the league to make money at the 13,000, can a non-MLS team provide the same profit structure for the 13,000. Probably, not for right now. Stadium rents for a quality facility are going to run high, food concession percentages may not be provided, so to make it profitable for the league, non MLS teams may need to get 15,000, or a lot more then that, to match what Portland, Houston, and Orlando can provide with a lesser attendance. Take that with what each team did in attendance this year, and even if they had similar increases next season, still would not be enough to guarantee anything close to the numbers that would be needed to match what Portland can do. Thus, until other teams can step up and provide the kind of numbers that will put enough bodies in the stands that will allow the league to showcase itself on national TV , as well as allowing the league the opportunity to make some badly needed money, Portland should again get the nod, and continue to do so until other teams are in a better position to do so.
Interesting how old that crowd looks in that picture, besides the kids in the center of the photo. I wonder if that's an exception or the rule, and the women's league there is more popular among older people.