Women's Soccer enters a new Phase - Washington Post SMU Coach may be top Candidate for Job - Dallas Morning News Jefferies fired as Coach of troubled Burn - Dallas Morning News Fire thrives with new Coach - N.Y. Times Troubled WUSA Folds - Washington Times Women's Soccer League folds on Eve of World Cup - N.Y. Times Great Sport defeated by bad bottom Line - N.Y. Times Burn Coach Fired - Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (top story when i found it) Victory has Fire in good Shape - Chicago Tribune Noonan starting to Shine - Boston Herald (day late) Playoff Push has kicked in - Boston Globe (day late) Waning Sponsorship shuts down WUSA - San Jose Mercury News Hankinson happy with Starters' Fitness - Denver Post Women keep kicking, Rally for World Cup - Baltimore Sun After Three Seasons, WUSA goes Under - Philadelphia Inquirer Financial Losses cause WUSA to Fold - New Haven Register WUSA's Closure kicks away Players' Dreams - Florida Today WUSA folds after Three Years - N.Y. Newsday Beyond Bottom Line: What a Kick - N.Y. Newsday Cash Strapped WUSA Folds - Miami Herald Rookie on Fire in Chicago - K.C. Star US National Team will feel the Loss - Newark Star-Ledger Soccer League boots Self - N.Y. Daily News Women's Soccer League closes after Three Seasons - L.A. Times U.S. has several Decisions to Make - L.A. Times WUSA gets the Boot - Boston Herald No Fund League: WUSA Folds - Chicago Sun-Times Chastain has gone through a Lot since '99 - Chicago Sun-Times Fans left asking Why after League Folds - Montery Herald Compiling his greatest Kicks - Chicago Tribune Heartbreak continues - Chicago Tribune (good for a chuckle) --added-- Problems were Sizable - Boston Globe Cleared Twellman is using his Head - Boston Globe
Damn dude. Thanks. I have nothing to add to that list, really. WUSA's death is a sad commentary on phony companies - Mercury News Painful red card for WUSA - Herald-Sun U.S. women's soccer league closes Financial shortage ends what once had looked so promising - SF GAte Women keep kicking, rally for extra time - Sun-Spot WUSA shuts down shop - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle I find it interesting how basically all these articles mention MLS. Perhaps some people think MLS and WUSA do have some important similarities?
Maybe they're just lumping soccer together and not making a distinction between the leagues' business models.
well... if you think we are on strong footing... you might want to think again we're still losing money... we might have a team make money this year... that would be a first (the galaxy) the crew have been said to be close but never there if lamar or phil ever want to say they've lost too much... there goes the league there are differences though... the two key ones i note are SUM and building sss's you can mention it's men and not women... but remember they are both start-ups... soccer has never succeeded in this country... the world cups have done well, friendies do well... but leagues haven't you gotta work hard and be smart about how you do it... or you gotta have guys willing to lose tons of money while you figure it out... our guys were willing to lose more money than the wusa guys
Actually this one didn't mention MLS, and lumped WUSA in with WNBA and the other women's b-ball league.
One thing that strikes me about the articles is how little WUSA teams were losing. $1-$2 million each. More or less, on par with the majority of MLS teams and significantly better than the Metros and Chicago last year. You can't draw too many conclusions from those numbers (a $1m loss to an MLS team clearly doesn't mean the same as a $1m loss to a WUSA team), but it's worth realizing that other leagues have folded with losses similar to MLS's-- even the steadier MLS we see now.
Uh ok. Hence "basically" all. The point is, it doesn't matter whether you, any BS poster or I think WUSA and MLS have nothing in common. It just doesn't matter whether or not that's true. All that matters is whether some investor/sponsor might think that. In many of the articles, the leagues are linked and the fact that Garber et al are responding to this news by denying much connection shows that MLS believes it needs to address. I'll go on the record as saying I don't think the WUSA's demise is really bad news for MLS-- but I wouldn't be flip about it either.
True words... There was a point not too long ago, when the two Florida teams were losing money big-time and the NFLPA was doing its best to litigate the league to death, that I'm sure Phil considered pulling the plug. We're lucky that he had enough faith not to. The economy still isn't good. They're talking about dropping MLB and NHL franchises. Nobody's really out of the woods. I don't think we can breathe easy until we get at least half a dozen SSS's and average attendance reaches 20,000.
Re: True words... I don't think there's much magic to 20K vs. 15K and 16K, but I think your general point is spot-on. It's just a long uphill battle of winning / developing long-term passionate fans.
Netminder: Looking ahead - USA Today WUSA ceases operations after three years - USA Today WUSA decision jolts players - USA Today Unlike WUSA, WNBA has NBA - USA Today audio also available from kelly whiteside
I found it interesting that on the NPR piece I heard this morning, the guy did not mention or even refer to MLS once.
I don't have time to go get them, but there was an article on the front page of the newspaper of the SD Union Tribune, and also one on the front page of the sports page. One of the articles, I forget which, makes the obligatory "MLS is believed to have lost $300 million" reference - Ziegler has come to hate MLS as far as I'm concerned. At least he never paints it in a positive light.
9/16/03 Pheonix ...more like the dove that got killed by a Randy Johnson fast ball. For all you people who think that MLS fans shouldn't be worried about their league as it's so much different in MLS. Oh yeah? It may be slightly different, and we might be more stable with more signs of growth, but why don't we let the pain dry on the HDC or actually see some of MLS' books officially make a profit before we're all so confident. You know what I'm going to do, I'm finally getting my ass to a Revs home game. My first one of the season because I've been too broke or lazy to find a way down to Foxborro, why because I want to show everyone that there's one more fan of a soccer league who isn't going anywhere. Yes you may say that poor management is to blame for the WUSA, it doesn't matter. For all the people on these boards who whine about every little thing about going to an MLS game, whether it be parking, cost of a ticket, cost of food and drink, security or whatever. JUST SHUT UP, think about what you're bitching about because soon enough we could too not have anything to bitch about in terms of the MLS Gameday expierence.
Great, great coverage in USA Today. They win the "Death of the League Derby." Particularly enjoyed Beau's piece. One of the few (only?) that actually looks past the obvious and tries to come up with scenarios for reviving the sport/league in some form or fashion.
The potential upside for MLS is much bigger ("new" Americans, mainstream male sports fans, revenues from transferring players to Europe, foreign tv, etc.) which helps justify investing in stadia and taking higher losses.
New investors are critical. But ANYBODY who would lump a women's league and a men's league is absolutely the LAST person that should be investing in MLS. We need investors that know soccer. Vergara and Club America fit the bill.
Is it possible for "BURN" to play at cotton bowl till the new stadium is build, because that high school football stadium killed the whole season for them. I still in favor of playing at cotton bowl because of the playing surface is like watching EPL on Fox. I have been a big fan of the Burn since day one. MLS if you are listening please go back to the cotton bowl for one more year.
I'm glad you have all the answers. But the only qualifications I see for investors are a willingness to commit to MLS's plan and stick with it long term. There's nothing inconsistent with that and lumping MLS and the WUSA together because they face some of the same problems.
Great idea. I hope the Hunts will see the light and go back to the Cotton Bowl. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain...
Jim: Hope you got terrific grades... For coming back with such an inventory, we name you "Republic of Texas' honorary citizen..." How about that?...