I know we all want soccer to succeed in the US but I feel the WUSA is more like a rival league than something that MLS can work and grow together with. Someday I would like to see a professional women's soccer league in the US but more on the line of a WMLS in the same cities as MLS clubs. So am I just a pigheaded bastard or do I have a right for wanting to WUSA to flop?
i don't think there is a demand for a womens pro soccer league. Just look at all of the emphy seats at RFK. Don't get me wrong I like watching the womens national team but the league according to some sources is on survival mode.
I hope you don't get pissed off next time someone says the exact same thing as proof that there's no market for MLS. I can readily imagine someone pointing to the '94 World Cup or this summer's various tours and saying, "see, there's a market for great soccer, just not for MLS." The failure of the WUSA would be a failure for soccer. Period. It's nothing to look forward to or to celebrate should it occur.
Womens soccer isn't a great success anywhere, so to expect it to work out in the US where soccer is still kinda small is asking too much. Although its sad if it doesn't work out, it's not unexpected.
Are you wrong? Of course you are. Anything that helps to familiarize Americans with the game will, in the end, be a help to soccer in general in this country and MLS specifically.
If WUSA isn't your thing, why do you care? I've never been to a WUSA game, but I don't bergrudge those who enjoy it, and I certainly don't want to see it fail. I think they might need to be realistic about it, the same way MLS fans are realistic in how they compare to the Premiership, for example. It looks bad enough for United to play in too big RFK, and it seems even worse for the Freedom. Not that I follow this closely, but you'd think there'd be a 5-10,000 seater the Freedom could play in somewhere in the area... Tom
Thanks for backing me up ToMhIlL here is my two cents...the U.S. womens soccer national success that we saw back in 1999 those not guarantee that the fans will cross over and support the wusa.
WC 2003 Ah, but the WWC may be headed back to the US, which should help WUSA once more. I haven't watched it, and despite their sometime hostility to MLS, I would hope that both MLS and WUSA do well and prosper handsomely. G.
I don't really care for the WUSA, so if it fails, I wouldn't care either. Right now as I see it, they are competing with MLS. I don't think there is enough of a market for two leagues to succeed in the long run. But for the time being, I'm completely passive. However, if the WUSA starts helping MLS build stadiums like in DC (hopefully), then I am going to support it, because then they are helping MLS. At that point, it would only be fair to support their league (i probably won't ever go to a women's game though).
I am tired of hearing from ignorant or casual soccer fans about how just because the U.S women's national team won the 1999 World Cup and gets more coverage then the mens team, they are automatically better players. I live in Atlanta, and last year went to see a Beat game with some fellow soccer fans. To be honest, i have never before seen such horrendous play. Not only was the quality of play poor, but so was the action. I have heard many times that soccer is a girl's sport. Why? Look at all the coverage given to the Women's team and how little is usually given to the men's in this country. Is it any coincidence that the United States has the most popular women's team. So long as more people care about the women's team, the sport will always face this stereotype. I myself would much rather see a strong men's team.
I'm no fan of women's soccer, but we as MLS fans are in the same boat regarding our survival, and considering how much it angers us to hear people wishing our league failure, I would never do the same to someone else's league. With that said, Julie Foudy is a biatch...
if WUSA flops soccer flops. that is all you need to think about. It would hurt MLS and the future credibility of soccer in the USA.
The success of women's soccer invalidates my support of MLS, and, by extension, my worth as a person.
But wouldn't MLS do better in TV ratings and in certain cities without having to compete against WUSA franchises? I had been meaning do start this thread for a while and had a pretty good argument for my position but when I started it I ran out of time and just put up the weaker version. We all know of WUSA's past actions as far as MLS piggybacking WUSA attendance and all the attention the women's national team received, namely Mia Hamm, while guys like Landon Donovan and Clint Mathis get hardly anything. I'm sure a more compelling argument might have helped my point of view, but oh well.
WUSA is not costing MLS fans. It's probably not gaining MLS very many fans, either. I think it's pretty much a wash right now. Ergo, why not hope they are a success? Can't hurt.
This might be very un-p.c. but I think that what a lot of the WUSA's boosters do not want to admit is that the vast majority of the sports viewing public (and probably the soccer viewing public) do not want to watch women's sports when it is organized in a league. I and most other people I know became wrapped up in the last WWC because it was a special sort of one time event. I honestly do not know anyone who watches WUSA at all and the few times ive tried to take in Power matches I have been put to sleep. Same goes for the WNBA which also suffers from low ratings and poor attendance (albeit not as bad as WUSA).
You're right, there is no compelling argument. You think Mia Hamm threatens the livelihood of Landon Donovan? In what fantasy world?
I think you are wrong. What really needs to be promoted in US is soccer itself. I don't think WUSA will survive unless they make some major changes. Unlike MLS, WUSA can't afford to have foreigner limit. Their product is already as bad as it is.
This is completely untrue and I don't understand why US fans hold this opinion. The WUSA failing would not hurt MLS or the sport. MLS is on it's way to secure financial ground, and the WUSA is on it's way to failure. It isn't "if", it's "when". Having said that I don't wish to see the WUSA fail, but it won't hurt MLS any. People would see it as a failure of a women's league, not soccer.
If I may sum up the WUSA now. The WUSA is so bad that the female National and FIFA Ref's in the US don't like reffing WUSA games and would rather do a MLS game anyday. Also the only reason why the USWNT gets any exposure is sex appeal (Soccer Moms? Soccer Mommas!) and the reason they win is because of lack of competition. The only teams that can challenge the USWNT are Norway, China, Brazil (maybe?) and Canada on a good day. Not very many countries have Title IX. But the American public likes a winner.
This is a very good point. I personally haven't met any WUSA fans outside of bigsoccer. I've never seen anyone walking down the street wearing WUSA clothing, but I've seen plenty of MLS gear. I enjoy watching the USWNT play, but find the WUSA boring.