sexysadie - can you catch a flight to that meeting tomorrow? I'd bet my last buck that MLS won't get involved in this. They're not in a position to do it. Regardless of who gets involved, if anyone does, they had better be prepared to lose some serious money before ever making any - maybe not 100 mil in three years but ........
Every leagues in the world earn most of income from TV contract so, to reschedule the games should be the first priority if somehow the league survives, the better TV shedules the more viewers they will get, no more 12:00 pm great sunny saturdays/sundays matches where people unlikely to stay home and watch TV, 8:00 p will probably the best time for the match
There are thousands of leagues in this world who do not have TV contracts or TV right fees. The WUSA needs to learn to be one of them. When you deliver millions of viewers, then you can start thinking about rights fees. Forget about nationwide TV for the WUSA. Focus on the internet and using radio broadcasts online. MUCH cheaper. Jarrod
You are right, the revival should come as a little WUSA or as a 2nd Division league, like the A-League. Have 8-9 teams (Include 1 Canadian team too) and play each other twice for the season. The season should be played between April and July. Season Salary (for 4 months should be $10,000 minimum and $15,000 maximum per player. and a salary cap of $250,000 per team) # of players allowed per team should be 18-20. Ticket prices per game to be $12-$20. Plus local Sponsors and hopefully 1-2 National Sponsor will help foot the bills. Also, find stadiums which are small or cheap to lease, but have a good location for the fans. NO MORE RFK and the expensive Spartan Stadium. It can be done! Will it be? It will depend on the Echoes of founding members.
Re: Re: Latest WUSA2 Spec One of the primary reasons for "suspending operations" was to clean house and get rid of the WUSA league management that is not credible. The newsday article talks about how poorly run the league had been... we all know that much. The league has the potential to continue if the incompetents are cleared out.... hence the suspending operations before the world cup. http://www.newsday.com/sports/socce...ct12,0,1933912.story?coll=ny-soccer-headlines
I'd hate to say it, but I don't see how it is going to work under the Hendricks model: ______________________ Hendricks would not identify potential sponsors, but said they would likely come from categories such as sports apparel, financial services, beverages, insurance, automotive, fast food or health and hygiene. ______________________ Let's read this paragraph real slow. SPORTS APPAREL: Kelme, adidas, Nike, Diadora BEVERAGES: Coca-Cola INSURANCE: AFLAC!!!! AUTOMOTIVE: Hyundai FAST FOOD: Mickey D's HEALTH/HYGIENE: Gillette So, aside from the financial services (and a rumored investment from AIG or Pincus, I can't remember which), NOTHING HAS HAPPENED IN THREE WEEKS. DAMN.
Just because nobody has told you (or me), it doesn't mean that "nothing has happened". And if you weren't paying attention there was something going on for the last three weeks: The Womens World Cup.
There should have been so much happening behind the scenes it would make your head spin. Didn't anybody invite bigwigs to the club boxes at the Linc, Razor, or Toolshed?
The point was that they are adding new sponsors to those categories. (Reebok, for instance, is a name that's been leaked.) The categories that were mentioned are pretty standard sports sponsors--for any sport--so that list of categories really isn't going to change much, anyway, regardless of how much is happening. There was, actually. I'll make sure they call you next time and give you updates.
Post article Not much news, but sort of a summary of what the current thinking (should I say hope) is with the revival of WUSA: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26533-2003Oct14.html
I don't know what to make of it......... I'm one of those "soccer obsessed dads" and my obsession has evolved into a general soccer obsession. I pay big cable bills just to get Fox Sports World and ESPN2, but I'm in the minority, really. Their target audience has to be more than that. My teenage daughter's soccer obsession is pretty much limited to when SHE is playing. There's an occasional interest in WUSA, college, and USWNT. But, her limited interest could be considered well above average when compared to others in her age group (including team mates). So, there's not much of a market there, either. I believe that the real challenge here is that there really isn't a target audience - it has to be developed. And that's gonna' cost a bunch of money! There is still a huge disconnect between the youth soccer player (and that's where all the positive statistics come from) and the youth soccer fan - male or female. But, I could be wrong.....again :0)
Please, please, please, please, please don't let the database crash. I want to watch the next women's league on Fox NASCAR. Hopefully they'll have something small, utilizing places like Blackbaud, SAS, etc. I think they just need perspective on survival vs, major league. I still don't understand for the life of me why Hendricks doesn't use the Montgomery SoccerPlex for the Washington team. I know their announced attendance is more than that capacity, but if you want create demand and connect with the soccer community, why not go to the place where they play?
well, in philadelphia the charge average nearly 8,000... and pretty much found it's niche... look at the local college basketball teams.... they'd die to average 8,000.... and yet they have a reputation for being a significant force in the sporting scene... the NBA in the the mid-70's was on the brink of extinction...far from being a national force.. and most project radical changes to NHL... so where does soccer stand?? regardless of gender... demographically... it's young... mls contraction was one step keeping it going..and in general mls exists..and grows slowly..the idea of fast growth is simply fad.... and there is relevance to wusa here too... is wusa the same model as mls.... to the extent where it's the same game with the same rules yes.... the critical element is, for me, is the matches watchable... early on...mls had some woeful unwatchable stuff...less of that now...players simply get better over time when exposed to a higher caliber of play... in general, wusa was watchable...the influx of international players raised a high standard... the huge failure as front office...having the slick selling entity to package the product and know how to really run a business... and this aspect doesn't have much to do with the quality of the product on the pitch.... so if 8,000 is an average attendance...stadia of the 8-20k variety would be the type to pursue... 75% capacity with 8k is a far better environment than 8k with 20% capacity...
HOLY COW! On this page there are literate, well-reasoned posts that actually make a point without bashing any gender or person. Adam Z, monster & Tom T - well done.
Me being someone who works at certin philly venue i can say the charge have had more fans at there game then the phatom and the kicks witch comcast has invested.
"Since I work at a certain Philadelphia sports arena, I can report that the Charge have had more fans at their games than the Philadelphia Phantoms [minor league hockey team] or the Philadelphia Kixx [indoor soccer], whom Comcast Cable has supported financially."
WMLS WMLS WMLS the folding of WUSA is the sign of WMLS is coming right up....there will be a double header matches through out the season
An optimistic report on the Freedom website: " The future looks favorable for some WUSA game presence in 2004"
I just think part of the problem is the WUSA had games when their general fan base also had games. Saturday and Sunday afternoons is when the majority of youth soccer games take place. No one could go or watch the games on TV. There need to be more Friday and Saturday night/early evening games. Also I think that there needed to be more promotion of the league through ESPN or other networks such as ABC...commercials at least. Almost everyone can get PAX, but it is not a sports network. I think they were trying to promote the WUSA as family-friendly (which it is) and associate that with PAX's family-friendly programming. For some reason PAX doesn't seem (to me anyways) like the home for professional sports....Also, as for a WMLS...the MLS can hardly support itself. It can't do what the NBA has done for the WNBA. One thing for sure though...we can't blame the loss of this league solely on the management of it. More people needed to watch the games on TV, and more people needed to go to the games. I was guilty of not watching games on TV when I could have. Now I wish I had watched them because as of right now I don't have that opportunity. If there had been a WUSA team in Chicago I would have definitely gone to games though. (Which gets me on another topic that Chicago should have had a team in the first place because there is such a vast fanbase for women's soccer there...) I know this post is really random but I couldn't possibly put down all my thoughts on the league's demise in one sitting. I guess I just have to say that not having a league sucks, and hopefully some miracle will happen and there will be a WUSA in 2004.
Jules--you're right about PAX. I'd be willing to bet most PAX viewers are probably "senior citizens" who aren't demographically favorable for being women's sports fans. One thing I've wondered about though, how correct are those tv ratings? I don't have much faith in how those stats are measured.
Yeah, I'm with ya' - has (have?) you or anyone you know ever been polled by one of these pollsters ?and just what could be considered as a "good" rating on a Saturday afternoon in the summer? How many folks that you know are watching TV at 4 PM eastern, 3 PM central, 2 PM Mountain, 1 PM Pacific on a Saturday in the summer? I consider myself to be a way above average fan of the women's game and WUSA. And, I have to admit, I was part of the problem - I watched maybe 4 games including play-offs/Founders Cup in three years. It's just a bad time - youth soccer games, field maintenance, grass to mow, honey-do list, whatever. The only popular/successful show at this time slot that I can remember is Wide World of Sports and that's gone, right?
Julie and the WUSA An article from the KC Star. The first part is about Julie Foudy and the WUSA. The second part is about the television reception of the WWC in Germany and Sweden and a (deserved) swipe at SI. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...0@yahoo.com&KRD_RM=5utqrqnnuontussqllllllllll|Jo|Y