NPR reports WUSA to have full season in 2005.

Discussion in 'NWSL' started by FanOfFutbol, Nov 7, 2004.

  1. FanOfFutbol

    FanOfFutbol Member+

    The Mickey Mouse Club or The breakfast Club
    May 4, 2002
    Limbo
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    On Saturday's All Things Considered I hearrd that the WUSA is planing a full season in 2005.

    This is the Link:
    http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=06-Nov-2004&prgId=2
    Scroll down about 1/2 way and you will find the audio report by the name of "Does Women's Pro Soccer Have a Future?".

    It "sounds" like the Olympics really made a difference and that some of the execs have admitted that the first attempt was poorly managed.

    Edit: This link might be easier for some.
    http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=4156929
     
  2. truthandlife

    truthandlife Member

    Jul 28, 2003
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    I personally don't know how this league will make it unless the players decide to take a lot less and they operate it on a shoestring.
     
  3. FanOfFutbol

    FanOfFutbol Member+

    The Mickey Mouse Club or The breakfast Club
    May 4, 2002
    Limbo
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    If you listen to the report you will hear that it is exactly the money issue that was addressed by the league execs. Even Diccico says that they poorly managed the funds during the first attempt. "Spent too much too fast" or something like that was said by Diccico in the interview.
     
  4. swedcrip34

    swedcrip34 New Member

    Mar 17, 2004
    didn't click on the link, but assuming your summary is correct




    wouldn't be the first time NPR is wrong
     
  5. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    3 1/2 minutes of speculation. No specifics whatsoever. Considering that the WUSA website lists several contract employees who are no longer with the league - not to mention anything whatsoever regarding the possibility of a relaunch, I'm guessing this is a red herring. Sort a cheap "whisper campaign" to try and raise the buzz level.
     
  6. WCC Fan

    WCC Fan New Member

    Nov 11, 2003
    I'm generally a fan of NPR, but this piece was poor reportage. The main interviewee (sports director for one of their affiliates) called DiCicco "DiCiccio", and referred to the current WNT tour as a WUSA tour.

    I believe they may have gotten an Olympic boost in the search for sponsors, but that doesn't equal breaking news at this point.
     
  7. EvWill

    EvWill Member

    Mar 11, 2001
    Fort Washington, MD
    Yeah, hearing the report tends to make me believe that NPR just mangled the projected start year of a relaunched WUSA along with pretty much every other fact in that report. I'd be shocked beyond belief if there was a full WUSA relaunch in 2005.
     
  8. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    I'd be shocked if there was ever a full WUSA relaunch.

    At this point "the WUSA" is standing in the way of professional womens soccer in the United States.

    It is a failed brand. Some of the team brands (like Washington Freedom perhaps) can be saved. But "the WUSA" is poison. Commercial partners won't touch it. But no other group will step forward to start another professional league until the WUSA goes away. It sort of a "******** or get off the pot" kind of thing - except that the only real option is to get off the pot.

    The fact is, the WUSA is dead. Any teams that do come back are only going to have faint resemblence to the teams that were. The vast majority of players are irretrievably gone. Last Wednesday, I talked to Kelly Cagle - who quit the Atlanta Beat to become coach of Virginia Tech. These women have moved on with their lives.

    It's time for the WUSA to get out of the way, too.
     
  9. billf

    billf Member+

    May 22, 2001
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Now I can't get the memory of that picture you posted of Kelly Cagle some time ago out of my head, thanks! :)

    I've heard from people close to the Fed that there will not be a WUSA season next year. If there was an Olympic boost, I'm not so sure its that significant given the dismal failures of the festivals. I think its time to start thinking about a new league.
     
  10. Brownswan

    Brownswan New Member

    Jun 30, 1999
    Port St. Lucie, FL
    If MLS were to add a women's auxillary league of 10 teams attached to MLS teams, and simply brought in the best women available under the same guidlines as the men's teams, you would never hear of the WUSA again -- at least not in a serious discussion of women's professional soccer.

    At the most, 10 vets could be seeded - one per team - the rest of the players should be newbies, up-and-comers, and foreign 'stars.'

    -- and maybe the entire Danish National Team. ;)

    They should play double-headers with the men -- or go to Sat-Sun schedules.
    There should never be a head-to-head conflict in tv coverage. Unfortunately, I don't think MLS sees a real future in this or it would already be piecing together the auxillary league. Maybe MLS is just waiting for Brandi-Julie to hang it up, but that's really unnecessary. No woman interested in playing pro soccer will let either of them dictate where they will play.

    However, MLS's plate is full right now -- new stadia, new teams, the turnstile of Yanks abroad taking some away and returning others. A women's auxillary is probably out of the picture.
     
  11. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Any womens league attached to MLS is years away. MLS is going to have enough fun next season with expansion and reserve teams. Throw in another expansion in 2006 or 2007, and their plate is more than full.

    That doesn't mean individual MLS groups with SSS might not be affiliated with a new women's league, but that's not really germaine at this point.

    Of the 140 WUSA players from 2003, I'm guessing that no more than 50-60 would be around for a 2006 season. A lot of the fans around here really don't seem to want to believe that the WUSA that they knew is gone forever. For the most part the players we watched and followed have had to find paying jobs, and few of them will likely be interested AND able to quit them in order to join a league where the wages will be even less. The next professional womens league will be mostly internationals and 22-24 year olds.
     
  12. InWoodbridge

    InWoodbridge Member

    D.C. United
    United States
    Aug 21, 2002
    Northern Virginia
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Several of the women in the WUSA went to the W-League to keep playing. That may be business model to pursue. There is a structure there and maybe that league could spawn some top level clubs. The Freedom is keeping their name out there with games by their reserve team. Which is still a high caliber club compared to what places like Nottingham Forest -- for that matter the same Freedom reserves that basted the Forrest women 6-0 could only manage a 1-1 tie with W-League Majestics.

    I hope that there is a way to establish a true division 1 woman's league but it may only be possible under the MLS umbrella and that will be some time off.

    Go Majestics!
     
  13. DCUPopeAndLillyFan

    Apr 20, 2000
    Colorado
    To echo Andy's sentiment, I'm waiting for WUSA to go the hell away so a competent organization can step forward. Andy knows the numbers, etc better than I do, but I believe MLS will have 8 soccer-specific stadia in place by 2007 and that that may be the time for a WMLS to pop up (if no reasonable alternative gets off the ground by 2006).

    As Andy said, don't expect too many WUSA players of the past to chuck newly-found jobs for a resurrection of WUSA.
     
  14. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Actually, a lot more regulars showed up for the Nottingham Forest game in RFK Stadium than did for the games with the Majestics, so the results aren't comparable.
     
  15. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Actually - an W-League team should've been able to pummel the Notts Forest Ladies 8-0. I really find it incredulous that they were a coached soccer team.

    No wonder most Brits I've met have a low opinion of "chick soccer."

    It was one of the appallingly bad teams I've ever seen in my entire life.
     
  16. Chargefan

    Chargefan New Member

    Oct 9, 2003
    KOP
    Good thing they did not play the NJ Wildcats then
     
  17. MRschizoid21

    MRschizoid21 Member

    Nov 5, 2004
    Brooklyn, NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Can anyone tell me how much of a factor the Women's Premiership is in England?
     
  18. M

    M Member+

    Feb 18, 2000
    Via Ventisette
    It isn't. It gets some publicity, but the league as a whole is probaly treated about the same as the sixth level of men's leagues.

    Notts Forest Ladies, btw, don't play in the Premier League or its two regional feeders. They play in a local Nottinghamshire league. Hardly surprising they got caned over here.
     
  19. xkimo_fire

    xkimo_fire New Member

    Jul 9, 2004
    Iowa

    It would be smart for both groups to work together.
    With Men's qualifying schedule this would be a good oportunity to get some of the younger women players out in public, if they would do something like schedule double headers. That would help expose the game!!

    However, I think its very unlikely that the two will work together.
    MLS only recently became a self sustaining market. WNBA survives only on the NBA profits. It would be the same thing with an expanded MLS. However I really do hope to see them get a womens professional league back.
     

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