As a fan of the (now former) Royals that lives here in SLC I really do not like this argument. In-person attendance doesn't grow the game. At least not like it used to and certainly not in the modern sports world. TV viewership is what matters. That the Royals retracted the number of games broadcast in the local market should tell you everything you need to know about how much the Royals actually moved the needle in TV audiences. Ironically, this is where the argument for Kansas City is so strong. As the metro with the largest national team viewing numbers, they made the most sense to move to. The key this time is finding the right recipe for them to be paid attention to by those same fans. The recent trade of O'Hara has to really piss off the new KC ownership group (though they have to had been involved given how closely these two things were made public) as it was the last national team player left of the Royals roster. A roster that was woefully underbuilt even in 2020. The issues with SKC are disheartening, no matter how you cut them. Hopefully they can be overcome. I'd also state that the attendance numbers for the Royals, given the stadium location (suburbs) and the cost per ticket (significantly cheaper than RSL), should actually be considered "underperforming" for this market. That number is barely over half of the stadium's capacity. This same stadium was regularly 75% full for a god awful RSL team in recent years. Again, at a lot more expensive asking price. A lot of this comes from the inability to build a team that was very fun to watch, but it also speaks to how poorly the club marketed in the area. I hope NWSL comes back to SLC with a new ownership group in 2023 as is made possible with how this "transaction" took place. It sure as hell better not be Del Loy Hansen coming back, though. As for the RSL side of things, the stadium has a bond on it with about $5 million left on it due from the owner of RSL. A drop in the bucket compared to a new franchise fee, sure. However, the league and/or new ownership group would have to pay that off in order to move the team out of Sandy. That would be a public relations nightmare. And while the SLC metro isn't a top 20 metro for the country/region, it is one of the fastest growing and is larger than other cities that have recently been "granted" an MLS franchise. A move out of the area, in this fashion, would almost surely prevent any future MLS team from being in the SLC area for a long long time. I don't think MLS wants to limit itself that way. The hope is that MLS comes in on January 8th and has a new ownership group ready to take over the men's side of the game. There are complications there with the USL side Monarchs and the academy involved that will take time to iron out. Giving the new ownership 2 years to get their feet under them before asking them to run an NWSL side might be the perfect timeframe.
The behavior of ECS toward the Reign has been appalling especially when compared to the TA. This is absolutely the biggest issue.
This isn't NWSL per se but...looks like UPSL is launching a national women's league. https://div1.upsl.com/news/2020/12/09/upsl-announces-launch-of-nationwide-womens-league Considering UPSL commissioner was involved in a fraudulent scheme...you kind of wonder what the intent of this is.
I commented on this in the Lower Divisions forum, but this isn't a "launch". USPL has tried to have women's conferences for at least the past two years, and I think longer, but it's been hard to tell. Their women's league(s) is/are an absolute mess, at least based on the paltry and conflicting information that has managed to make it to their site in those years. It's good to name a national director, I guess, as that *might* fix the mess they've been for the past few years, but IDK if this has any real holding power.
A few weeks back, we heard what the 2021 schedule would be: Something that wasn't discussed at the time was a potentially sneaky aspect of the schedule in terms of rosters... The May start for the regular season is very, very close to competition-end for many Euro-based players. Transfers might be much easier with this schedule. I was alerted to this fact by an intriguing rumor from Sounder at Heart: Hints of Renard coming to the Reign, from Aulas himself https://www.sounderatheart.com/2020...las-wendie-renard-olympique-lyonnais-ol-reign
The NCFC/NC Courage MLS-ready Stadium effort hits an inflection point this afternoon. Here's a recap of where things are: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article247890360.html I know that J-Mac was one of the speakers at the re-zoning vote the other night that passed the City Council 7-1. The final zoning meeting is at 1pm ET today and watchable on Raleigh's Youtube channel (link in article). If it passes, Kane and Malik should close on the last parcels. The next step is basically construction. The real next step is them trying to get Raleigh and/or Wake County to help out financially. Specifically they're looking for a Tax Increment Grant. With no public comments, today's vote "should" be a formality, and the project probably hinges on whether or not they can negotiate some tax relief. But given that the current City Council voted on Tuesday 7-1 to approve the rezoning request over the 7-0 vote by the zoning commission recommending against the rezoning request, I'm guessing that the pieces are falling into place for success here. Of course the devil is in the details, and once actual construction bids and budgets go out, what looks like Minnesota's Allianz Stadium in the drawings and renderings might look more like Columbus's MAPFRE Stadium, pre-MLS Saputo Stadium in Montreal, or Inter-Miami's Fort Lauderdale Stadium when initial construction is complete. Only time will tell. Without an MLS franchise, it'll be harder to justify all the nice finishing touches.
Cool little podcast from EQZ with Lisa Baird! Most of the big points are summarized in the article as well, including plans for extra events and maybe a potential rebrand for NWSL's 10th(!!!) season in 2022. https://equalizersoccer.com/2020/12/17/kickin-back-podcast-lisa-baird-nwsl-commissioner/
Happy Holdays! Just a note from me. I've gotten it into my head to drive Route 66 during the summer of 2022. This evening I realized I could see games in Chicago and Los Angeles on the outward leg and Kansas City and Louisville on the return leg. Let me think, the last NWSL game I went to was 8/10/19 CHI 1 WAS 0 at the Soccerplex. Not figuring on being able to go to anything in 2021. I has been and will be a long dry spell. Cheers, CJ
Allocation money increasing to $400,000 per team: Extra Scoops: How #USWNT players can now opt out of federation status to seek #NWSL allocation money, Orlando Pride's new GM hire, and 2021 SheBelieves Cup updates 👇https://t.co/BlY0F1yim9— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) December 31, 2020 From the article on NWSL related news: --On USWNT players opting out of the USSF NWSL contract: this change actually happened a year ago, but no one acted on it. "Sources indicate that there will now be at least some U.S. players shifting over to NWSL contracts. Lindsey Horan is expected to be a one of those players." --If you're asking why, for some players "there is actually more money to be made through this method than through U.S. federation status (a U.S. contract is worth $100,000 annually, and federation status in 2021 will pay either $77,500 or $72,500). A six-figure NWSL contract on top of regular camp and game appearance fees could pay more than the aforementioned figures."
true, but... i doubt that too many clubs/players will do this. the one player mentioned belongs to the only club that seems to be doing well. even if owners are willing to take over the financial responsibilities of top u.s. players, will players be willing to leave the protective cocoon of the uswnt players' union for the scary, unsure space of the nwsl union?
For more money? Sure. Besides, I don't think they're leaving the USWNT union - they're just shedding the NWSL addition to USWNT contracts behind. There's a difference. Basically, now they're going to have two contracts, an NT contract and a club contract, instead of just having one NT contract with a club stipulation.
And, tactically over the long term, this may make sense. It would make the MNT and WNT pay comparisons more of an apples to apples comparison.
encouraging arguments. owners want ussoccer to loosen their hold on the players. let's see them dive in. i still think it's only meaningful if more than just one or two top players get paid this way.
The Equalizer has an analysis article on this up now, detailing how players could make more by declining a USSF-paid/federation NWSL contract. I don't want to give it all away (go support woso coverage!), but it does say that the deadline for players to decline federation status was January 2. If players declined, then USSF has to make a second-round of offers to keep a 22-player minimum (of NWSL federation players, not USWNT team contracts). But still, maybe that means we'll also have a list of federation players for 2021 soon? Or, based on prior experience with announcements, maybe not...
FWIW, Baird's version of NWSL has been miles ahead of previous NWSL iterations in terms of transparency and promptness. Still quite a ways to go of course, especially with transparency, but unless USSF is dragging its feet, I would expect the list to come out in the next week or two.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/1...e-2021-nwsl-draft-red-stars-kealia-rory-dames Breaking down COVID-19’s impact on the 2021 NWSL Draft NCAA ruling protecting college eligibility figures to complicate the draft While there’s hope the National Women’s Soccer League will have a more normal 2021, the pandemic still will have implications for the upcoming NWSL Draft. All 40 selections will be made virtually on Jan. 13 when the draft streams exclusively on Twitch at 6 p.m. The NCAA also has allowed players to apply for the draft while retaining their college eligibility. It’s unclear how this will affect the 10 teams’ draft decisions. “I haven’t dealt with this before,” Red Stars coach Rory Dames said. “I think the fact that college players don’t have to let us know [if they’ll immediately forgo their college eligibility] until a week after the draft is a little bit backward, if I’m being honest. I’m not sure how much value the draft has this year because of that.” Drafted players must decide by Jan. 22 if they’ll report to their team immediately or at the end of their spring college season (assuming it’s held). Dames said he thinks this could lead to players who dislike where they’ve been drafted choosing to re-enter the draft next year. Clubs be wasting draft picks not knowing if the players are coming or not.
Of course, in advance of the draft they simply could ask the player if she will come out if they draft her.
That is exactly what the NWSL and their teams DON'T want. It allows players, namely potential rookies, to pick their own team as opposed to the other way around.
Gotta wonder if this is why they have not published a pre registered list as of yet. This was to be a phenomenal draft class but if enough kids choose to play through spring and even take the freebie and stick to next fall the clubs may just be throwing darts come draft day
The MLB Draft deals with the possibility of players not signing and continuing their amateur careers every year. How they deal with it is to award a compensatory pick to a team who can't sign a pick from the first three rounds (in later rounds it's considered a standard risk of doing business and some teams will even pick a guy who's presumed unsignable and hope to change his mind with a huge signing bonus offer). To be fair, signability is usually more of a known in baseball than it is with women's soccer this season and usually isn't tied to trying to duck a particular organization.
Meanwhile, the NHL allows 2 years to sign a pick from juniors and 4 years for college/Euro picks. That allows a team to draft a kid who agrees to go to a college and still have their rights well into the college career. It's odd that NWSL doesn't have some sort of longer signing window or compensatory pick option.
Lisa Baird just dropping news: Sacramento officially announced: Finally, Sacramento NWSL is actually announced. NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird announces the 2022 expansion team on her state-of-the-league address.— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) January 12, 2021 And USSF no longer managing the NWSL: Lisa Baird confirms in a question from @jeffrueter that U.S. Soccer is now no longer the manager of the #NWSL, though their relationship continues.— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) January 12, 2021 Baird: "US Soccer is no longer the manager of our league. We have entered a new chapter of our relationship with US Soccer. They will continue to invest in our league...as partners."— Charles Olney (@olneyce) January 12, 2021