My bet/wager/guess is that the future of the WUSA is dependant on the veiwership of the WWC final. The more people watching this sport and proving that Americans do care about womens soccer outside just the USWNT will prove that there it might be worth a second, more financially conservative, look. Does anyone think that this final match is a big indicator for whether or not womens soccer in the US has a league? Jarrod
With the USA out of it, I figure that about seven people will watch the Final between Germany and Sweden.
If that's the case, then the WUSA is doomed. In effect, what the WWC final is now is the same thing the WUSA is, without the four or five American Players per team. And if fans don't turn out to watch the WWC simply because the USA is gone from it, why would they turn out to watch foreigners play in the WUSA? Jarrod
WUSA is just not feasible at this moment. The long term demand for women's soccer has absolutely nothing to do with the final. It's time for all players to find themselves a rich husband if they haven't done so and play in semi-pro league.
No.. but the final WILL give companies/investors/marketing people a better appreciation of what the "apathetic watching" numbers are. If a number of Americans watch the final, then they have some concrete numbers on what the WUSA's potential audience might be. First step though is to fire everyone involved with the original WUSA's financial misspendings. If the WUSA was a big business like Enron, people would be calling for jail terms for the financial mistakes made. Remember that. Jarrod
uhhh....no. If that's true, they already know that number in last world cup, which is 40 million. But that isn't true. World cup is a rare event. You get the novelty factor. You get totally different number if the game is played every week instead of once every 4 years. The number has declined the second time WWC is in US so the novalty effect has diminished.
Yes. The novelty has worn off. This is a perfect time for the bean counters and such to take a look at legitimate numbers of womens soccer fans in the US, not just those that are on the bandwagon. I'm not saying it'll be an exact one to one conversion , but I would wager that the number of US viewers of the WWC final will indicate pretty closely the number of WUSA viewers for a future league. We all know that the numbers given after 1999 to investors were inflated/wrong. Now they might actually look at some better/closer numbers. Jarrod
That's a pretty good research thesis. I rather see some facts and figures to prove that statement before I would believe it.
rcleopard, You bring up some good points. It is clear from the past WWC that the bandwagon types did not support WUSA in large numbers. Too much media hype/national patriotism than real legitimate support. Like you said, viewership of the final will likely reflect the more die-hard soccer base. TV ratings have been low, but IMO not that bad considering that the WWC is competing with NFL, MLB playoffs, college football... there is a market for women's soccer (however small) -- hopefully some wise investors can get it to work at an A-League level... Another question is... the Mia factor? Can a women's league survive with a retired Mia? After all she's the Michael Jordan of women's soccer. All the girls are constantly shouting "Mia Mia Mia." Who are the next generation of stars? If there isn't a pro women's soccer league, can the collegiate game/semi-pro soccer sustain the USWNT?
The Mia factor.. yes.. This is a major problem. The USWNT primarily has been playing the "founders" and "starters", and there has been very little external growth outside of that core. That core is now retiring and getting too slow for the game that is exploding around them. Does the future look bright, or have the founders sat in the spotlight so long that nobody else could compete in the US women's ranks? Time will tell. Jarrod
I noticed a subtle transition in the adidas ads...more focus on Aly Wagner as the "future" of the program. Could we be going from "Mia, Mia, Mia" to "Aly, Aly, Aly"?
Could be.. could be.. I could definatly see that. We do need the youth though, badly. What kind of experience can the youth get on the core team between the olympics and now, though? Or would we just use them right into olympic qualifying? Jarrod
Mia Factor As of right now, No Womens soccer league could get going without the founding players. Like it or not, WUSA teams have to be preserved. I really Doubt that any of the current players will go for joining another startup league. They are all College Grads with various degrees and don't need the 30K they may make in the next league with a much tighter budget. WHy would some of the names take a chance, so you would have to start over with college players and some W-League players. At least the current teams have some fan loyalty base to work on and get by the Founder retirement problem When the core founders leave the game, No womens league could have the pull to bring people in. So, If this league does not survive, Women's soccer in the US would be over other than the WNT Although Philly, without a player on the WNT, has exceeded expectations and has developed a fan base loyal to the TEAM and not to a STAR The reason ALY is featured is twofold, One, she photographs well and two - MIA is a NIKE Employee, not an Addidas employee.... this excludes her from being in the commercial Rating will not be anywhere close to the 99 final because that was the only event goingin on in the summer, not to Mention Football at 1 pm on sunday. The other thing that has hurt this WWC was having only 4 months to prepare and only 10 million to do so(Something like 35 million was spent in 99) As a Fan of the WUSA(Good Product, bad management) I am also a huge Football fan, so this WWC has been tough for me to follow. Most of the Ideas I have read on this board just want another W-League format. The format was fine, It was the decisions affecting the WUSA that were poor 8 investors for 2.5 million each is basically selling each team to a sponsor. Not a bad price when you consider that in the NFL- holding a team for 75 years nets you a value of 500,000,000
USA TODAY 10/9 The committee to revive the WUSA will meet this weekend in Los Angeles. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the WUSA is why the competition in the Women's World Cup is much improved from four years ago. Though Blatter expressed his support for the efforts to revitalize the league, he did not promise any financial commitment. Blatter said the international governing body for the sport can use its influence to interest potential sponsors and investors. "I do cross fingers that the solution will be found after the big success of this competition, that the women's professional league can go on," Blatter said. Also check out an AP article about the WUSA: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031009/ap_on_sp_so_ne/soc_wcup_blatter_2
Mia is sponsored by Nike (check out nikesoccer.com, they even include Lorrie Fair) and Wags is sponsored by adidas (that's why you have lilly, ceeps and wags) in their spots. Foudy is a reebok chick.