Try to keep the discussion intelligent. How much does the USWNT loss in this year's WWC hurt women's soccer marketing efforts and WUSA revitalization chances?
Sponsors want to be associated with "winners" and what is "hot" at the moment. USWNT didn't win WWC 2003. USWNT isn't "hot" at the moment. As for WUSA, it is finished. Done. Kaput. WUSA was a TV programming experiment that ended up burning through over $100 million and probably lasted 2 years longer than a typical cable TV series with dreadful ratings would have.
Yea I think the only way people were going to put money back into WUSA to revitalize the league was if the women had a successful World Cup. Now by successful I mean winning but also that same atmosphere from 99 definitely wasn't present at this one. Granted their was less time to promote and smaller stadiums, but sponsors really won't care about that. I think the WUSA is done.
I believe there are meetings going on in LA right now that will result in a greatly reduced, but in-tact WUSA for a couple of years. I wouldn't say WUSA is done just yet.
An 8-team division 1 women's league costs around $35-40 million a year to run. The problem: WUSA only generated around $10 in cash receipts each year, including sponsorships. If WUSA is to be reduced to the level where it no longer loses money, the league will only have 2 teams instead of 8. Hyundai and Johnson and Johnson persumably will each pay $2 million to bankroll the effort. WUSA would still be a few million short even if it becomes a 2-team barnstorming tour (i.e. US stars vs World stars).
Question: I know that FIFA had a minimum number of teams required for a men's league to qualify as a "first division" league. Is there a similar number for women, and if so, what is it?
I don't think it affects it much - may hurt a little in the short term, but I think will actually benefit it in the long run. If WUSA or another league was/is doomed to fail, it's doomed regardless of whether the US won or not. If it's destined to succeed, it will succeed with or without US titles. I think it's a long-term benefit because marketing will be on more stable and realistic parameters now - the US can't win titles forever.
Re: Re: USA WWC Loss Impact Exactly. The importance of the US team in this Cup has been fundamentally misunderstood, IMO. Think about it...the women won in '99, and that was not enough to sustain a league. So what kind of idiot would think that them winning in '03 would be any different? More troubling, IMO, is the attendance.
I've seen this question a lot and haven't really given it any real thought until this moment... This is not meant to be snide, but who cares if FIFA recognizes a women's league as "first division" or not? I assume for men's leagues this is important due to international calendars and transfer of players and all sorts of other admin. reasons. But for the women, why does this matter? Especially when they face near certain collapse/demise.
The damning thing on this league is not the WWC (even though it did not help) but the Newsday article you posted. Once the sponsors get a hold of this ( WUSA THE EPILOGUE: Lack of television insight is No. 1 reason league is on the shelf, http://www.newsday.com/sports/socce...,1101688,print.story?coll=ny-soccer-headlines ), I think any company would think again. Companies also want to be associated with a winner and no one remembers third place. The WUSA2 is in big trouble. The women were doing this as their sole job. There is no way the league will pay $37K to a player now. They will have to work as a waitress on the side. This in itself will turn off a lot of good prospects for the league. I think this league is finished.
Tha is a broad question. The MLS is losing money but they have a very good business plan going forward with SS stadiums being built and not over paying the players. MLS is a "men's" professional league the WUSA is a "women's" professional league. Please let me know of any women's professional leagues (team) that have made it? Whether you like it or not, men are not attracted to watching the women's game (unless their little girl plays soccer). When the WUSA had a chance after a great '99 WWC and you blow $100 million in 3 years and you lose the the WWC in your own backyard, you are definitely behind the 8 ball. Did you read the Newsday article? IT IS UNBELIEVEABLE HOW BAD THEY RAN THE WUSA! If I was writing a sports marketing book, I would use it as a case study on what not to do. It is tough to revive a league especially when you mismanage the first one. Look at the NASL. The last year was 1984. 15 years to get another league. It has taken a lot to get the MLS off the ground and they are still struggling and are not guaranteed a successful league. It will be a struggle to get the WUSA up and running again unless there is a "knight" that rescues the league and doesn't care about losing money which I don't see happening. My prediction is they will try to get the league up and running and it will fall flat on its face. In four years (2007) after the WWC, the MLS with its SS stadiums will come up with its own women's league if their is still interest.
Well-played, Brownswan. I'll try again... Given that companies want to be associated with winners, how does MLS attract corporate sponsorship? It's not like the men's USNT has ever won a major event. And it's not like the stadia look full on TV more than a couple of times per season. So how do they do it without a tradition of winning? Is MLS doomed if the men don't qualify for Germany? In other words, to make it obvious why these questions are on topic, not winning will have very little impact on the future of Women's soccer in the US. The WUSA's bad management wouldn't have been changed by a WWC win, just as a third or fourth place finish won't insure that the WUSA, like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, remains dead.
Why isn`t it possible to have a womens league in the US? And why is it that expensive? We have the Bundesliga for Women here in Germany and it works.
We do have a league like the Bundesliga for women. The W-League. The WUSA is different, though, in that all the players got paid. I suspect there aren't a lot of full time professionals in the Bundesliga for women.
Thanks. No, indeed there aren`t a lot professionals. But why have they to be professional to grow steadily and fill some stadias?