Vancouver Whitecaps look to be first MLS club to field WPS team

Hopefully the last.

 

Why?

 

Not sure whether that would be a good thing, or a bad thing for WPS. Not sure whether they're financially ready to be expanding that far west.

 

Guess Vancouver doesn't like to make money...

The WPS is a disaster...if the league had lost one more team, it was going to fold...I believe it was Magic Jack buying Washington that saved the entire thing...

Who knows if they will even make it to 2012 for Vancouver to join...

 

Probably the last, given the state of that league.

 

What's WPS again?

 

Good for them!

 

They moved the team to Florida and we all known how well soccer works there. I bet the league wont even be around after next season.

 

20-40 years from now when MLS is hopefully printing money, this will be the way for a woman's professional soccer league to succeed here - the WNBA model where the NBA eats losses on most of the teams each year to keep it alive, but the losses are relatively small change to the league.

right now, we aren't printing money and the WPS isn't going to survive for long anyway, so it won't end up being very important. I will say that if asked to predict five cities where a woman's top-level pro soccer team could successfully break-even over multiple years, Vancouver would be on the list. it just won't matter if there ends up being no league for them to play in.

 

Women's profesional sports in the USA in virtually non-existant. The WNBA is heavily propped up by the NBA and without the NBA's financial backing would have folded years ago.

A few small regional women's leagues (were they only interplay in playoffs) that have some partnership with MLS, USSF and SUM could work i think.

But the WPS as currently constructed looks to not have enough viable clubs to support the league, enough revenue and sponsers to cover costs, and enough partnerships in the soccer business communtiy to grow on their own.

Good for Vancouver to support the womens game, but i suspect their women won't have a league to play in before long.

 

There really is no such thing as a profitable professional women's sports league. They exist in Europe because..........well, I don't know.

 

WTA. WTA. WTA.

I don't know the exact figures, but they do really well. In 2003, I remember them signing the largest sponsorship deal in the history of women's sports: 6-year, $88 million with Sony Ericsson.

 

What is that Women's Tennis Association?

 

I dunno about continental Europe but in the UK the women's league is still seen as a laughing stock. People crack jokes about it and don't really play any attention to it. The only match that is ever televised is the women's FA Cup final and teams only run women's teams as a loss making venture to give something back to the community. Man Utd dropped their women's team years ago and Charlton (one of the more successful women's teams of recent years) axed theirs as soon as they no longer had EPL money coming into the club.

Women's team based pro sport is a waste of money for anyone investing into it other than for charity reasons.

 

There really is no such thing as a profitable professional women's sports league. They exist in Europe because..........well, I don't know.

They exist in Europe because their federations are less closed minded.
The men's team subsidizing the women's team means (1) a better women's program and (2) better chance of enagaging half the population (females) in the club who then might drop a little coin and become soccer consumers. Imagine if Vancouver produces the next Marta or Mia Hamm. Wouldn't you want such female athete to be part of your club and have her jersey on sale in your store at 50 dollars a pop(for the kids version)?

I've written many posts in the ladies forum ( maybe even here) addressing that WUSA and WPS were (are) destined to fail. No profitable business models (even non-profit) cna work for them long-term. The only thing that will work is if MLS absorbs some women's team and makes them their own in an MLS womens division--same schedule , colors, etc. Frankly I think TFC, NYRB and LAG could start ladies teams right now. I actually think it will happen one day. Until then WPS is just a sorry stopgap while it lasts. But I support it to the extent I can because its the only thing that keeps the women's national prorgram from growing more stale than it is already.

 

But isn't there an attitude on the part of the league organizers that they don't want the help of the men's league?

I agree with you. I think the day when a women's league in any team sport can be profitable is probably generations away. Until then, they need to grow slowly, and if that means accepting their position as a money-losing, PR-vehicle for now, so be it. You gotta start somewhere.

I'll tell you one thing: If they even want to fantasize about profitability, they need to do a better job of getting men to come to the games. The high-pitched sound of the cheering at WPS games is the squeal of death. Barring some major change in female culture, you just never are going to be able to build a successful pro sports league on female fans. There simply aren't enough of them. Moms and their young daughters in the stands make for cute TV, but they don't make for a successful league.

------RM

 

First, good for Vancouver.

Second, the WTA does indeed make money, I do believe. Women's tennis is very popular, more so then the men, I'd say.

Third, I hope WPS gets a shot in the arm, and I'd wished MLS had been more supportive from the beginning. Sadly, after WC '99, they thought WUSA would take off, it didn't. Better model this time, but it isn't going to work either.

Unfortunately, I think MLS and WUSA/WPS are competing against one another for limited soccer $$, instead of promoting each other and helping each other out.

Still, I feel the best model would be for the WPS to be subsumed by the MLS teams where the MLS has a good situation in that city, in order to share costs and cross promote.

However, looking at the 6 remaining WPS franchises, the only one where it is possible is Philly. Maybe NY/NJ with Sky Blue and Red Bull.

1. Philadelphia Independence (WPS). Philadelphia Union (MLS). Both based in Chester.
2. Boston Breakers (WPS). NE Revolution (MLS). Breakers are in Boston, Revs aren't.
3. Washington Freedom (WPS). DC United (MLS). Freedom not in DC, will DC be either?
4. Sky Blue FC/NYRB. Both are in NJ, and Red Bull has deep pockets.
-----------
5. Atlanta Beat/No MLS Counterpart.
6. Western NY/No MLS Counterpart.

Still, I'd go if the Crew jumped in.

 

First off, you can't compare individual sports to team sports. Running an individual sport organization is WAY easier than running a team sport organization. For tennis, you can be profitable by having one successful event per week...for soccer, you need all teams to have successful games every week.

And going off what TrueCrew said, a women's soccer league will not be profitable for at least a generation. Women need to be obsessed with sports on a scale close to male obsession with sports, and we are absolutely nowhere near that. Sports like figure skating and tennis can attract a decent female audience cause that's stuff they're interested in being fans of. Sports like basketball and soccer don't have the same following among women (and I know absolutely no girls that prefer watching women basketball/soccer over men).

 

When I read the thread title, I read it as: Vancouver is going to field a women's team in MLS.

 

WPS is still around?

 

Yeah, but no one watches WTA for the tennis.

 

MLS doesn't need clubs throwing money into a hole.

 

You mean besides DC United?

 

toilet> insert money>flush.

but when Kansas City Sporting Sporting Club just signed a new stadium naming rights deal for -$8M over 6 years why can't Vancouver throw away a bunch of money on another charity too. now those overpriced endline and supporters section seats can go to supporting a good (albeit lost) cause.