Third Try At A League Launches This Spring
Sometimes it takes a couple of tries before you get it right. Counts at hitting a moving tennis ball or hitting a stationary golf ball.
It also counts in creating a successful women’s professional soccer league.
The National Women’s Soccer League, which will begin play in April with eight teams, is the third try at a major women’s professional league in the United States.
The first two failed for different reasons.
The first, the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) was well funded with major media companies invested in eight teams.
That league ran through millions of dollars, most in startup costs in the first year, and folded after three seasons.
Next was Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), a league that struggled to get from the drawing board to the soccer field. The league began with seven teams, and for three seasons teams came and left.
That league also lasted three seasons. The teams that won the first two WPS titles were gone before the next season began.
The WPS began with a group of investor/owners who believed in the game, several with youth soccer backgrounds, but without deep pockets that would withstand financial losses.
Then there was the saga of the Washington Freedom/MagicJack!
No guarantees that the NWSL will make a go of it, but there are some differences that give hope that the league is on a good path to success.
First, the league is being operated by the US Soccer Federation, and also with the soccer federations of Canada and Mexico, the salaries of select national team players are being underwritten by their respective federations.
For the rest, there is a modest salary cap. That reduces salary espenses for each of the teams, and since the league is operated out of the US Soccer offices, it relieves the league from having to fund a league office.
Budgets are modest, promotions are grassroots, expectations are reasonable, and the belief that the success of the league lies with the players and the individual eight clubs. Success on the field is expected to drive the success of the league.
Seven of the eight teams are placed in locations that have a solid history of women’s soccer support. Kansas City is the one that has never had a Division I professional women’s team.
The Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Star, Sky Blue (NJ) and Western NY Flash are clubs from either the WUSA or WPS, or both. The Washington Spirit returns to the home of the Washington Freedom, and Portland and Seattle were cities that had success in the W-League.
The league gets underway on April 13, and will conclude the regular season on August 18. Teams will play a 22-game schedule. Most games will be played on the weekend, or over holidays.
It also counts in creating a successful women’s professional soccer league.
The National Women’s Soccer League, which will begin play in April with eight teams, is the third try at a major women’s professional league in the United States.
The first two failed for different reasons.
The first, the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) was well funded with major media companies invested in eight teams.
That league ran through millions of dollars, most in startup costs in the first year, and folded after three seasons.
Next was Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), a league that struggled to get from the drawing board to the soccer field. The league began with seven teams, and for three seasons teams came and left.
That league also lasted three seasons. The teams that won the first two WPS titles were gone before the next season began.
The WPS began with a group of investor/owners who believed in the game, several with youth soccer backgrounds, but without deep pockets that would withstand financial losses.
Then there was the saga of the Washington Freedom/MagicJack!
No guarantees that the NWSL will make a go of it, but there are some differences that give hope that the league is on a good path to success.
First, the league is being operated by the US Soccer Federation, and also with the soccer federations of Canada and Mexico, the salaries of select national team players are being underwritten by their respective federations.
For the rest, there is a modest salary cap. That reduces salary espenses for each of the teams, and since the league is operated out of the US Soccer offices, it relieves the league from having to fund a league office.
Budgets are modest, promotions are grassroots, expectations are reasonable, and the belief that the success of the league lies with the players and the individual eight clubs. Success on the field is expected to drive the success of the league.
Seven of the eight teams are placed in locations that have a solid history of women’s soccer support. Kansas City is the one that has never had a Division I professional women’s team.
The Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Star, Sky Blue (NJ) and Western NY Flash are clubs from either the WUSA or WPS, or both. The Washington Spirit returns to the home of the Washington Freedom, and Portland and Seattle were cities that had success in the W-League.
The league gets underway on April 13, and will conclude the regular season on August 18. Teams will play a 22-game schedule. Most games will be played on the weekend, or over holidays.