Future of WPS

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Permalink Reply by Katy Jones on September 9, 2009 at 3:07pm

Only way to tell if it was successful is to be able to say if it was profitable or not. Did the investors make a return on their money from ticket sales, advertising and TV rights being sold? I really hope they did and it does come back. It was unfortunate that it started after the economic down turn but after the olympic success it had a lot going for it. If the WPS fails after that publicity, it may well be another 10 years before investors want to risk their cash in a women's soccer league again!

Anyone have any idea on the financials? Are they better than the WUSA?

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Permalink Reply by athletica117 on September 9, 2009 at 6:44pm

Well it's the first year so I do not believe a profit was turned overall. But being it was the first year you usually don't expect to make a profit. I guess you can say that it was successful in the fact that they budget the money much better than the WUSA did.

Katy Jones said:

Only way to tell if it was successful is to be able to say if it was profitable or not. Did the investors make a return on their money from ticket sales, advertising and TV rights being sold? I really hope they did and it does come back. It was unfortunate that it started after the economic down turn but after the olympic success it had a lot going for it. If the WPS fails after that publicity, it may well be another 10 years before investors want to risk their cash in a women's soccer league again!

Anyone have any idea on the financials? Are they better than the WUSA?

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Permalink Reply by StarCityFan on September 9, 2009 at 10:35pm

Definitely better than the WUSA, but I heard from someone who should know that the financials were about twice as bad as expected, and that was across the board, not just a few teams. On the other hand, the economy and the sponsor situation can't be much worse than it was this year. I'm really expecting next season to be much better on numerous counts.

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Permalink Reply by Austin H on September 16, 2009 at 7:56pm

This article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (about three weeks old) mentions several things about the finances of the league. Yes, losses were more than expected (sometimes up to $2million, twice as much), but the article also mentions that sponsors are signing up for next season (I assume this means more than just MedImmune and the Coast Guard) and that Athletica in particular could break even as soon as next year.
If we're comparing WPS to WUSA, finances are MUCH better. We didn't bleed out five seasons' worth of money in our first season, for example.
And I agree with StarCityFan, next season will be much better an many fronts.

By the way, I don't think just looking at the finances is a fair measure of success. As I think the first poster was hinting at, other things like the on-field product, attendance, and the growth of the league are also measures you must take into account. Attendance was within WPS's goals, though a little on the low side, so that's something that could be improved, though I definitely don't think WPS was a failure in getting people to the games. On the other two accounts, though, WPS has definitely succeeded. I didn't follow WUSA since I wasn't a soccer fan (or older than 14) at that point, but from what I've heard any WPS team could beat a WUSA team. Also, the league effectively has nine teams now, up from seven one more than WUSA, and is always considering further expansion. Each team is also expanding its footprint in its local market. So, all-in-all, I would definitely say WPS is successful.

So, "Where does WPS stand?"
Well, the honeymoon is over. The inaugural year is past, and now we have to see if the teams can keep up interest in their local market. I think WPS has also started proving itself on the international stage, with WPS players making impacts for their national teams (England especially) and WPS players 'advertising' for the league as they travel overseas for the offseason.
As long as WPS teams can limit their losses next year, maybe to $1million, I think we can confidently stay WPS has made its stand and will stick to it for years to come. Sponsors are signing on, which will help greatly.
On BigSoccer, one of the WPS big-wigs started a thread asking what fan's input was, which is awesome, first in that it shows the main office is trying to interact with fans as much as possible, and second in that it means WPS is catering to its audience, which to me indicates that WPS is much more likely to stick around longer because it's working with the fans (I know, a bit of a jump, but my mind works in weird ways sometimes). The was also a recent post by Red Stars leader Peter Wilt which said something to a similar effect.
WPS is definitely here to stay, and earning quite a bit of respect. At least, as the season went on, I noticed more and more WPS coverage in local and national media outlets, etc.

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Permalink Reply by calm2001 on September 17, 2009 at 10:42am

The league shouldn't beat itself too hard over the losses. There's been an economical downturn since 2007 and therefore I believe it's been a great achivement to begin the league during this period. keep-up the support everyone esp folks attending the games.

I certainly enjoyed the inaugural year.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Huston on September 18, 2009 at 2:20pm

Where does WPS stand? Good question! Next year will be the make-or-break year. Was it successful? From a play perspective, yes. I think the game itself was much superior to WUSA and, in some ways, superior to MLS. The problem as I see it is the lack of real professionalism by the owners group. Now, I'm only speaking from the Bay Area, as they are the only people I have dealt with, but the way the game was presented, promoted, and the game day experience was very lackluster and amateurish. The WUSA was light years ahead of WPS in this aspect. It seems only Peter Wilt of Chicago has the right ideas. The rest seem to come from club soccer. I mean, how does one really get excited about a team called Gold Pride or Sky Blue? It is going to be very difficult to sustain this league but with the right promotion, getting the game experience to be enjoyable to the casual fan will be key to it's success.

Let me give you an example from my experience. My wife hates sports, with a passion. However, she will go to San Jose Giants games (a Class A minor league team) occasionaly because they entertain her. She used to enjoy the NASL Qaukes games because they were fun to attend. She won't go to Quakes games now nor to Pride games. They don't entertain the casual fan. For WPS there are not enough hard core people like me. WPS has to make the game fun to attend for the casual fan.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin F. Yost on September 21, 2009 at 11:40am

There should definitely be an even number of teams. For now, a tenth team. Future cities could include Dallas, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Carolina, and Toronto.

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Permalink Reply by rick b smith on September 21, 2009 at 5:14pm

I am disappointed in the team expansion. Current level of play is good when teams don't have injuries to key players or have players leave to join national teams. We had season tickets to LA Sol (traveled about 70 miles each way to games. The games were entertaining with good quality of play, but when Falk went down with an njury and when Abily and Frisk left to join their national team, the level of play dropped considerably. Expansion will only dilute the talent pool so level of play will be reduced. There are just not enough quality players for additional teams at their time. That being said an even number of teams would make the playoffs better.

Games should be scheduled around the known national team conflicts like the European chamionships.

Female referees are not up to level of play on the field. Female ARs and some referees can not stay up with play.

In Southern California we did not see any marketing for the SOL other than through the youth soccer sites.

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Permalink Reply by calm2001 on September 22, 2009 at 9:38am

Good points...but
Similar interruption occurs during the men's game in Europe with African Cup Nations depriving 1st team players....the quality of other players just needs to improve.

Expansion teams will bring more international players'......I can assure you there are some very good International players being benched due to politics.

The Refs have been sub-standard but I think with experience there should be some improvements. Otherwise WPS should invest in FIFA badge refs.

Watch the space for an even better upcoming WPS season.

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Permalink Reply by Red and Blue on September 22, 2009 at 9:45am

The survival of the WPS will rely on its ability to attract new fans and expand its base. I remember when the MLS started in Chicago and they attracted only 7,000 fans to a game - that was also on a beautiful night...so I think this is certainly within the reach of the WPS. The WPS can help each team by creating a framework for the teams to operate in, but I think each team will have to execute in their way.

What the WPS did right in Chicago -
- pregame tailgating
- Red Zone events before the game
- Halftime entertainment
- Player autographs

What the WPS needs to improve -
- webcasting away games
- excitement in the offseason - really the expansion draft was a joke, encourage players to blog about what they are doing now
- outreach to local soccer clubs - attend the local clubs events. This could drastically be improved upon. A friend of mine runs events for a local club 20 miles from Toyota Park with over 1,000 kids but was unable to get the Red Stars attention.
- give aways - Chicago threw out Tshirts...in St Louis they thew out these little soccer balls...the fans went crazy over them and they thew out about 30 of them. What about lots of tattoos being given away??? Lots more of this....
- get rid of the annoying drums and start chants...
- Red Stars billboard did not even mention soccer....may want to change that....
- Limited access to Red Star stuff in local soccer stores. Also - anyone see any goalie jerseys out there for ANY team?
- The playoff format was not good. By the time you knew who was in the finals, there was no time to react. Who buys a ticket with 2 days notice? I would say a week between semis and finals to build a strong excitement base.
- Too many early games in Chicago!!! Not sure if they can fix this but I would focus on California and warmer climates for April games.


I think the first year they did well...but need to improve next year to really create a strong base.

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Permalink Reply by calm2001 on September 22, 2009 at 11:40am

Very good points.....WPS please take notice of "Red and Blue's" ideas and concerns.
I totally agree with your point regarding the playoff finals' schedule....just too soon after the semi.

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Permalink Reply by WPS on September 22, 2009 at 3:12pm

Thanks to everybody for your tremendous insight and ideas, :-) we do value your feedback and weigh it heavily in our strategy discussions! Keep the comments coming.

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