Women’s Professional Soccer Is Officially Dead

http://deadspin.com/5911436/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

I believe the women's champions league that was won by Lyon had a crowd of about 60,000. The WPS is done and should be. It was poorly run, poorly executed, and weak initial structure.

bronxdad wrote:http://deadspin.com/5911436/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

It is unfortunate but there was just no audience for it. Kind of like the WNBA, but they are propped up by the NBA so it stays afloat.

no MLS connection to leverage assets and no connection to the rest of the womans soccer. Managed to get some of the best players in the world and then waste it all thru poor league management

Wow. It's really sad. With all the hard work and dedication that our girls are learning to put in now, at such young ages, we as parents are now supposed to say that college ball is the best you can shoot for? Well, outside of the Olympics, at least.

Part of the draw for boys is to dream of playing in the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLS (or, better yet, Premier League). Time and again, girls leagues are considered mediocre or less a draw (and fold) simply because their girls and can't get the corporate backing to make them a success.

Do you think that most of our girls are doing club strictly because they want to play high school or college ball? Or was it for the dream of playing in the WPS? Do you think that the folding of the WPS will alter some of their asperations?

For my DD, this will definately disappoint her. She's met several WPS players. I know she wants to play for her HS team. However, not having anywhere to play after college could leave a lot of girls feeling like...what's next?

That's really sad. Dan Borislow sounds like a real idiot.

What an absolute shame, I guess our dd's end up in Europe

I would expect that most of these players will be in the WPSL elite league and they can build from there. WPSL supports over 70 teams now and should be able to pull it off. Hopefully even get the MLS to start backing the elite league. Seems like it would just create that much more of a draw ($$$) at the youth level.

Of course WPS is dead. It was never alive to begin with. The writer put it succinctly:

"The second reason is more simple and damning: women's professional soccer (the concept, not the league) just isn't viable in America."

This statement merits far more evaluation. First and foremost, which women's sports ARE viable in America? Gymnastics at the international/Olympic level. These women have trained all their lives and are absolutely fascinating to watch. Women's tennis. Again, truly individually talented players. Plus, tennis lovers are fanatics and will watch just about any 2-4 people on TV hitting a yellow ball back and forth, regardless of gender. Women's pro golf? It's getting there.

Beyond these, it takes a dive. How many WNBA teams can you name? For me, it's exactly zero. Softball? Yawn. Women's beach volleyball? Sure, during the Olympics and only because of the uniforms - or lack thereof.

The obvious variable here is individualism. Women in individual sports - as opposed to team sports - hone their talents so well that they are enjoyable to watch. Women's team sports will always look slow and even a bit clumsy compared to their male counterparts because men have the unfair advantage of testocerone coursing through their veins.

The bigger question in all of this is how to "fix" women's sports in general. The WNBA is probaly most on track in this regard as they seek to highlight the truly elite players. Still, it's hard to watch these Amazonians after seeing an NBA team in action. As for soccer, the cure is nowhere on the horizon in the U.S. Other countries are beginning to figure out that all it takes is a single standout on a team to draw attention to the sport. People love to see a woman who plays "like a man" and is a phenom. But the only avenue to this is an utter and complete focus on individual skills training as opposed to the win-at-all-cost mentality and "team first" ideology. Women's sports at the professional level cannot be treated like those of men's if they are to succeed. And if we continue to spend big bucks while allowing our daughters to be trained like the status quo, then yes; we'll end up with young ladies who can play in college to crowds of 100 or less... and that's about it.

dd9903 wrote:I would expect that most of these players will be in the WPSL elite league and they can build from there. WPSL supports over 70 teams now and should be able to pull it off. Hopefully even get the MLS to start backing the elite league. Seems like it would just create that much more of a draw ($$$) at the youth level.

Thanks for pointing that out. The Boston Breakers & WNY Flash appear to be already there joining 4 other teams to make 6 total.

http://www.wpsl.info/news/index.php?cat=1&id=1404

Women's pro sports (team sports) is a losing propostion from a business standpoint, sure the WNBA is around but it is subsidized by the NBA.

Having your daughter play college soccer is a great goal. She will have the time of her life if she picks the right place, make lifelong friends and get a great education with hopefully some of it being paid for. For women's sports the Olympics has and will always be the pinnacle, and there is nothing wrong with that.

There is no "fix", it is what it is, and playing in front of 100 friends is a great thing if you love what you do. To play in front of sold out venues consistently (ex the olypmics and world cup)and turn a profit you have to play with the boys (see Danica Patrick), or individually sign advertising contracts.

It's disappointing that the WPS failed but for everyone that's bemoaning the league’s failings, none of us really need to look any further than a mirror. We're in the demographic that choose to ignore the league's existence. As Xara noted, I can’t name any of the teams in the WPS. If people wanted the WPS to succeed than they should have patronized the games. They wouldn't have shut the league down if it was making a profit.

The picture at the top of that article was a perfect example of the issue. That was a picture of a full-field professional soccer game being played by world-cup-level athletes in front a gigantic set of completely empty bleachers. That picture was rough. I've seen bigger crowds at local u04 Rec games.

This is a link to the other semi-pro or Pro/Am league out there, The W League:

http://wleague.uslsoccer.com/

Many of the college kids are playing in this league for the two month break over the summer. The talent level is very high. The Seattle Sounders have Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Megan Rampinoe and several other National & Youth National players. My daughter is playing for the Colorado Rush team and told me the roster is very stout. No money incentive for the amateurs, but a pretty cool way to spend the summer. She is currently up in British Columbia to play the Vancouver Whitecaps tonight and the Victoria Highlanders on Sunday. Nobody's getting rich in Women's Soccer, but there are opportunities to play after you graduate from college, if you so choose.

P.S. Most of the college games I go to attract somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000-2000 fans. More than that at A&M and UT.

Interesting that WPSL is accelerating their timetable for their Elite League roll-out to fill the void left by the folding WPL. So with the USL W League, looks like there are two semi-pro tracks developing. Perhaps one of them will get it right and something will mature into a real pro league.

But if that happens, as bigtex75081 pointed out, it's up to us to patronize the teams and watch any broadcasts to nurture its development.