Inaugural WPS Season Proves Womens Soccer Isn't Just For Kicks

The good news is you threw a soccer season and someone showed up. The fledgling Women's Professional Soccer league launched this past March 29th in Los Angeles, billing itself as the world's premier professional league for women's soccer. While there were aspects of the first year that did not live up to expectations, we doubt there is anyone who would be able to argue that, for all of its faults, WPS was not the highest caliber of club soccer available on the planet this year.

There were some very significant successess: The first was parity, the one attribute of a sports league that can be the greatest determinant of success.

In it's inaugural year, WPS saw a constant shifting of standings, numerous upsets, and a significant majority of matches were decided by a one goal margin. Several outcomes were changed in stoppage time. Hence one of the hallmarks of the new league's first year is that more often than not, the matches were suspenseful to the very last whistle. 

Perhaps the best evidence of parity is the story of Sky Blue FC, the New Jersey based franchise. Sky Blue survived two coaching changes to come from last place early in the season to the Med-immune WPS Championship Game by sheer persistence, grit, and determination.

The only exception to league parity, Los Angeles Sol, a club that started fast, held first place throughout the season, and was the first to qualify for the post-season will be New Jersey's opponent in tomorrow's championship match in Home Depot Center-- The Sol's house in Carson, California.

That sets up a classic David-Goliath matchup that will no doubt add an extra layer of drama and intrigue to the season. The match begins at 330 PM EDT, on Fox Sports Network and other regional cable channels.

The downside of parity is that it was more defensive than offensive. With the exception of the Los Angeles Sol, clubs typically scored two goals or less per match. There were many 1-0, 0-0, and 1-1 outcomes. While soccer purists can enjoy defensive play as much as offense; will see a heroic save as equal to a power-goal, the conventional wisdom is that the league needs to find a way to be more offensive if it is to survive long term.

Other positives for WPS after it's first year begin with the fact that the league is still in operation. Payrolls were met throughout the season. Operations continue. Expansion is underway, and while there are reports that the league's franchises lost an average of $1.5 million in the first year, they are all standing, planning for a second year.

That being said, the league as a whole and at least some of it's franchises appear to be vulnerable, and prospects of outlasting their predecessor WUSA are no better than even at this point.

The primary shortcoming for the WPS from a business standpoint is a disappointing result in obtaining sponsorships.

In a press conference held on August 18, league commissioner Tonya Antonucci stated that the league's inception was unfortunately timed to coincide with the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, thus severely depressing sponsorship revenue.

The sponsorship situation has begun to improve already, hower. The league has recently obtained the Med-Immune sponsorship of the Championship Game and a relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard for the 2009 All-Star Game in which the Coast Guard logo will appear on jerseys, as well as ongoing sponsorship for 2010. Antonucci also indicated that a major league-wide jersey sponsorship for 2010 would be announced in the near future.

When asked about attendance, Antonucci refused to concede disappointment. She stated the league had projected a range of 4-6,000 per game and other than weeknight matches, the lower end of the range was met. She also touted the attendance of "8,000" at the final home match in Chicago versus LA Sol on August 2nd as a success and a harbinger of things to come.

There were several questions about home venues, and whether there would be wholesale changes in stadiums for next season. The Commissioner dodged the question, but did cite the league's policy to avoid "cavernous stadiums" and play in venues where capacity is consistent with realistic attendance expectations, in order to create excitement and an improved fan experience in the seats.

There are several WPS franchises that share home facilities with MLS clubs, and there are others that do not. Even a MLS park can be described as "cavernous" when the clubs pay in front of a crowd that fills less than 25% of capacity. There are also the additional costs involved with using these stadiums.

On the other hand, using Chicago as an example, the only appropriate smaller venue would be Benedictine University stadium, where the Red Stars played a friendly versus the Irish National Team in July. The capacity there is approximately 3,000, well below the bottom of the Red Stars' range of attendance and less than half of their peak attendance.

Other factors depressing attendance cited by Commissioner Antonucci were schedule conflicts with MLS clubs, with game dates falling on holidays (which in some venues are advantageous but in others are disadvantageous), and the constraints of cold weather at the beginning of the season and conflicts with school schedules at the end of the season. The latter noted as significant to the league's attempt to reach out to families and youth soccer programs.

Scheduling was also raised as an issue in terms of competition. 

International call-ups depleted several clubs more than once during the season. This may be difficult to resolve since the necessity of running the season when European leagues are in hiatus due to weather and competing professional sports schedules in the United States ensures that there will be at least a limited amount of overlap with international team schedules.  

When asked to comment on the significant degree of criticism to which the league's officiating was subjected, she stated that the quality and consistency of officiating needs to be addressed and brought up to the standards one would expect from a league featuring world class talent.

When asked if she could put a letter grade on the overall quality of officiating, she refused to do so, saying only that there had been significant improvement as the season progressed and the issue would continue to be addressed going into next season.   

At the opening of the press conference and throughout, Antonucci did her best to put a positive spin on the league's first season as well as prospects for the future.

All that remains is the Championship match this weekend at Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, and the All-Star game the following week, at the new Anheuser-Bush Soccer Facility in St. Louis.