WPS Going Forward: The Up-Close and Personal Model, Best Route to Success

I-55 Somewhere in Southern Illinois (Aug 30, 2009) -  As I was driving back to Chicago after covering Women's Professional Soccer's first All-Star Weekend for Bleacher Report, it hit me. I had just experienced first hand, the league's best strategy for long-term success.

The solution is completely counter-intuitive. But, it makes perfect sense.

The revelation came as I reflected on the sense in which All-Star Weekend was a microcosm of the entire league and the entire inaugural season. Everything that is concerning about the league and everything that is good about it was all at play on this one weekend in St. Louis.

The aha moment came when I realized they are one in the same.

Okay, so what am I talking about? I'm talking about what might be considered WPS's biggest problem, and what might be considered its greatest strength.

The problem, if it is a problem, is the irony that despite having the best women's soccer league, and despite the fact that unlike men's soccer, the United States produces the highest caliber of soccer talent across the board in the women's game, relatively few people know about WPS and attendance in the first season disappointed most people's expectations.

A perfect illustration of this came to my attention at the All-Star Awards Gala.

A couple sitting at my table were St. Louis residents. They were there because the husband was representing one of the league’s newest sponsors. His wife, a dentist, is a huge soccer fan. But, this couple had not heard of WPS until this gentleman was asked to represent the company at the banquet.

Think about that. These people live in St. Louis where WPS has made a major splash, where the city's only professional soccer team, Athletica, hosted the super-semifinal playoff game. The winner of that game, Sky Blue FC, went on to win the league championship in a classic Cinderella story.  Yet, this couple—not living in a cave by any means—had not heard of WPS. Now that they have, they told me they plan to purchase season tickets.

The couple at the banquet could be the poster children for WPS's potential for growth. Experts on statistical sampling will tell you that for each person you identify in a particular category by random selection, represents ten more that you don't know about. Therefore, if the league can find a more effective way to broadcast its existence and its brand, it is not inconceivable that attendance could increase dramatically across the board from this year to the next.

And of course that is the league's primary objective, correct?

Probably so, but should it be? 

Remember, I said that my big revelation was that the biggest preceived problem in the league's first season and it's greatest strength are one in the same.

So, where's the strength in small numbers?

I can think of two things right away: intimacy and access.

Because crowds and venues are small, there is an unparalleled opportunity for fans to have an intimate experience with the best athletes in the world in their sport. Imagine being able to rub shoulders with NFL or NBA players after the game. Not just for a quick anonymous autograph but actually to have a conversation with them. Imagine the players in any other major US sports league entering the field by running down the stadium steps touching the hands of fans on the aisles, as they take their places on the field. (As the All-Stars did, and the local club does, in St. Louis).

So, let’s look at the desirable byproducts of smaller attendance: intimacy and access.

WPS’ most valuable product, what sets it apart from other major league sports, and what can and should define the brand, is a fan's personal connection to the team, the players, and the complete soccer experience.

It should be the key message of the league’s advertising and marketing: it isn’t just  the world’s best women’s soccer. It is access to the world’s best soccer players.

It isn't having a great women’s team in your city, it’s being a part of your team’s extended family—knowing and being known by name, by staff and players.

In other words, as I said, intimacy and access.

This up close and personal dimension to the game would not exist if WPS filled NFL stadiums or even scaled down soccer-only stadiums, as has become the norm in MLS. Even in MLS, with per game attendance comparable to a the NBA or NHL , there is minimal personal contact and virtually no personal relationship between the team and the typical fan. 

So the question is, do we treat the WPS personal dimension as a temporary trade-off that comes and goes with lower attendance? Is it something we make the most of when we have to because of low numbers, or is it something we embrace as a key feature of brand and product?

In other words, could the key to permanent success for WPS be intentionally staying small and making the most of its benefits? 

And if the winning model might be to keep WPS intimate, how small is too small? How big is big enough? I'm not willing to give a firm number, but it is safe to conclude that the sweet spot is somewhere between this year's average attendance and 8,000.

It does seem that somewhere south of five figures, the numbers become unmanageable. On the other hand, there are some models by which the league could be strong and profitable with an average attendance across the board between 6-8,000.

I can already hear the objections. After all, we're Americans, and bigger is always better, right?

But size is relative. You don't see NBA and NHL teams tryinig to break into MLB or NFL numbers. Those leagues understand that the nature and quality of their product is optimal with attendance in the 17-25,000 range. Many years ago, when domed stadiums were in vogue, a few NBA teams (Houston, et. al) tried playing in the dome. It was hard to avoid trying to fill more seats. The result was disastrous. It wasn't long before the NBA was again exclusively housed in custom arenas of 20,000 capacity, give or take.

So for the NFL, the sweet spot is 60-80,000. For MLB it is 20-50,000. For the NBA, NHL and MLS it is in the range of 20. So why couldn't it be 6-8,000 in WPS? Especially if a crowd of that size offers something completely unique in the major sports market? And I believe it does.

It would behoove the league to strategically limit its growth and instead take advantage of the marketing potential of being smaller. I would suggest that intimacy and accessibility (combined) is the one unique product this sport and this league can offer that no other major sports league can. I would encourage the league to make this an intentional and permanent aspect of the WPS experience, and revise their business model accordingly.

Based on what?

As I mentioned in a previous article, an informal survey of WPS All-Stars revealed that the teams with the smaller venues are perceived to have the best fans. Does that mean the Chicago fans aren’t as committed to or passionate about their Red Stars as the New Jersey fans are about their Sky Blue?

Not at all.

It does mean that when fans are closer to each other and closer to the action, enthusiasm naturally  increases, the level of crowd participation escalates, and even the product on the field is perceived to be more interesting because of what happens in the stands.

Because of that we would recommend that as part of the league-wide emphasis on intimacy, access, and relationships between players and fans, teams like Chicago and Los Angeles should abandon their (relatively) cavernous digs and move into a venue of a scale that optimizes this model. This may mean building a new stadium or adding seats to existing facilities in the area, but it should be done, and in fact would result in lower stadium overhead in the long term.

Isn’t that limiting? Sure, but it also creates scarcity. It makes it more likely a match will sell out thus encouraging more advance ticket purchases and more season ticket sales. If a WPS ticket suddenly became the hardest ticket in town to get, any tickets that were available wouldn’t be for very long.

It should be emphasized however, that as important as increasing demand through scarcity, that is not the most important reason for limiting size. The most important reason is that what is happening today as a byproduct of being small is the league's most important key to success.

And even though it's working well right now, it could be perfected to high art. It won't be, however, unless it becomes the foundation of the business model.

That model could be summarized as this: WPS will establish itself as a profitable, fully operational organization, providing the world's best women's soccer on the club level, by making the relationship between club and fans, both collectively and individually, as meaningful, personal and accessible as possible. Successfullyexecution of this plan will set WPS apart from all other major league sports organizations in the world as the most fan-friendly, and will thus maximize fan loyalty, participation, and demand.

Here are a few strategies the league or its individual clubs might consider to compliment, enhance, or maximize existing efforts at creating the up close and personal experience for the fan.

It should be the goal of each club that everyone who buys even one cheap ticket during the season should have an opportunity to spend at least five minutes of quality time with a team member.

Obviously clubs will want to reward season ticket and premier ticket holders extra perks, so they should have more than their five minutes, but if five minutes of quality time once during the year was the minimum any ticket buying fan could expect, imagine how much brand loyalty that would create.

Such a bond goes way beyond the team’s or any individual player’s success on the field. This is already happening with many fans informally, especially season ticket holders, but the more this is expanded, the more successful it should be.

Sure, there should be extra perks for season ticket holders and there are ways to give them more access, but if every ticket was worth five minutes with a player sometime during the year, think what that would do!

Now, if the league were to adopt this model, marketing it would be easy and fun. In sized to scale venues, there would be few if any empty seats.

Here are some suggestions for tag lines and campaign themes for individual club or league wide promotion for the off-season. 

• Game Time is Face Time
• World Class Play, Back Yard Atmosphere.
• Buy a Ticket, Make a Friend
• Sunday at the Soccer Park: Just Like Sunday Dinner
• You're not just a Fan, You're Family
• Some sports have fans; ours has friends.

As I said, it's counter-intuitive. Most of the most successful business ideas are too.

Photo: An up close and personal moment as Chicago's Kate Markgraf autographs a fan's shirt, at a Season Ticket holder's tailgate party at Toyota Park.