"The history of women’s team sports and long-term viability in the marketplace, in the U.S. or elsewhere, is pretty well-documented. It’s not an easy path. We want to do everything we can for WPS to have a stable environment. Let’s make it stable, whatever level is possible, in terms of development of the game. … We think some of the things the owners have put in place going forward are absolutely what's needed in terms of trying to build a stable model that’s economically viable, that it's appropriate in terms of the standards we would want for a professional league, and we’re hopeful in that. From there, having the five committed owners back for this year is a plus."

-- U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati after the Federation's Board of Directors' decision to sanction WPS as a Division I Professional League for the 2012 season with only five teams -- granting a waiver from the eight-team requirement for a professional league. The waiver depends on certain conditions being fulfilled to ensure positive growth in the near future. All five WPS team owners have agreed to meet the conditions. (USSoccer.com)