Beau Dure examines the state of women’s pro soccer in the wake of the success of the U.S. women’s national team at Germany ’11.
WPS has only sixteams, operating with two less than normally required by U.S. Soccer, and the owner of one of the teams, magicJack’s Dan Borislow, has been at odds with theleague and its other owners since he bought the Washington Freedom.
Would WPS survive if magicJack was no longer part of the league? “The issues that the league and Borislow have had,those will get resolved,” Atlanta Beat owner T. Fitz Johnson
Will WPS be expanding in 2012? “[The Women’s World Cup] has buoyed our continuing expansion discussions with West Coast teams, which have been ongoing since early thisyear,” WPS CEO Anne-Marie Eileraas said.
Borislow is in favor of a merger with MLS. “While all of us at Major League Soccer are supporters of WPS,MLS is not engaged in any discussions regarding ownership of WPS clubs,” said MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche, who worked in the WUSA.
For better or worse, a professional women’s soccer league in the traditional sense is never going to work in the US anytime soon. What me and most fams want to see is the US Women’s team play more games- not the individual players spread out over multiple teams. The powers that be need to think outside the box- Some sort of international league might work. If the US Women played 20 home dates in 20 different cities, they will draw at least 30,000 every game. There’s little star power in women’s soccer, but their is team power.