By Paul Kennedy
Thursday will be a big test for how well, or not so well, the new National Women’s Soccer League draws in the PacificNorthwest.
Both Portland and Seattle will be at home for games against Sky Blue FC and Washington, respectively.
The Thorns drew 16,479 for their lone home match — more thandouble any other crowd this season. A crowd of 10,000 or more on Thursday would demonstrate the strength of the Portland market.
Reign FC attracted a small crowd of 2,618 for its homeopener. A crowd below 2,000 would confirm the disappointing start to the first season of women’s pro soccer in Seattle.
The lone midweek game to date — Sky Blue FC-Chicago — drew just688 fans at Yurcak Field. The crowd dropped Sky Blue FC’s season average to 1,586 fans a game, last in the NWSL.
Sky Blue FC, the only WPS holdover playing in the same venue, is averagingless than half what it did in its first two seasons in the NWSL when it drew 3,651 and 3,320 fans a game. By 2011, average attendance dipped to 2,138.
WAMBACH FEATURED ON SEC ‘STORIED’ SERIES. U.S. women’s national team star Abby Wambach, who started her soccer career at the University ofFlorida, will be featured in a new ESPN Films’ SEC “Storied” series, Abby Head On, which will air Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
The film chronicles Wambach’scareer from winning a national title at Florida to her rise as a U.S. women’s national team star only four goals away from breaking Mia Hamm’sall-time international scoring record.
The film is co-directed by Peabody and Emmy award-winners Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby and narrated by Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Florida football player Jack Youngblood.
ARSENAL WILL TOP CHARTS. Arsenal, one of the first major clubs to sign with Nike when it entered the soccer market in a big way in the early 1990s, will switch to Puma, beginning withthe 2014-15 season.
The five-year deal will be reportedly worth $46 a year, making it the most lucrative deal in the EPL, ahead of the deals Liverpool has with Warrior and ManchesterUnited’s long-term deal with Nike. It will bring in more than two and a half times the money per year that Arsenal’s Nike deal did.
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Regarding Thorns, I bought a General Admission ticket just before the 16,479 opener. Yesterday I tried to buy GA tickets for Thursday and Sunday matches. No go. The GAs were sold out. Bought reserved instead. 10.000 should not be a problem.
Regarding Arsenal. Should there be some zeros behind that $46 ?