The start-up of new pro sports leagues was examined by
CNN/SI's Nick Charles in a "Page 1" report. Charles: "New
professional leagues for non-mainstream sports are popping
up faster than gourmet coffee shops, turning games that were
once pastime obsessions into full-time professions."
Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF) President & CEO Mitzy
Swentzell: "There's a market out there, not just in sports,
but in entertainment in general. ... we're as much competing
with going out to McDonald's and going to the movies as we
are against ... teams." Charles said after the report, "One
key factor for survival of the new women's basketball and
soccer leagues is that fans will be able to recognize
players who were all over the screen during last summer's
Olympics. Familiarity, though, is not a luxury available to
the start-up softball and fencing leagues" (CNN, 6/19).
LEAGUE NOTES: None of the 15 U.S. Olympic softball
players has joined the six-team WPF, which began play May
30. USA TODAY's Al Young: "The main reason: USA Softball
constantly is evaluating talent for international
competition, and no one wants to be left out" (USA TODAY,
6/19). A U.S Soccer committee recommended standards for a
new women's league to the U.S. Soccer board of directors,
which included that at least 75% of teams in the league be
in population markets of 1 million (USA TODAY, 6/20).
