USSF women's pro league development committee Chair
Burton Haimes "headed a special meeting" in L.A. Friday
about a future women's professional soccer league, according
to Michael Lewis of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS, who writes that the
USSF "wants to have a league" of eight to 10 soccer teams in
place by 2001. Haimes: "The key is realistic expectations
and managed expectations. ... We need to create a league
that the women feel they can have an income and not
starvation wages. We came out of that meeting knowing that
it ain't going to be MLS, ain't going to be the WNBA, but a
league that is something unique. Ultimately, it will be the
decision of the investors." Questions remain for a new
league, as Haimes said, "Should you be in major markets?
Everyone agrees that we should be in New York, Chicago and
L.A. After that, should we follow the success of the (A-
League) Rochester Raging Rhinos and go into smaller markets?
Do we need a national TV contract?" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/12).
A-League Rhinos Owner Frank DuRoss "thinks mid-sized cities
including Rochester, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Seattle that
already have pro men's teams would be ideal" (ROCHESTER
DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 7/12). In N.Y., Lyle Spencer: "The
best idea is to start small, with no more than eight teams,
and build from there" (N.Y. POST, 7/12). CBS' Jacqueline
Adams: "Now that women have proved they can both play the
game and draw the crowds, the challenge remains finding
sponsors ready to spend the bucks to field national teams."
WWC President & CEO Marla Messing: "We're looking to see if
there are investors out there, if there are sponsors, if
there are spectators, if the media will cover it. Those
issues are really, I believe, looked at in isolation from
the men's league" (CBS, 7/11). In Chicago, Bonnie DeSimone,
on a women's pro league: "After this week and the next, the
women themselves aren't sure how and if they can keep their
momentum going" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/12).
COST EFFECTIVE? The AP's Jim Litke puts the startup
cost of a new league "as high" as $50M (AP, 7/12). Women's
Sports Foundation Exec Dir Donna Lopiano: "They kicked off
the NHL and NBA with less of a grass-roots fan base. U.S.
Soccer has got to say, `It's time. It will happen.' The
dinosaurs have got to understand that now's the time to go
after a brand new, uncluttered market -- the American family
market" (USA TODAY, 7/12). Former USSF President Alan
Rothenberg said that after the U.S. WWC win, investors "will
now take a serious look at it. We've wakened the commercial
interest" (ST. PETE TIMES, 7/12). Messing, on a league: "We
need a new model. I don't know what that model would look
like" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/12). In Philadelphia, John Smallwood:
"There's likely an audience out there for a nice, little,
women's professional soccer league with modest operating
costs and modest expectations" (PHILA. DAILY NEWS, 7/12).
NOT SO FAST: Burns Sports President Bob Williams: "I
still feel that advertisers are one or two steps away from
putting their weight behind a women's professional league"
(WASHINGTON TIMES, 7/12). In Ft. Lauderdale, Michael Mayo:
"Once the American stars get split up and the talent gets
diluted and the games become a weekly routine instead of a
quadrennial patriotic happening, the results might not be
pretty" (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 7/12). FIFA Dir of
Communications Keith Cooper: "There is a big difference
between the shop-window effect of a World Cup and a week-to-
week league" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/12). In NJ, Tim Leonard: "It
would be a bad business move to rush a league together just
for the sake of trying to cash in on the sport's sudden
popularity" (Bergen RECORD, 7/12). WNBA Liberty F Rebecca
Lobo wrote an Op-Ed in the N.Y. TIMES on the viability of a
women's pro soccer league: "Unfortunately, the Women's World
Cup team does not have an organization like the N.B.A. to
kick-start a sister league." More Lobo: "The women will
have to compete with the men for stadiums, television time
and fans. ... What happens when it is no longer `us vs.
them' but Sacramento vs. Cleveland?" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/11).
WHAT'S NEXT: WWC Chair Donna De Varona, asked by Larry
King what's the next step for women's soccer: "The Olympics
are only a year away ... and if NBC's smart, they'll take
advantage, because they are the host network of what's
happened here in this country" ("LKL," CNN, 7/9).
