The WUSA unveiled its business plan last week for a new
women's soccer league to debut in 2001, but many in the
media are calling for the WUSA and MLS to work together on
one women's league. Currently, MLS is studying the
feasibility of developing its own league. On ESPN.com, Jeff
Bradley wrote, "What we're hearing out of MLS is that the
WUSA simply wants to go it alone." But Bradley added,
"While the women have every right to be proud of their
accomplishments ... when you take them out of the national
team uniform and divvy them out ... they're going to be
faced with the same battles the men are facing in MLS."
Bradley: "It's tough to [make] a living as a soccer player
in this country. And it will only be tougher if the men and
women are pulling against one another." If MLS and WUSA
investors "want to help the sport" of soccer grow in the
U.S., they "should be tackling the stadium issue together."
Bradley added, "For the sake of soccer in this country, let
clear heads prevail. Get together and build some stadiums.
Get together and build the game" (ESPN.com, 2/19).
MARKET RESEARCH: In San Diego, Mark Zeigler cited a
source as saying the city is "currently the only" Southern
CA market the WUSA is "looking at." Zeigler: "San Diego
also might be the only market west of the Mississippi in the
inaugural season." The source added that the WUSA
"tentatively has planned to put" the other seven teams in
Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Tampa/Orlando, Philadelphia, N.Y.
and DC (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/19). BROADCASTING &
CABLE's John Higgins writes, "Teams are most likely to be
started where the partners own cable systems, such as New
York and Orlando for Time Warner or Philadelphia for
Comcast" (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 2/18).
TV COVERAGE: MULTICHANNEL NEWS' R. Thomas Umstead cited
an ESPN spokesperson who said the net is "interested in
seeing what the [WUSA] has to offer, based on our commitment
to soccer and our great relationships with those MSOs." A
Fox spokesperson said the net "as a national entity, is not
interested" in televising WUSA games. But the Fox
spokesperson "would not rule out potential interest among
the Fox owned-and-operated regional sports networks for
local-team cable rights." Oxygen "is not being considered
because of its lack of subscribers" (MULTICHAN. NEWS, 2/21).
