The NWSL enters its third season "in better shape than its two predecessors, thanks largely to the American, Mexican and Canadian federations subsidizing allocated players," according to Liviu Bird of SI.com. League sponsors have also "increased their support." NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush said that a new TV deal "is imminent." Bird noted no women's professional soccer league in the U.S. "has made it to a fourth year, but that doesn’t seem to weigh on Plush’s mind at all." NWSL attendance "should increase following a Women’s World Cup on the continent," but some of the league’s players, including Western New York Flash F Abby Wambach, have "decided not to play and focus on national-team commitments instead." Plush said that the league "isn’t in a place to make demands of its players just yet, considering the support their federations provide." He said, "It’s part of the nuance of our league today. It’s part of creating a sustainable league. ... I don’t view it as a negative thing. I just view it as a part of our evolution of a women’s professional league, and we have to find the right path forward." Plush said that as the league expands to more markets, it "must grow to fill them with the best players possible, including a relaxation of regulations on importing players." Still, when three federations "have essentially bankrolled the league to this point, it’s tricky to balance the need to improve with a desire to avoid undermining them" (SI.com, 4/8). In Portland, Jamie Goldberg wrote the NWSL "will be tested early in the season as it attempts to maintain support before and during" the World Cup. About 50 of the NWSL's roughly 180 rostered players "will be competing in the World Cup this summer, leaving the league with the difficult task of going on without its most talented and recognizable stars." The league's allocated players from the U.S., Canada and Mexico are "expected to miss 7-8 games of the short 20-game NWSL season, while national team players from other countries could miss even more." The league "will face a similar test next season" with the '16 Olympics (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/9).
LONG WAY TO THE TOP: In N.Y., Howard Megdal wrote professional women’s soccer "has yet to break through in the sports marketplace" in the U.S. The NWSL "saw only two of its nine teams average more than 4,000 fans a game last season -- though the average of 13,362 in Portland offered a window into what is possible." Pros at the bottom of the league’s pay scale "make a little more than $1,000 a month for a six-month season, and salaries top out at $37,800, though top players also receive paychecks from their national federations." New Jersey-based Sky Blue FC MF Katy Freels said, "I don’t think our league, as a brand, is out there for everybody to understand and to know." Megdal noted the NWSL website "contains virtually no paid advertising" just days before the start of the season, and the league "will once again broadcast a majority of its games not on TV but on a YouTube channel" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/9). YAHOO SPORTS' Leander Schaerlaeckens wrote the NWSL "has no shortage of challenges," as almost all of its nine teams "play in tiny venues to anemic crowds." TV deals "have been meager -- the little-watched Fox Sports 2 showed six regular season games and all three playoff games" in '13. ESPN2 in '14 "aired three regular season games and the three-game playoffs, and online-only ESPN3 put on three more games." Meanwhile, there are "few foreign superstars coming over anymore, the way they did in the WUSA and WPS." In fact, plenty of NWSL players "go abroad in the offseason, ostensibly to stay in playing shape, but probably just as much to draw a few more paychecks" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/8). Portland Thorns F Alex Morgan said the Women's World Cup "can make a huge impact" on the league's exposure. Morgan: "You've just seen from last World Cup to this World Cup there's not much of a dip (in attendance). The popularity of the sport is just growing and the respect for women soccer players and the product we're putting out on the field has just gained tremendously" (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/9).
