As the NWSL begins its season this weekend, it is "set to become the first top-tier women's professional soccer league in the United States to reach a fourth year after two previous leagues -- the WUSA and WPS -- folded following their third seasons due to overspending and infrastructure problems," according to Jamie Goldberg of the Portland OREGONIAN. Unlike the previous two leagues, the NWSL has "reached its fourth season on relatively stable footing thanks in large part to frugal spending and a reliance on funding from U.S. Soccer." The NWSL has also "made significant strides over the last three years, gaining fan support league-wide and adding two expansions teams owned by MLS clubs in the Houston Dash and Orlando Pride." But the league "has a long way to go," as it "failed to see much growth in sponsorships from year-to-year, even with the excitement" of last summer's Women's World Cup. The NWSL has also "struggled to get a consistent television partner." The league additionally has had some "infrastructure problems in its first three seasons." While the NWSL on Thursday announced another one-year TV deal with Fox and FS1, the vast majority of its games have been "streamed live on YouTube." Some venues have had "serious issues with the streams cutting out, making it impossible for fans to watch certain games." NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush said that the league has "worked to make improvements to the streams" ahead of the season (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/15).
WHERE YA GOING FOR TOMORROW? Plush sat for a Q&A with the ORLANDO SENTINEL's Alicia DelGallo ahead of the league's opening weekend. Below are excerpts:
Q: With everything going on with the U.S. women's national team (Collective Bargaining Agreement,) what impact does that have on the league?
Plush: As you can imagine, we're not a party to everything that's going on. ... We will continue to do what we're doing, and that is working really hard on our 10 clubs and the 200 players and the federation partners and the season that's about to embark. I'm not going to get caught up in the things outside of our control.
Q: You have been able to incrementally increase salaries every year since the inception of the league. What plans do you have to continuing working on that and getting up to a livable wage level, especially for the players making on the lower end?
Plush: We know there's certainly more to be done, especially at the lower end of the pay scale. We are looking at a variety of different policies we could implement, some of which would take place within the season but also some that would create incremental opportunities for our players outside the season, relative to camps and academies.
Q: Where do you want to see gains in the league this year and the following year?
Plush: We've talked about a 10-year plan. To get there, we need to show growth in lots of areas…in all revenue streams. That means more people in more buildings. We need to show growth in sponsorship. While we've shown growth year over year, with NIKE and National Mango Board and Coppertone having all increased their investments, we need more sponsors. We are in very significant negotiations on a couple of fronts. We hope to share more details in the next couple of weeks (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/14).
