UNC, which lost to Florida State on Sunday in the NCAA finals, has won 21 national championshipsUNC
Univ. of North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance is eager to prove that the game can "be a revenue neutral sport" at the school, according to Jordan Culver of PRO SOCCER USA. A new soccer/lacrosse stadium on the school's Chapel Hill campus reportedly will be completed in '19, and he said, "You give me a nice stadium, you give me a marketing budget ... because right now, the way the athletic departments work is they've got their football team, they've got their men's basketball team, then they dump a fortune into women's basketball to try to revive that dead horse to make it a revenue producer and it's failed." Dorrance added, "I would love for an enlightened athletic director to look at their soccer teams and think, 'You know what, we have the potential for large stadiums. Look at the crowds happening in MLS. Look at the crowds that are following the women's game. Maybe we invest a marketing dollar in soccer and see what the return is.'" Dorrance challenged ADs across the country to "put the same marketing dollar into their men's and women's soccer programs (that) they put into their women's basketball programs and see the return." Culver noted Dorrance "pointed to the success" of Atlanta United this season, as well as the NWSL Portland Thorns." UNC, which lost to Florida State on Sunday in the NCAA finals, has won 21 women's soccer national championships (PROSOCCERUSA.com, 12/1).
