http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562133896 My View: Not ready for prime time (excerpts) from the October 6 2003 issue of Soccer America Magazine MY INITIAL REACTION, when I heard that a women's pro soccer league would launch in the United States in 2001, was: How can a women's league expect to make it when a men's league has yet to prove itself profitable? The WUSA would come up against every challenge that MLS faced, and then some. Can legions of participants be transformed into fans? Are the stadiums suitable for creating a comfortable, exciting atmosphere? Will fans develop an allegiance to clubs that have arrived out of thin air? Can pro soccer compete in an environment that already offers its populace an unprecedented number of ways to spend its sports and entertainment dollars? And, although this was asked constantly about MLS but largely ignored in WUSA's case, will the quality of the product be high enough to entertain the American sports fan?..... (continue here: http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562133896 )
My take: That, I think, was a major problem. WUSA fans had an "Oh, isn't that nice?" aspect to what was happening instead of an "OHHHHH YEEEEAH!" when something good happened for the home side. Not enough allegiance was requested of the fans. Too much "What Inspires You" and not enough "They may take our lives, but they'll never take our Freedom!" Frankly, what about Australia, which has pro men's and women's basketball, pro men's and women's field hockey, pro baseball, two professional rugby leagues, and Aussie Rules? Oh, and soccer, cricket, and numerous other fields of endeavor. I wonder how many corporate seating contracts were sold by the eight WUSA teams. Probably zero. Not until it was way too late. The Latin-American media was willing to boost WUSA onto its pages, and the Univision family of networks broadcast more WWC 03 matches than ESPN/ABC did. It got to the point where Telemundo, in a bit of guerrilla marketing, broadcast the US-Mexico match on Sept. 1. It could have, had they chosen to do so. Andres Cantor, during the 2000 Olympics, brushed up on Gro Espeseth and Birgit Prinz as much as he did on Brandi and Mia.
2003 could be last WWC? This could be the end of WUSA if this happens: http://www.pe.com/sports/soccer/sto...wc08.5821b.html
Re: Re: 2003 could be last WWC? You are correct. Should have clarified. WUSA2 will be done if there is no more WWC.
Well, the final in 99 wasn't a sell-out either. Nor was the 2002 Men's World Cup final. Nor the 1994 World Cup final.