Women's United Soccer Association

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Women's United Soccer Association
Image:WUSA.gif
Sport Football (soccer)
Founded 2000
No. of teams 8
Country(ies) Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Ceased 2003
Last champion(s) Washington Freedom

The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams nationwide in the United States. Previously, the top-level women's soccer league in the United States had been the amateur W-League, a role regained after the WUSA suspended operations on September 15, 2003, shortly after the end of its third season.

Contents

[edit] Founding

As a result of the US Women's National Team's (US WNT) first-place showing in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, a seemingly viable market for the sport germinated. Feeding off of the momentum of their victory, the 20 US WNT players, in partnership with John Hendricks of the Discovery Channel, sought out the investors, markets, and players necessary to form the 8 team league. The 20 founding players were: Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, Tracy Ducar, Lorrie Fair, Joy Fawcett, Danielle Fotopoulos, Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Shannon MacMillan, Tiffeny Milbrett, Carla Overbeck, Cindy Parlow, Christie Pearce, Tiffany Roberts, Briana Scurry, Kate (Markgraf) Sobrero, Tisha Venturini, Saskia Webber and Sara Whalen.

[edit] Teams and championship

Each roster primarily consisted of players from the United States, although up to four international players were allowed on each team's roster. Among the international players were China's Sun Wen and Bai Jie; Germany's Birgit Prinz, Conny Pohlers and Maren Meinert; Norway's Hege Riise and Dagny Mellgren; Brazil's Sissi, Kátia and Pretinha; and Canada's Charmaine Hooper and Christine Latham. The league also hosted singular talents from nations which were not at the forefront of women's soccer, such as Maribel Dominguez of Mexico, Homare Sawa of Japan, Julie Fleeting of Scotland, Cheryl Salisbury of Australia, Marinette Pichon of France, and Kelly Smith of England.

[edit] 2001–2003 teams

The WUSA franchises were in Philadelphia; Boston; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Cary, N.C.; Atlanta; San Jose, Ca.; and San Diego:

[edit] Founders Cup champions

The Founders Cup (named in honor of the 20 founding players) was awarded to the winner of a four-team, single-elimination postseason playoff.

[edit] Television

At various times, games were televised on TNT, CNNSI, ESPN2, PAX TV, and various local and regional sports channels.

[edit] WUSA suspends operations

The WUSA played for three full seasons, suspending operations on September 15, 2003, shortly after the conclusion of the third season. Neither television ratings nor attendance met forecasts, while the league spent its initial $40 million budget, planned to last five years, by the end of the first season. Even though the players took salary cuts of up to 30% for the final season, with the founding players (who also held an equity stake in the league) taking the largest cuts, that was not enough to bring expenses under control.

In the hopes of an eventual relaunch of the league, all rights to team names, logos, and similar properties were preserved. Efforts to line up new sources of capital and operating funds continued. The US WNT's 2004 Olympics success revived hopes that the league may be re-launched.

In June 2004, the WUSA held two "WUSA Festivals," featuring matches between reconstituted WUSA teams (often with marquee players borrowed from other teams), in order to maintain the league in the public eye and sustain interest in women's professional soccer.

With the WUSA on hiatus, the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) and the W-League regained some of the players it had formerly lost to the WUSA. In early 2006, the W-League gained the Washington Freedom as an associate member. The Freedom played a limited exhibition schedule against various regional W-League teams that season, became a full W-League franchise in 2007, and went on to win the W-League championship that year.

[edit] Relaunch effort

On December 7, 2004, the Women's Soccer Initiative, Inc. (WSII), announced its intention to "guide the re-launch of women's professional soccer in the United States." WSII hired a CEO, Tonya Antonucci, the executive who produced Yahoo! Sports and was General Manager of Yahoo's FIFA World Cup web site. In a FOXNews.com article on June 28, 2006[1], politics reporter Liza Porteus wrote that the target date for relaunch is 2008, a date confirmed by United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati in an on-air interview with Julie Foudy during a July 30, 2006 ESPN telecast of an international "friendly" between the United States and Canada.

On February 27, 2007, Sports Illustrated confirmed a women's league would relaunch in April 2008 in an attempt to capitalize on the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Five teams were announced in MLS markets, with a 6th on its way. [2] However, it was not known if this would be the continuation of the WUSA or a completely new league.

On April 18, 2007 the Associated Press reported that the WUSA would return in 2008 with eight teams. [3]

[edit] Cities for the 2008 relaunch

  • Boston (Boston Breakers franchise)
  • Los Angeles
  • Chicago
  • Washington, D.C. (Washington Freedom franchise)
  • St. Louis
  • New York/New Jersey area (Sky Blue Soccer franchise)
  • Dallas
  • An 8th franchise to be announced

[edit] Business plan and phases of relaunch

CEO Tonya Antonucci has reiterated that any attempt to operate a women's professional soccer league must be based on a solid business plan. She has initiated a three-phase plan for the re-launch:

  • Phase I final milestone is "reaching a tipping point of investors and sponsors signing on the dotted line."[4]
  • Phase II is developing a marketing strategy and launch date.
  • Phase III is the launch.

Reports are that WSII is in discussions with Major League Soccer (MLS) about the possibility of a partnership. MLS commissioner Don Garber and Antonucci both confirmed the possibility of sharing "soccer-specific stadiums" (SSS). Antonucci is looking for opportunities to share business infrastructure as well[5]. The six existing MLS SSSs are:

Two more stadiums are expected to open in coming years: Sandy, Utah (2008) and Harrison, New Jersey (2009). In addition, several non-MLS cities have SSSs such as Rochester, New York.

[edit] External links

[edit] External news links

v • d • e
Defunct Soccer Leagues In The United States

AFA (1884–88) • ALPF (1894–95) • NAFBL (1895-1921) • ASL I (1921–33) • ASLII (1933–83) • NPSL I (1967) • USA (1967) • NASL (1968–85) •
MISL I (1978–92) • NPSL II 1984–01 • USL I (1984–85) • WSL (1985–89) • LSSA (1987–92) • ASL III (1988–89) • CISL (1993–97) •
EISL (1997–98) • WISL (1998–01) • WUSA (2001–03)

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