The people's choice: attendance exceeded expectations—and the play improved over the course of the season—but like MLS, the future of the WUSA appears to be tied to the patience of corporate investors - WUSA - Women's World Cup Soccer

Soccer Digest, May, 2002 by John Philip Wyllie

TALK TO ANYONE ASSOCIATED with women's professional soccer and they will tell you the WUSA's first year was a major success, surpassing the expectations of most players, fans, and league executives. Yet even these enthusiasts will admit there is still much to be done in order to preserve the dream made possible through the success of the historic 1999 Women's World Cup.

For an inaugural season, the league operated remarkably smooth. While many people believed in the dream, no one was sure how it would play on the field, in the stands, or in the media. Would it be similar to the LPGA and the WNBA, another positive step for women's sports? Or would the league more resemble the ill-fated and short-lived XFL?

The new women's league has already enjoyed far more success than the bizarre, quasi-football league, but then so did the Titanic. At least the doomed ship completed most of its maiden voyage.

Among the positives are the league's attendance figures. With average attendance topping the 8,000 mark, support surpassed the initial projections by more than 1,500 fans per game. Parity was also a plus, and should continue to be in 2002. There was very little separating the league's top teams from the bottom feeders and in mid-July all eight teams had at least some hope of reaching the playoffs. Aside from the first few weeks, the play was skillful and intense and there were enough goals scored to keep all but the most fervent soccer bashers at bay.

More importantly, by utilizing mostly small venues, the WUSA is creating something that is lacking in many MLS stadiums: atmosphere. With family-oriented pregame entertainment, matches were turned into events and most of the fans that were attracted initially liked what they saw and kept returning.

"The direction we want to go with our stadiums is based on a lot of research," says DiCicco. "At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, I saw every venue and the Bondi Beach volleyball stadium was the one we want to replicate. [The 10,000-seat stadium is] fan-friendly, festive, and colorful."

While Washington's RFK stadium remain larger than ideal for viewing soccer, progress has been made at four other facilities to improve the experience both for the fans and the players. "The University of San Diego was already a great place to watch a game, but we are widening that field," says DiCicco.

San Diego's construction project will also increase the seating capacity of the league's most intimate venue. Thanks to the added width, Spirit fans can also look forward to Kim "The Human Catapult" Pickup's amazing gymnastic-inspired throw-ins now that she'll have more sideline room with which to operate. The league is the playing surface in Philadelphia and both the Carolina Courage and Atlanta Beat will move to new venues.

Season one saw several major corporations, such as Hyundai, Johnson & Johnson, and Gillette, climb aboard as league sponsors, a necessary step toward absorbing the league's inevitable early losses.

"We are in the final stages of getting 100% renewal from last year's sponsors," says DiCicco. "We also have some exciting new prospects. We have to bring in more sponsorship dollars. Unfortunately, this isn't the best year [due to the recession] to be going after them. I think though, that we are getting a reputation of delivering a demographic that isn't usually delivered in sports [entire families as opposed to male adults]. That's unique and I think our major sponsors are starting to realize that."

Still, there is plenty of room for improvement and that is the goal in 2002. "My goal is to be better in every aspect--on the field, attendance, TV ratings, marketing, everything," says DiCicco.

Two major problems facing the league in year one were its lack of sufficient sponsorship and its low TV ratings. Progress, according to DiCicco, is being made on both fronts. "By going with PAX-TV, we are going to be on 18 straight Saturday's between 4 and 6 p.m.," he says. "This will provide better continuity and we think it is a better time slot for our demographic."

DiCicco's argument certainly makes sense. Last year's early broadcasts generally fell at the same time that its target audience--soccer families--were attending youth games. The only drawback of the later start time is that it places the WUSA in most cases, head to head against the MLS. It remains to be seen how this competition will effect the existing spirit of cooperation present between the two leagues.

Moving the league offices to Atlanta where it can draw upon the already present resources of Cox Enterprises will no doubt save the league millions of dollars, dollars that can be better spent elsewhere. With a national licensing company about to come on board to handle the marketing and sale of all WUSA trademark items, a previously untapped source of revenue can be tapped. "We now need to fine tune our business plan until it becomes a viable plan that will work over the long haul," says DiCicco.

In the short term, however, let's look ahead to this season and each team's prospects. One of the WUSA's strongest features is its parity. We expect this year's competition to be equally intense and the teams to be closely matched from start to finish.