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Being a fan of women’s soccer is a bit like being a fan of quality television like Community or quality music like Metric. You see how smart people react when they’re exposed to it, and you don’t understand why billionaires aren’t lining up to back it while fans clamor for more.The television industry has actually done better than most at continuing to produce niche content. Take the 20th through 40th shows in the weekly Nielsen ratings and move them back to 1982, and most of them would be summarily canceled. A “hit” on cable draws perhaps a couple million people. By most demographic trends, local TV news should be dead, and yet it’s expanding so that workaholics who rise at 4:30 a.m. can get a quick roundup of whatever happened since they went to sleep.The sports industry is a little more erratic. The USA has two full-time soccer channels in addition to regular offerings on various other networks in a couple of different languages. And yet we aren’t able to maintain the diversity of sports that Europe sees — handball leagues, volleyball leagues, water polo leagues, the bulk of winter sports seasons, the bulk of other Olympic sports seasons, and women’s sports. The USA has the top women’s soccer league in the world, but for how much longer?Simply saying “There’s no market for it” is a rather tired argument. It’s really a matter of striking a balance and finding the right business model. Men’s soccer finally found it, even though it took several years of staggering losses. No one could’ve blamed MLS for shutting down in 2002. What’s the right way forward for women’s soccer?Here’s some of the debate over the past 24 hours:SANCTIONING WITH FIVE TEAMSI hadn’t thought about this until I saw it at BigSoccer, but the old NASL once had five teams, several years before the boom. I’m checking with historian Roger Allaway to make sure, but it seems that league was indeed sanctioned. It was the product of a 1968 merger between the sanctioned USA and unsanctioned NPSL.The NASL went on to become something big before collapsing under its own weight. So why shouldn’t U.S. Soccer give WPS the same opportunity?NATIONAL TEAM PLAYERS SPEAK OUTSeveral players from the 2011 U.S. team had taken to Twitter to express support for the league, and Becky Sauerbrunn was among the first to sign a petition organized by Western New York president/player Alex Sahlen. Some fans had wondered when Abby Wambach would speak, and they got their answer last night:
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“I want all women and men out there to have a choice to do what they love!! I hope the wps can survive for all the girls who dream of it!!
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Yael Averbuch, who was a late cut from the World Cup roster and could still have a shot at the Olympics, offered up an eloquent essay on the important of her league in her semi-regular New York Times blogging slot:
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Trying to Save W.P.S.: A Player’s ViewMONTCLAIR, N.J. – “When W.U.S.A. folded, one of the worst things I continued to hear was that it was too bad they [the general public] di…
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KATE MARKGRAF THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLETIs it possible to have an epic rant on Twitter? Longtime U.S. defender Kate Markgraf, who played in both the WUSA and WPS, hinted at a few issues Sunday evening:
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“If there was no WUSA- there might hv been no Boxx n Wambach-2 of the best. #ussoccer who might u (cont) tl.gd/edp3dl
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The rest of that Tweet from “TwitLonger”: “miss out on if no #wps? #if u can’t do it better support and improve what u got.”Then on Monday night, she let fly:
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“Short term thinking seems 2 b driving the ship. after olympics, pia wants to go to sweden, @ussoccer pays salary USWNT through yr. my fear
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“is what happened in ’05 after we won, NOTHING was even thought or scheduled for the USWNT. isn’t that cheaper than dealing w/a league
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“i made a great living because of @ussoccer. i was paid very well by them so no complaints there. but there are 2 years after olympics
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“that residency with 40 players, or camps just can’t cut it anymore. technically, tactically, etc. against teams playing year round
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“start-ups take time to grow, have obstacles to overcome, and then if you hold on tight enough, become something sustainable. if #mls was
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“worth it-which is absolutely is!- then i hv to believe #wps is, too.
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Markgraf cut to the heart of the matter: Some people in U.S. Soccer may think a residency camp, free from the potential injuries and overwork of a league, is the way to go in the Olympic year of 2012. But in the long term, a league is best for the talent pool. Without the WUSA, the U.S. national team wouldn’t have had Shannon Boxx or maybe even Abby Wambach. WPS drastically shaped the player pool for 2011, with Megan Rapinoe, Amy LePeilbet, Lori Lindsey and a couple more players getting significant boosts from their pro experience.The questions facing U.S. Soccer right now are difficult. But without a league going forward, the questions in 2015 and 2016 might be a little more difficult.
Tag: wps. dan borislow
Borislow-WPS suit documents
Reminder: Here’s Dan Borislow’s statement on the lawsuit and the espnW story.
Here’s what we have. As you read, please bear in mind that these are legal documents representing one side of the case. We have not yet heard from WPS in public, nor have they filed a legal response.
– The complaint is attached. It’s fairly straightforward, setting out why Borislow is demanding reinstatement of his team.
– The motion, also attached, goes into more detail. One key excerpt (page 15, paragraph 21) explains Borislow action after withdrawing August lawsuit: “Satisfied that the League was not going to attempt to terminate the Team during the 2011 season, and believing its disputes with the League were behind it, the Team redoubled its efforts to complete the 2011 season in the most positive possible way, and dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice.”
One item worth singling out: magicJack claims several of its players continue to contact the team expressing a desire to play for the team in 2012. The team also had been contacted to play a “series of lucrative preseason international matches against professional teams in Japan.” (p. 21-22)
A guide to the exhibits mentioned:
– Exhibit A: The league’s LLC agreement (78 pages)
– Exhibit B: Operating agreement with teams (98 pages)
– Exhibit C: Sun-Sentinel feature on Abby Wambach, July 26. This is used in motion to reinforce argument that Borislow kept league afloat.
– Exhibit D: Letter from WPS lawyer Pamela Fulmer to Borislow, explaining league’s position on disputed portions of LLC and operating agreements and offering dates for meeting in person or on the phone, July 5
– Exhibit E: Follow-up letter from Fulmer offering another (earlier) meeting time, July 7
– Exhibit F: espnW story (mine) on new WPS CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan, used in Borislow motion to establish that O’Sullivan had stated publicly that the league was working to resolve dispute with him, Oct. 19
– Exhibit G: This is puzzling. It’s one page of an invoice, and I hesitate to describe it in any more detail for fear that I’m taking it out of context. In the motion, this is described as an invoice for “over $2.5 million in alleged ‘damages’ relating to the 2011 season.” The motion pegs the date on this invoice at Sept. 13 and says O’Sullivan and Fulmer said the league would not allow the team to play in 2012 if it didn’t pay. It did not.
– Exhibit H: Letter from Borislow lawyer Louis Ederer to O’Sullivan (Re: Purported Termination of Membership Interest). Letter states Oct. 25 letter fails to state grounds for terminating team, and Ederer/Borislow ask the league to state what was discussed at Oct. 25 board meeting. Ederer/Borislow also state that league failed to give Dispute Notice or opportunity for hearing — this is discussed at greater length in the motion. Letter dated Nov. 8
– Exhibit I: Response from Fulmer to Nov. 8 letter (Exhibit H) and a Nov. 7 email from Borislow to O’Sullivan (not included). Fulmer starts by informing Ederer that it’s improper for Borislow to contact O’Sullivan on legal matter without consulting WPS lawyer (Fulmer). Fulmer responds to substance of letter by saying Borislow had been invited to Oct. 25 meeting (he was, after all, a member of the board at that time) and also did not accept several invitations to hearings in June and July.
One ominous point in Exhibit I: “Finally, the League will hold Mr. Borislow accountable for any attempts at disruption of its business relationships with potential expansion teams, sponsors or other third parties such as the USSF. We again reiterate that he cease & desist immediately from making any further inappropriate contact with the League’s business partners.”
In the motion (page 19, paragraph 19), this letter is used in an effort to establish that the termination is a “new” dispute, NOT the same dispute under which magicJack had been threatened with termination over the summer.
– Exhibit J: Palm Beach Post’s Hal Habib story on magicJack termination, Oct. 27
– Exhibit K: Post/Habib story previewing first magicJack home game after World Cup, July 26
PDFs:
Duresport.com 