The Women's Professional Soccer league kicks off its inaugural season on Sunday when the Washington Freedom travel to California to face the Los Angeles Sol.
The match is the first for the seven-team league, which will get into full swing the following week.
Featuring stars such as Marta, Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, the WPS is hoping to succeed where the W-USA could not. With expansion to 10 teams set for 2010, the WPS currently features the following seven teams:
-
Boston Breakers
-
Chicago Red Stars
-
FC Gold Pride
-
Los Angeles Sol
-
St. Louis Athletica
-
Sky Blue FC
-
Washington Freedom
We here at SBI haven't really given the WPS much coverage in the past, but are looking to include coverage as soon as we find a capable women's soccer writer.
For now, tell us what you think about the upcoming WPS season. Are you looking forward to it? Were you oblivious to it? Too enthralled in the start of MLS and World Cup qualifying to notice? Wondering if Marta will dominate the league?
Share your thoughts below.
“…as soon as we find a capable women’s soccer writer.”
is that before or after we find a capable women’s league?
i agree with Hypocrite Police and the number of others in saying it’s awfully snobbish to brush off an entire league just because it’s a women’s league or doesn’t interest. if you don’t YOU don’t watch it and YOU skip over posts about. but don’t speak for those of us who are interested and don’t speak for the general population itself.
that said i’ll be supporting Sky Blue FC and am super excited about Natasha Kai playing for us! i hope the league does well!
Womens professional soccer is back from the dead. What’s going to be the expiration date for this league?
The timeline…
6 months until “fans” stop showing up
2 years until television abandons WPS
2.5 years for the financiers to abandon WPS
League folds after the third season
Posted by: Galaxy | March 27, 2009 at 12:35 PM
3 years and the Galaxy will still miss the playoffs.
Nah, I’ll beat the drum for the WPS. I hope they succeed. What the big deal if more soccer is created in this country. Why would you diss that?
Like SoCal’s Flynn Adam of Rootbeer raps “I just don’t get”.
revsfanindc – you clearly don’t have a clue about the bigger picture.
If you were to take a starting eleven of the best women and a starting eleven of the best men in the world (do you even know who Kaka, Ronaldo, Xavi, Messi, etc are?) and play a game – it would be 30-0 by half time in favor of the men due to “quality of play”. Have you ever watched a half of a men’s EPL match and then a half of the best women’s game like a WC final back to back for comparison? If you have, then you would understand what I am talking about. Messi could do circles around Marta every day of the week and she is the best we have to offer and she is loads above the rest in the women’s field. For crying out loud – why is Brandi Chastain even on a roster? You can’t tell me there aren’t better 22 year old’s that could have stepped up instead of her slowness. There is no comparison on that level -and that is what I am talking about. Even men’s national staff coaches for the US think the women’s NT are “soft” and wouldn’t want to coach them. There are so many things broken with the female soccer system in the US and primarily are all rooted in the youth system. If you don’t understand that – then you clearly don’t understand what the obstacles are that the WPS will have to overcome in order to succed. I have yet to find a girls youth team who even knows what the Champions League is compared with male youths who have an increasingly much larger knowledge and understanding of the world’s game as a whole.
Great points Hypocrite Police. I try my best not to bash sports/leagues, when the sport I love is a popular target of scorn and belittlement…
Moronic insight Joe Armins, especialyl for someone posting on a soccer blog…
Good Lord, how can you simply dismiss this without even giving it a chance? I am glad we didn’t do that with the MLS. If you truly love “The Beautiful Game” then you should at least give the WPS a chance to prove (or disprove) themselves.
Who says there are not enough entertainment dollars? There is definitely a market for men, women schools, clubs and families to go see them play. I coach a U14 girl’s team and I can tell you they are extremely excited about this league; their only complaint is we are nowhere near a team so they are counting on Fox to watch the games.
Man, all the haters out there who now are kings of the American sports puddle known as the MLS, think it’s great to piss on an even smaller puddle, the WPS. You guys are a joke. Doesn’t matter if the soccer is inferior or slower. Fer gawd’s sake, MLS ain’t exactly world class (yet).
Girls should have their own role models and the women’s game is different. You can choose not to like it but shouldn’t go out of your way to insult it.
Personally, I don’t understand why there are virtually no teams in the west and none in the NW. This is a hotbed of soccer and lots of women fans who support women’s sports. They should put a team in Portland or Seattle.
Boston Breakers season tix are $130 a pop for the cheaper seats. I may buy 1 or 2 to help the league, especially since they are only a t-stop away – rather than a 45 minute drive – but don’t plan on making many games. Probably 2 or 3 though, when Natasha Kai is playing.
MLS Games Average 8000 Fans in attendance. MLS just lies and doubles the figure to attract Sponsors .
Sorry, it’s just inferior to the men’s game. There aren’t enough entertainment dollars going around right now to keep the WPS afloat. Bad soccer, bad timing.
I give it 2 years. TV will abandon them after that and owners will see the 4k a game average attendance and bail.
Homey – Soccer is a Womens sport in America. You dont like it, move to Europe or South America where men actually give 2 Sh!ts about Soccer
I’ll agree with John V. Please let this be the last WPS post on this site – ever.
I just hope it does not tear up the MLS teams fields…other than that honestly I could care less about it.
I’m psyched for it. Soccer-wise, I like that there is no diving like so many idiots in the men’s game. I support the game big picture style, so I support all levels. It is different than the men’s game, but is entertaining.
I only started to embrace women’s soccer early in 2007 (about the same time I was introduced to MLS), but the women’s game is every bit as good as the men’s. I love watching the players and the games.
Go Breakers, and long live WPS!
Donovan=20 goals this year
Marta= 23 goals this year
both take leading goal scorer for LA teams
mon the sol, I Dont like the sexism either,these girls would destroy all you guys, fact.
Good point hypocrite. I think there is a market in the US for a women’s soccer league and they are going about it much smarter this time around. Obviously, the market for women’s soccer is smaller, but if I was a dad and had daughters or if my wife played soccer, I’d be inclined to go. As is, I probaby won’t attend a game, but not because I don’t support a women’s league.
As long as the focus on the right market, draw 3-5000 a game, they can survice, kind of like the USL.
LMFAO@ All the MLS Fanboys whining
To Most Americans Soccer is a WOMENS SPORT. If you ask someone to name an American Soccer player the first player they’ll name is Mia Hamm.
MLS Fans are pathetic- DC United is about to fold & Relocate, Beckham has abandoned the league , TV Ratings are practically ZERO, and MLS Fans have the stupidity to insult womens soccer when Soccer in America is a WOMENS GAME??
“we are the best women’s league in the world – otherwise it is just insulting to the true quality players in the world.”-daisy
Hmm… Marta, Kelly Smith, Kristine Lilly, Christiane, and Shannon Boxx have all been nominated for FIFA World Player of the year. The whole entire Women’s Gold-Medal Winning Olympic Team is in the league. No, this couldn’t POSSIBLY make use think the league is actually stocked with good players and could possibly be the best women’s league in the world. I’m curious who you believe are the actual “true quality” players in the world. Not the Olympic champions (plus the injured players who should have been there), not the FIFA 3-time player of the year (and several runners-up), several silver medalists from the Olympics. You’re right. None of them are “true quality” to consider this the best women’s league in the world. My mistake.
Next!
The past 12 months i’ve supported every level of soccer in the US from high school up.
This is one more league i’ll support. I won’t be watching on TV, but will try to make it to 2 matches up in Boston.
The only thing i question is the timing of games, i think its a given there won’t be much TV support, so why not put the games during the day on the weekends.
I find it amusing to no end that soccer fans … SOCCER FANS … whose beloved sport is wholeheartedly mocked by every other “legitimate sport”ing fan in America is taking the same approach to WPS as baseball, football, and NASCAR fans do towards your sport. Lest we forget not 5 or 10 years ago, you all were in the same position. Get off your mighty pedestal and support the game in America, we’re all in the same boat.
The timeline…
6 months until “fans” stop showing up
2 years until television abandons WPS
2.5 years for the financiers to abandon WPS
League folds after the third season
well considering the fact that they basically hired all the same people to run the teams as the first run and the only thing they think led to the demise and non-growth of the league last time was the financial aspect of how much they played stars – I don’t give them more than 3 years before they fold. It really bothers me they have stood up and said they are the best league in the world and they are going to prove it. They need to make sure they qualify statements like that with – we are the best women’s league in the world – otherwise it is just insulting to the true quality players in the world. The fact they have no concept of why they can’t get people to games and that they don’t understand that female youth players don’t watch the sport among a list of about 20 other issues they refuse to identify and make an action plan to correct – they are paddling up creek without a paddle. And BTW – a for profit professional sports franchise is not about having a philanthropic concept for others to have hope – they have to be a viable business operation and for profits only have one goal – making money. Business 101 teaches you that.
Purchased two season tickets for the Washington Freedom. Women’s sports are very important socially — basketball and soccer are very important to my 16 year old daughter who finds playing the games a great channel for her competitive nature. Questions of whether men’s soocer > women’s soccer are irrelevant. They both have intrinsic value and deserve support.
I plan to go to a few games when they don’t conflict with RBNY/USA matches
Yes rednow.red4ever, that is what I meant. I don’t have time for high school soccer either, even if its “top notch”.
Wow…you guys are intense. I like how Lee says it’s not “top notch” when it may be the best women’s league in the world. What he meant to say is men > women.
Please let this be the last women’s soccer post on SBI.
While I would love nothing more than for women to have a legitimate chance to earn a decent living at playing sports (be it soccer, b-ball, etc.), if they have to rely on me for their success, I am afraid I won’t be able to help out.
There is so much quality soccer available to me, not to mention other sports and the other things going on in my life, I just won’t make the time to watch or attend a product that isn’t top notch.
Sorry.
I will try to watch and really hope it does well.
While I hope it succeeds so our women don’t have to play overseas, I don’t see myself really caring that much about it. Women’s pro sports doesn’t seem to do that well (even the WNBA is heavily subsidized) because the audience just isn’t there…
We gotta support the game first and foremost. It’s important for the women to have their own professional league so young girls playing youth football can now have something to aspire to and can dream to play professionally at the highest level. Will I watch every game? No, but I have no problem supporting the league and the sport no matter who plays it.
Y’know, I don’t really care about the WPS, but I gotta say, “Sky Blue FC” is a pretty cool name for a club. Even if it is putting a less-than-chipper Peter Gabriel song in my head.
Cam: Kobe Bryant seems to agree with you about Marta. There might be an ugly divorce in his near future…
With MLS and the US playing this weekend, there’s no time to add this is my schedule.
Women’s soccer should try to build a foundation more like the USL than MLS. Play in smaller stadiums with a focus on getting anywhere between 2 ,000-5,000 fans per game.
I’m vaguely interested, I’d really like to see womens soccer succeed, but I’m not sure if I’ll devote time to keep up with it. It would be nice if our league was as good if not better than the womens swedish or english leagues
“For now, tell us what you think about the upcoming WPS season.”
nothing
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Marta is entertaining to watch (she’s easy on the eyes as well). I’ll probably tune in when she’s playing, otherwise I doubt I’ll give it much attention.
My fellow male soccer aficionados commenting here don’t seem to care about the WPS, but I am a bit intrigued by it due mainly to Marta’s inclusion. Marta plays with world class flair and panache, she plays like the most famous legends of soccer. For me this is exciting.
In the US, if we’re honest, we’ll admit our professional mens soccer is not equal to the best league in the world (though perhaps we have our moments), but the WPS could easily be the highest caliber woman’s league in the world.
So what I’m declaring, admittedly a bit prematurely, is that “We’re No. 1!”
— in womens soccer anyway.
We’ll keep working on the rest 🙂
I’d rather stand in line at the DMV for two hours than watch a WPS game. Is anyone going to go to these things besides friends, family, and girls soccer teams?
Can’t wait for the season to start- I was one of the preteen girls who cried when I heard the WUSA folded… now I’m so excited for the new league to kick off!
GO BREAKERS!
ill give it 2-3 years before the league folds
And because im from Chicago… Go Red Stars
So i’m skeptical. Im all for the league and the movement however, i’m not going to lie, sometimes its just difficult to watch women’s soccer. So hopefully they can get over the ora sports like the WNBA and be successful. But till then… we will see.
Very excited for the new league. I like men’s soccer the best, but women’s is fun too because there are less fouls and more constant action. Go Freedom!
I knew it was coming and still didn’t care.