Will womens World Cup victory translate into sustained growth for U.S. pro league?
Will womens World Cup victory translate into sustained growth for U.S. pro league?
I hope it does help the NWSL
http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/worl ... ro-league/
Still basking in the afterglow of the Womens World Cup win, members of the Seattle Reign FC practiced Monday hoping a major world event translates to more for them.
Fueled by record World Cup television ratings and national-team players like Alex Morgan becoming household names, the womens pro game seems to have no place to go but up. But as their male counterparts can attest, parlaying World Cup success into bigger things domestically isnt automatic.
People believe in the sport, we just need to make them aware of it, Reign co-owner Bill Predmore said of his 2½-year-old team in the fledgling National Womens Soccer League (NWSL). Right now, people come out to our games, they have a real good time and they want to come back. But were still a new franchise. Its our third season. So, part of this is just building awareness in our club. We believe when people come out to see our club, give it a shot, theyll want to come back for more.
http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/worl ... ro-league/
Still basking in the afterglow of the Womens World Cup win, members of the Seattle Reign FC practiced Monday hoping a major world event translates to more for them.
Fueled by record World Cup television ratings and national-team players like Alex Morgan becoming household names, the womens pro game seems to have no place to go but up. But as their male counterparts can attest, parlaying World Cup success into bigger things domestically isnt automatic.
People believe in the sport, we just need to make them aware of it, Reign co-owner Bill Predmore said of his 2½-year-old team in the fledgling National Womens Soccer League (NWSL). Right now, people come out to our games, they have a real good time and they want to come back. But were still a new franchise. Its our third season. So, part of this is just building awareness in our club. We believe when people come out to see our club, give it a shot, theyll want to come back for more.
A World Cup win won't do it by itself. It will be up to the league to leverage it well. Even then it's tough, but I have to believe it can help.
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On the one hand, Houston is already assured a record crowd this weekend. Saw a tweet saying Seattle is over 6,000 for this weekend. So there's a bump.
And it's not like NPS didn't get a bump after 2011. Which probably won't be as pronounced as this one. Those two mentioned above are already good signs. I can see Portland v Seattle on the 22nd, a Wednesday, maybe coming close to the 19,000 crowd last year vs Houston.
On the other hand...
...the 10-game "Victory Tour" was leaked, and two previously planned friendlies (August 16 and 19) are already announced as part of it. If they carry that on through August and September, don't let me anywhere near Soccer House (remember that USSF manages NWSL) because taking the national team players out of league will pretty much piss off everyone who understands the importance of the club game in this country. However, that might explain the gap between the September 13 semifinal games and the October 1 championship game. If most of these games happen outside the NWSL schedule, they're at least on their way to smart.
Did USSF throw away an opportunity to promote the NWSL during the Cup? By the accounts I've heard, yes. (I did spend half the tournament in British Columbia and Banff, so eh.) I don't see anything ramping up, so meh.
And it's not like NPS didn't get a bump after 2011. Which probably won't be as pronounced as this one. Those two mentioned above are already good signs. I can see Portland v Seattle on the 22nd, a Wednesday, maybe coming close to the 19,000 crowd last year vs Houston.
On the other hand...
...the 10-game "Victory Tour" was leaked, and two previously planned friendlies (August 16 and 19) are already announced as part of it. If they carry that on through August and September, don't let me anywhere near Soccer House (remember that USSF manages NWSL) because taking the national team players out of league will pretty much piss off everyone who understands the importance of the club game in this country. However, that might explain the gap between the September 13 semifinal games and the October 1 championship game. If most of these games happen outside the NWSL schedule, they're at least on their way to smart.
Did USSF throw away an opportunity to promote the NWSL during the Cup? By the accounts I've heard, yes. (I did spend half the tournament in British Columbia and Banff, so eh.) I don't see anything ramping up, so meh.
Last edited by Pounder on Wed Jul 08, 2015 3:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
Mean Spirited Blogger #107
[quote=""Fran""]"We believe when people come out to see our club, give it a shot, theyll want to come back for more.[/quote]
The problem is when they just expect people to come back, without any actual outreach. Now, today, this week, it's easy. But a month from now, what will you have done to actually get people to purchase tickets?
The problem is when they just expect people to come back, without any actual outreach. Now, today, this week, it's easy. But a month from now, what will you have done to actually get people to purchase tickets?
What was NPS?And it's not like NPS didn't get a bump after 2011.
Old enough to remember when bashing the ABA was fun.