The 2 Front War: Relegation and Promotion

With 6 games left in the Premier League, tensions are mounting as clubs try to surpass each other in hopes of hoisting the elusive trophy. The Reds and Blues are making a strong bid for the trophy, but Manchester United seems to be too much for either club to overcome. Last week, Man Utd robbed Aston Villa in the last 10 minutes by scoring 2 times to secure 3 points. Earlier today, Manchester United used some of their magic again to clinch a victory against Sunderland in the 76th minute. Currently, the Red Devils are 1 point above Liverpool and 4 points ahead of Chelsea. However, Manchester United still has a game in hand over these two clubs.

Another spotlight in the Premier League is on the last 7 ranked clubs: West Bromwich, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Sunderland, Blackburn, Hull City, and Portsmouth. The last 3 clubs in the Premier League will be relegated to the Coca Cola League Championship. The top 3 teams in the League Championship get promoted to the Premier League. Wolverhampton is the current leader of the League Championship and has almost clinched a certain spot in the Premiership, while Birmingham, Sheffield United, Cardiff City, Reading, and Burnley are fighting for the other 2 promotion spots.

As you can imagine, promotion or relegation can seriously impact a club. Promotion not only draws more attention to the club, it also allows the club to have access to better players, more fans, more sponsorships, more televised games, more exposure, and more gate revenue (charge higher premiums). Stoke City, one of the three clubs promoted last season, netted 10 players in the summer, while Hull City was able to acquire 14 players. Access to these markets is critical to a club’s success.

Relegation has more negative consequences. West Bromwich, the club that lead the League Championship last season, boasts a 6-19-7 record for a whooping 25 points. This club will be back in the League Championship next season, but will the fans? Fans can be disconnected to their club for multiple reasons including mismanagement, poor performances, and lack of star power. Many big name stars refuse to go down with the club and look for other opportunities. Portsmouth’s Peter Crouch, a huge transfer from Liverpool last season, may not want to associate with the cub if they fall into relegation. Regardless of what club it is, new management and players are usually brought in to attempt to restore the club back to its previous league. Derby County learned this last year f as they fell toward the bottom half of the League Championship after being relegated from the Premiership last season.

As some clubs are reaching for the stars, other clubs are hanging on for the ride of their life. It would be nice to welcome Birmingham and Reading back into the Premier League after being relegated last season along with Derby County.

Putting Pine Riders to Use

When tradition marketing tactics are unavailable, an organization must find a new way to communicate their product to the consumer. A prime example of this is the brand new Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league. The league debuted a week ago and already the deck is stacked against this league from succeeding. Some of the challenges t this new league faces include an already crowded American sports market; a long lead time to develop a following; no regional television contracts; a downward world economy; and a real struggle to sustain pro women sports like the WNBA. Yeah, this seems like a tall order to overcome just to survive. However, the WPS has a few tricks up their sleeves.
The WPS has specified a target market of tween and pre-tween girls and has selecting smaller, more “cozier” arenas to give their fans a more intimate feeling. In addition to a specified target market and arena selection, the WPS is experimenting with media technology called Twitter. Twitter has become the third largest social media network. It allows a user to post a mini blog of about 140 characters to subscribers. This has been a great way to stay connected, but it has an even cooler function: up to the minute interactions on events that are occurring on the pitch. Yes, that’s right; the ladies of the WPS are being encouraged to twitter while on the bench, before the game, during half time, after the game, and after being subbed out. Not only is this a revolutionary way of using this technology, but it also provides a subscriber and fan a new dimension of interaction.
Aided by Twitter, the WPS is expanding in the digital world through their interactive website. The website has had some considerable foot traffic in the last few days and weeks leading up the debut game. On the website, the WPS has other social connection points via Facebook, Youtube, and Fan Corner, the WPS fan community.
New media networks are being developed all around us. If a game isn’t being televised, it can be found on the radio or can be streamed to your computer through the internet. Up to the minute stats and results can even be texted to your cell phone!
If this new media device is successful, imagine how it could transform other sports: Kevin Garnett could be twittering about his game while on the bench, Jeff Gordon could talk about his race strategy at a pit stop, Tiger could post after each hole while on the course, and yes, A-Rod can twitter about what roids to use to enhance our performance. What, too soon?

Is the U.S. Ready for Another Soccer League?

With the steady success of the MLS in the United States, another soccer league will try to find their niche in the U.S. sports market. The Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league is the new 7 team league to immerge in the United States. The WPS is the newest women’s soccer league to come to this country after the failure of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA). The WUSA was the world’s first women’s soccer league in which all the players were paid professionals. However, the WUSA suspended operations after their third season. The WPS hopefully will stick around for longer.

The WPS comprises 7 of the 8 WUSA clubs, including the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Gold Pride, Los Angeles Sol, Saint Louis Athletica, Sky Blue FC, and the Washington Freedom. The WPS already has 3 expansion teams formed in Atlanta, Dallas, and Philadelphia. Philadelphia will also have a MLS team in 2010. Puma is a major sponsor of the league, and every club dawns the animal on their jerseys.

The WPS had their debut game last Sunday with the Los Angeles Sol shutting out the Washington Freedom 2-0 in front of a crowd of 14,832 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

While the debut game drew more attention then expected, the league has not been able to make any regional television deals, and only Fox Sport’s Channel games will be broadcasted online. It will be a challenge to keep fans involved in this league without having good TV access to games. The league is hoping to average 6,000-8,000 people per game. This does not seem like a lot, but this league is important for the development of the United State’s Women’s National Soccer Team. Hopefully this league can stick around and be successful.