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.
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