USWNT: Hopefully Victory Tour Cements Pro League

posted by Sarah Hallett, a Women Talk Sports blogger
Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 11:18pm EDT

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It's hard to believe it has already been a week since the U.S. Women's National Team defeated Japan in the Olympic final and claimed their third consecutive gold medal. It was a culmination of over two weeks of one of the best stretches of soccer the U.S. women have ever displayed. For most of the players this past week has been filled with travel back home and some much needed rest. Thankfully they won't be resting for long.

The U.S. WNT is looking to capitalize on their gold medal success and will soon embark on a victory tour. There are talks that the tour will include up to ten games over the next few months. Three have already been set for the next month with matches established against Costa Rica and Australia. The first game is set for Sept. 1 and will be played in Rochester (hometown of veteran Abby Wambach) and has already sold over 11,000 tickets in just their pre-sale orders. More importantly these games are going to be nationally televised, something that is key for women's soccer as it rarely sees a national audience.

The urgency to televise the victory tour is thanks to the over 4.350 million viewers that tuned into their gold medal match against Japan, a stunning record for NBC Sports Network. Although nowhere near the 13 million people that watched the FIFA Women's World Cup final between Japan last summer, this was a Thursday afternoon and NBCSN has yet to get that many people to even watch hockey in prime time.

And with no current professional league yet in place, the U.S. players will embrace any post-Olympic exposure it can get. Three years remain until the next major international tournament for the national team and these next few months are crucial as far as formulating a new professional league and giving women's soccer the same kind of boost it received after the 1999 World Cup win.

It was announced just hours before the final Olympic game that increased discussion was in the works as far as establishing a new professional league. Three former teams from the Women's Professional Soccer league (which ended in 2011) would join with at least two other teams based on the west coast. It is unclear at this time if any teams from the semi-pro leagues (WPSL, W-League) that exist throughout the country might also step up and join the league. Most of the details that need to be hammered out revolve of course around money. Money is to blame for the dissolution of the WUSA and played a part in the WPS coming to an end as well.

For now though hopefully the national team can continue to pick up fans as they barnstorm around the country wearing their shiny gold medals. The fall is a busy sports season to compete for viewers but it is encouraging that they are even being given the chance.

When I returned home from London last weekend I was bombarded with questions about my trip and I was amazed by how many of my non-sports friends turned into to watch the soccer matches. My good friend Rachael who before the Olympics probably wouldn't have known Alex Morgan from Piers Morgan is now sending me video clips throughout the week of her favorite new players. Even better she already wants to know if she can go with me to the Women's World Cup in 2015.

Die-hard soccer fans will always find a way to watch their favorite players even if they end up being dispersed outside the U.S. (thank you internet). But just like in 1999 hopefully another big win for the U.S. women will be propelled into another professional league. New fans like Rachael are counting on it.

Info on tickets to upcoming games or television schedule go to www.ussoccer.com

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There are 7 comments on this post. Join the discussion!

DaveBrett says:

I love women's soccer. But the fact is that a professional league is not the right format for this sport. The audience doesn't want to watch a pro league. Fortunately the audience is willing to watch tournament style play like the World Cup and the Olympics. The solution is clear: there needs to be one or two more high profile international tournaments in the summers between the Olympics and the World Cup.

Dave
www.DaveBrett.com

Friday, August 17, 2012 at 12:14pm EDT

Sarah Hallett says:

I think the audience for women's soccer has a lot of potential and by only having a chance to see it every couple years- it makes it hard to gain fans. Plus you can't expect the players to play at a high level during the WC or Olympics if they don't have pro leagues to play in to keep sharp between those tournaments. I would like to see more international tournaments added AND a pro league:)

Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 12:00am EDT

DaveBrett says:

I am not saying that the audience should have to wait a couple of years. Every summer there should be a major international tournament. We need something to fill in the gap between the Olympics and World Cup. But I am saying that tournaments are what the audience wants to watch. There is no point in trying to form a league because that's not what the audience wants to watch.

Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 11:20am EDT

Sarah Hallett says:

I respect your opinion but I think there is enough interest for a pro league to be successful. Agree to disagree:)

Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 3:36pm EDT

Crimson says:

If you truly believe there is enough interest in a women's pro soccer league how about if you find a couple hundred million dollars between you and your girlfriends to finance it? That way when next women's pro league goes broke you won't have convenient people like Borislow to blame for your failure or the lack of demand for this product in the open market in the first place.

Franky the most incredible thing about the entire women's pro soccer discussion that has been going on for the past several decades is how sorry you feel for the collective "women" and how you could care less about the people that believed in your pipe dream and lost their money.

Speaks volumes to your collective sense of entitlement.

Monday, August 20, 2012 at 2:04pm EDT

CoachDaugherty says:

Greetings,

I'd love to chime in about this 'new league' that is starting in 2013. I'm currently the owner of the Kansas City Shock, a women's premier soccer program in the Kansas City area. We kick off in 2013, and are sided with the amateur status of the WPSL [women's premier soccer league]. Our goal is to develop not a program that is a 'charity of business ethic Title XI' to women athletes, but instead create a business profile that is bent on profitability and community. If there is one thing I've learned about the Heartland; these folks love community involvement. I am not a millionaire, nor will I probably ever be. Our funding comes from the people who believe in the game, and believe in our mission. Unlike several other programs, we're not entitled with one specific youth club, in fact; we don't even have a youth club. My belief is that to be a business you need to look like a business. Several of the teams that have failed over the years, failed because their business model was terrible and it was set on charity not capitalistic gains.
I say all of that to lead into this new league; while I'm required to keep many things quiet on the league news; I will state that at first, because of watching the WUSA and WPS fail, I was skeptic. That was until I started talking to those directly involved with this new league; naturally things are pretty tight lipped, but I can already tell you that there are things involved in this league unforeseen with the WUSA or WPS. I do not like the fact that they try to ride off the bandwagon of summer athletics, but this league has a whole better chance of survival and growth versus any other league that has formed.

If you're curious about us, follow us on Twitter: @kcSHOCK_WSPL

Monday, August 20, 2012 at 7:31pm EDT

Sarah Hallett says:

Thanks Coach Daughtery-appreciate your insight and looking forward to what develops in the future!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 12:48am EDT

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