SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 27, 2010) – The Saint Louis Athletica in Women’s Professional Soccer are shutting down their franchise as a funding crisis has left the team without the necessary funds to operate for the 2010 WPS Season (A last resort, obviously). The Athletica players will be available as free agents to other WPS teams as of Tuesday, June 1. (No Dispersal Draft. The teams that can afford the best will get the best. The affect on team’s roster/international slots is currently being reviewed by the league)

Just two weeks ago, the league learned of a cash flow shortage at St. Louis Soccer United – which includes the owner of the Saint Louis Athletica and a St. Louis men’s team – that threatened the remainders of both teams’ seasons (So a week before Richard Farley initially reported on it on The Equalizer). After a thorough and extensive review of the situation together with interested parties, which involved the League covering the funding shortfall for the Athletica’s last two player payrolls, the Athletica have folded their franchise (With no bond set-up like in the NASL, WPS had to foot the bill for player payrolls. Could see how that would start to get impractical. Also, there were interested parties?). WPS will re-make the remaining schedule for the 2010 WPS season as a seven-team league – the same number that took part during the WPS Inaugural Season (An odd number is always headache-inducing for the schedulers, but it can be done).

“It’s incredibly difficult to lose a team in mid-season like this,” said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. “We looked at a few options as a league together with our Board and U.S. Soccer, but the operational hurdles and finances just didn’t work out (Presumably taking over the team just wasn’t going to add up). In the face of a severe funding gap in St. Louis, the local ownership group is shutting down the team at this point.” (WPS’ hands were tied. Also, can you think of another professional sports league where a team has folded mid-season?)

The rest of the 2010 WPS Schedule without Saint Louis Athletica will be revised and released next week (Fair enough). The previously completed six league games against Saint Louis will count in the standings and the Athletica will not play in this weekend’s previously scheduled game (Don’t get this one at all. The word from the league is that “previous games were a matter of record and will remain in the standings”. A matter of record? How will this affect standings at the end of the season as every team was not given a chance to play the Athletica this season.)

“This is a setback, but it’s one individual franchise and the loss of a team is an unfortunate reality of pro sports,” said Antonucci (Granted, but this makes two retracted teams in five months. One was the marquee franchise and the other occurred mid-season, as has been mentioned). “We’ll continue to have great games and an exciting season for our fans. The solid foundation that we built in 2009 is there. We have the same number of teams that we had last year during a successful first season. We’ll get through this stronger and keep moving the league and business forward (Back to square one).”

Saint Louis Athletica players will still be eligible for the 2010 WPS All-Star Game presented by the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve if they are rostered on another WPS team by Friday, June 11 (But will they represent SLA? Probably not, right?). As of June 1, Athletica players are no longer under club contracts and can sign with any team as free agents (Let the bidding wars begin).

View Original Post at allwhitekit.wordpress.com

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This post is related to the following ongoing stories:

• Athletica Shuts Down