| | NEW YORK -- While men's soccer struggles in the United
States, women's soccer is hot.
Saying it has raised $40 million from cable television companies and has the support of the U.S. World Cup champions, a group said Tuesday it plans to start a women's soccer league consisting of 8 to 10 teams in April 2001.
Not so fast, Major League Soccer said. It wants in on women's soccer, and has already submitted a rival plan to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
"This a breakthrough kind of deal," said John Hendricks,
founder of the Discovery Channel and the force behind the league,
to be called the Women's United Soccer Association.
"People feel," Hendricks said, "there is something very
attractive and enduring that these women have touched deep within the fabric of American society -- it's not just soccer moms, it's soccer dads and soccer uncles."
"The consensus was that the ideal time to consider the
launch of the league would be after the 1999 World Cup. We think this is an exciting time; we think we have the right ingredients."
Among the eight investors putting up $5 million each are Time Warner Inc., Comcast Corp., Continental Cablevision Inc. and Cox Communications. Each investor will have the right to operate one or more franchises. They also would get the local television rights.
Salaries will average $40,000 for a five-month season starting in April. The cities will be selected from among a pool of 15 the group is considering, and the projected average attendance is 6,500.
"This will be the world's premier league for women's soccer," Mia Hamm, a star with the women's World Cup champions, said. "One of the things we realized and have known for a while is how deep the player pool is. The level of competition is going to be extremely high."
The USSF probably will designate a Division I women's league within two months, spokesman Jim Moorhouse said Wednesday. MLS, the men's league that began in 1996, has been working on a plan for a women's league.
"The application from the John Hendricks group is further proof that soccer is booming in the United States," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "Major League Soccer supports women's soccer and looks forward to being part of this exciting development."
Hendricks said the most difficult task was finding suitable stadiums, a problem MLS also has had in some markets. MLS, whose growth has been slower than it originally hoped, averaged 17,406 for regular-season games in 1996, then 14,619, 14,312 and 14,282 from 1997-99.
"We would like not to see these events held in monstrous NFL stadiums," Hendricks said. "We would like to see the development of 15,000-20,000-seat stadiums for these games. In a lot of the markets, we see the opportunity to combine with the efforts of men's professional leagues and colleges and universities who want to upgrade their facilities."
Tony DiCicco, who resigned as U.S. national team coach last fall, is a WUSA adviser.
Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Carla Overbeck and Lorrie Fair are among the U.S. national team members who will likely play in the new league. The U.S. won World Cup titles in 1991 and 1999, and the Olympic gold medal in 1996.
"There's a possibility of getting some payback at the end of the day for the success of the league," Foudy, co-captain of
the World Cup team, said. "We think one of the greatest
assets this team has is we love to get out in the community and
promote and sell. That's what we've been doing our entire
careers."
The WUSA will attempt to emulate the success of the WNBA, the best model for women's professional sports leagues. Of course, that league was propelled by one of the greatest
marketing powers in sports, the NBA itself.
"I think any new league is quite a challenge," Foudy said. "But you have so many opportunities for promotions with the
cable networks and the Internet. With that kind of backing and
support, there's a lot of optimism among the players."
Hamm is confident the growth of women's soccer will make for a competitive league.
"The talent level is out there," Hamm said. "I don't
know if people realize just how deep the player pool is. The
level of competition will be extremely high."
Hamm is the all-time international leader in goals scored. Chastain converted the winning penalty kick against China in the Women's World Cup final and created quite a stir with her
shirt-peeling celebration.
The final was watched by more than 90,000 people live and another 40 million on television.
Sports Illustrated selected the team as its 1999 Sportswomen of the Year. After the victory in the summer, the team also was featured on the cover of Newsweek, Time, SI and People in the same week.
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