Hope Solo, Wambach, others want a new pro league

The vast majority of matches are not played at the big stadiums. Liverpool ladies play at a 2,500 seat college stadium according to wiki.

The best women's league in Europe is Germany's.

 

The MLS sells soccer culture and sells it well.

 

Around here it sells well pretty much only when LA comes to town.

 

Hmm, I seem to have crossed wires. I could have sworn I saw some women's matches were being played at the big sites. My bad. Sorry.

(And even a 2,500-seater is probably too large for Liverpool's women - if they are anything like the men's club.)

 

But even if a women's league were to piggyback with some MLS teams, is there enough disposable income among soccer fans to support both teams, as well as keep little Courtney Cornerkick in orange slices and shin guard for Greater Podunk United?

 

I'd guess it was likely that was a factor. But then, this is England, where they care about soccer far more than the U.S. public does.

 

WNFL. YOU know you'd watch.

 

The Olympic matches were. In fairness, a lot of the men's matches didn't do that well either. They played two rounds of matches before the Olympics really started to catch on, and there was also a fair bit of skepticism in the further flung regions. I think the attendances started to improve once people realized it was their best chance to get a taste of the Olympics.

But yeah, in England, the women's league is primarily played at much smaller non-league grounds. Arsenal are by far the most successful team, and they play their home matches at Boreham Wood, where the men's team plays at the sixth level. But England's also been quite far behind the curve with regard to the women's game; interest in the national setup is only very recent. I'd imagine that where there are teams, there may be something of a surge of interest.

For me personally, I know there are women's teams that play around here; Portsmouth have one, among others. But I've never turned up to a match. I would be afraid of looking ... skeezy, as a bloke there on my own, especially if the crowds are only a few hundred, or a few dozen.

 

Women say they want equality in sports but, outside of a few NCAA women's basketball programs, they won't buy the tickets, won't watch the games unless it is the Olympics. They also don't want their athletes to ever get criticized.

Until this vocal fan base bucks up for season tickets, it will be another league folding.

 

Do any collegiate soccer programs draw flies?

What about a gymnastics or track meet outside of the Olympics?

Why are world championship (save alpine skiing in 2115) almost never held in the US?

The Olympics are just a different animal. If the US and Canadian women's soccer teams held a rematch tomorrow in Toronto or New York, what would it draw?

 

I know women's gymnastics draws a ridiculous amount of fans in the SEC.

 

Hope's book:

http://espn.go.com/espnw/8262799/hope-solo-writes-personal-struggles-new-book

Pia threatened to bench her if the book was released before the Olympics.