Los Angeles Sol’s Shannon Boxx, right, attempts a header shot over Washington Freedom’s Sonia Bompastor, left rear, and Becky Sauerbrunn, left front, during the first half of a Women’s Professional Soccer soccer match, Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)
The news seemed to come out of nowhere. Even as the suspicions built up throughout Thursday, the response from those who had followed the club was still “are they really no longer with us?”
So it was that Los Angeles Sol, the regular season premiers and flagship team from the US Women’s Pro Soccer debut season, had been ‘discontinued’, as the official press release untactfully put it. The news passed without much notice from those outside of women’s football, yet there is an inherent lesson here for professional football in Australia, in both its male and female guises.
It’s a lesson that starts in 2003 when the last fully professional women’s football league in America, WUSA, folded.
At the time, the league’s administrators made two key organisational mistakes. First of all their “we want to be in the big-time” approach to stadiums, salaries and promotion saw the league make a cumulative loss of US$100 million in just three seasons.
Most of the WPS learned from this but the Sol didn’t, and in the end it was this ambitious over-spending that led to the club’s demise. This is particularly notable as Los Angeles had the highest profile and highest attendances of any of the WPS’ seven inaugural clubs.
The club’s successes weren’t enough to compensate for their “old school” approach (sound familiar NSL fans?).
Back to the WUSA though, and their second mistake was employing a single entity system for the clubs. In essence this means all the clubs came under the auspices of the league and shared their profits and loses. So if the old Washington Freedom sold a piece of merchandise, they got as much of a share of the profits as every other club did.
The WPS turned its back on this set up and is all the better for it. Instead of keeping Los Angelas Sol alive and saving face, as a single entity system would have allowed them to do, they have cut off the diseased limb before it infects the rest of the league.
Let that be a lesson to anyone who would like to see such a system put in place in Australia. Even in the MLS, which is healthy and growing, the drawbacks of the single entity system have held back youth development and club growth within the league.
So the story of Los Angeles Sol, who burned bright but fast, should serve as a reminder to fans of the A-League and W-League.
Yes, we must take risks. Yes, we must continue to grow and develop the league on and off the pitch. However, these developments should never come at the cost of the league’s long-term viability.
The WPS’ future won’t be decided by the loss of the Sol. In fact, they will most likely be stronger for it. The league is about to open its first purpose built stadium in Atlanta, welcome two new franchises and wont be allowing club owners to make the same mistakes as Los Angeles’ did anytime soon.
It may have been a great first season for Los Angeles Sol, but there are a lot of fans sitting around right now wishing it wasn’t their last.
whiskeymac
Guest
Interesting article. living within your means, certainly a parody of the times. but its surely a mix thats required of prudent governance and free market thats required - as the clubs grow you'd imagine the governance will be less and less involved in financing franchises, but to let them go off and/or fold one after the other would irreprably damage a league's credibility and viability. You'd hope that after a few more seasons some clubs in the HAL might be allowed a free reign in there money making and row their clubs with a little less FFA restrcitions. (MV and CCM spring to mind). Just as a common collective may not be the answer nor is a laissez faire approach. Common colective re:tv rights is a good thing (EPL styled) but shirt sales etc you'd hope were the clubs domain. Davvide, do you know how much (in the HAL) are clubs in control over their own destiny re shirt sales, advertising (club specific) promotions etc?
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
Its not better the team disappears but it is definitely a good thing that there is no longer a club in the WPS that is being run like LA Sol were. Mv Dave I think the crowds that SOL attracted, the biggest in the league, show there is a market for it yet. I'm sure that as soon as possible a new club will launch. On that, AndyRoo you make a great point.
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
That's right as I read in a number of blogs about the LA Sol no one misses any of the former MLS teams that didn't make it. All leagues have growing pains. In a country which has such transient franchises this is even more acceptable.
Froar
Guest
Strange considering it is a true womens sport over there. I was there for the WC in 2000. It was huge.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
Will those fans that were burnt by that first experience come back though. Their going to be extremely wary.
MV Dave
Guest
Seems like LA is not a Womans Football market yet. Teams need to live within their means initially until there is enough support to build and pay bigger wages. No doubt if the league can survive its first 5 years then with expansion a new team will commence in LA.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
Hmm, not sure if it really is better that the team just dissapears. Would think it better that they were restructured and costs cut rather than the league lose a presence in one of the USA's biggest markets. What your suggesting if it was carried over to the A league would mean every team that's gone into FFA control would be dumped. No team in Adelaide, Perth and oossibly Brisbane. CCM would never have got through the first season and we would not be getting a team in West Sydney. I think more water has to pass under the bridge before making a ruling. What the FFA does (provide $$$ assistance but you run the club their way) is very similar to how the AFL works when they give a club assistance.
MV Dave
Guest
At least they didnt decide to loose the gear aka Lingerie Football (American) League, to get more punters to watch. Seriously if a Womans Pro League can be successful anywhere then it has to be the USA with their huge population and massive participation figures for football. The fact that they are trying to build this league a 2nd time shows a great deal of goodwill and confidence that it can work...if some clubs dont make it so be it, as long as the league prospers. Long way to go but a great story in the making for womens sport. Bend it Like Mia!