Yesterday saw the launch of the newest sports league … the WPS or Women’s Professional Soccer. As someone who has played soccer in leagues since I was seven, and coached AYSO girls aged 11- 14 for several years, it’s an exciting time filled with hope and promise. However, as a marketer I’m skeptical in the extreme about the success of the league and wonder about its true potential.
The WPS has several things going for it. First, it has the failed WUSA as a model for what not to do and clearly they have learned. Instead of going big they’ve stayed with smaller venues that don’t cost as much to run, they’ve lowered general salaries and their ticket pricing is low. (An especially appealing feature in these tough economic times.) Secondly, they’ve got the best women soccer players in the world all playing in the league so there is no shortage of talent or argument that better soccer can be found in another league. And thirdly, they’ve actually got a prominent sports channel (Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports Net) broadcasting the games so they’re accessible to the masses.
From a marketing perspective, they’re also doing some interesting stuff, the main being to broaden their target from simply “tween” girls to a larger female (and male) base. To this end, league players are, in their local areas, hosting viewing parties at local pubs allowing them to interact with the fan base and create some excitement in places other than the field. They’re using Twitter and YouTube and other social media sites to create buzz and some intimacy with fans. They’re trying to create personal connections to the players and the teams and the league vs. simply putting it out there and expecting that the combo of women and soccer to be enough to draw women and girls that play soccer.
So that’s the good news. Now for the bad.
At my soccer game yesterday I mentioned multiple times that the new league started today and only once did anyone even react. These are girls/women who grew up playing; played in high school and college, play in a women’s league now and most of whom play in a co-ed league during the week. These are committed soccer players who love the game and yet they’re completely apathetic to the league. They fit the new target demo … they’re definitely the type to go to the local pubs and hang with friends and I know they use Twitter and Facebook. So why the disinterest?
Unfortunately, I think it’s precisely because they grew up with soccer being there. Unlike me and my generation who had to hold bake sales in the student union to pay for the van to go to away games in college, these girls grew up with scholarships and uniforms and trainers on the sidelines. Women’s soccer isn’t a big deal it’s just a fact so there’s no compelling need to support the league (or for that matter the men’s). They’ve got new careers and shifting life priorities going on so finding the time or the will to support a soccer league just isn’t a priority. And what the means for the league is their back to the same audience the WUSA had – tween girls and their moms, a recipe that didn’t work last time.
Will this league survive? I’m not sure. I’d like to be optimistic but my head says it’s very unlikely. I do think they’ve made smart moves and if it ever is going to happen, this is probably it. Keep working the girls and their moms and do what you can to gain followers in college so they’ve established a viewing habit for their post-school years.
I wish them luck and I am committed to doing my part in viewship to keep it alive. And if watching entertaining soccer has anything to do with the leagues success, then the inaugural game between the LA Sol and Washington DC Freedom bodes well.
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