NWSL seeking consistency in Year 2

by Will Parchman
January 17, 2014

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The historical landscape of professional women’s soccer in the U.S. is littered with the rusted hulks of failed endeavors. With the foreknowledge that the WUSA and the WPS were both dead and buried - and the WPS gone as recently as 2012 - the National Women’s Soccer League groaned to life for the first time last season.

After a year spent frantically trying to gain solid purchase on the rocky soil of the women’s soccer landscape, NWSL brass officially began looking forward to 2014 with the league’s second draft at the Philadelphia Convention Center on Friday. The league grew by one to nine teams after the Houston Dash came online with its expansion draft just last week. The fact that contraction wasn't necessary after the first year was a point of pride for a league that had trouble marking out those expectations last year.

The draft room was packed out this year, proving that however moderate it may be, the NWSL is making gains as it presses forward into the ever murkier territory of women’s professional soccer.

“It’s awesome. It was a really good turnout,” said Florida State defender Kassey Kallman, who was taken No. 5 overall by FC Kansas City. “Maybe next year they need to get a bigger room.”

In the midst of the draft fray on Friday, NWSL Executive Director Cheryl Bailey took some time to address the league’s maturation since its birth a little over a year ago. Namely how far it’s come and how far it has yet to go. In terms of the practical necessities of daily life in the league, little will change. The league is keeping roster size capped at 20 players and they plan to release a final draft of the league schedule in early February.

On the whole, Bailey found it hard to contain her enthusiasm. Surrounded by a standing-room-only crowd and a handful of draftees in attendance - including No. 1 overall Crystal Dunn - she sensed optimism that the league might outlive its predecessors.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Bailey said. “This time last year I was on the job five weeks. We had a really great season given the quick turnaround we had. It was a very competitive season. The players played exceptionally well, so I think we’re really pleased with what we have behind us, but we’re really excited with the platform that has given us now to go forward.”

Of course, the macro issues are still being ironed out, one of which is where teams play games. The league’s stadium situation is scattered across the board, with some teams playing in soccer specific stadiums and others scrabbling out whatever accommodations they can find.

FC Kansas City was an example Bailey was happy to tout. The team played on a high school field last year, and they’ll move to UMKC’s soccer field for this season, which will expand its capacity to 3,200 seats. The Dash will join the Portland Thorns by playing their inaugural season in the Dynamo’s BBVA Compass Stadium, which will use the bottom tier’s 7,000 available seats. The Thorns, who set the league standard for attendance in 2013, share their stadium with the Timbers.

“I think you can see a few of the teams have changed stadiums, so they’re making that change,” Bailey said. “We've had a couple more soccer specific stadiums come on board. I think everybody is stepping up their game. They have now a base to be able to get tickets, to have sponsorships come on board. So we’ve really positioned ourselves now in year two to take that step forward.”

Much like MLS has discovered over the past decade, television deals are an ever important cog in advancing the league, and NWSL is still searching for consistency on that front. The league signed a deal with now-defunct Fox Soccer Channel last year to air nine league games over the second half of the season. Three of those were the two playoff semifinal matches and the title game on Aug. 31.

As for 2014, the looming television question is still unanswered.

“We are talking to a couple different agencies relative to that,” Bailey said. “We hope in the next few weeks, not only will we have a schedule to give you, but we’ll have some information on TV.”

Any hope for a longer deal?

“We’re hoping for all kinds of things,” Bailey said with a chuckle. “We’re always hoping for bigger and better.”

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