WUSA deals with hard questions after thrilling title game

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Posted 7:17PM on Sunday, August 25, 2002

ATLANTA - The Women's United Soccer Association finished its second season with a thrilling championship game that showcased some of its biggest stars. Now, WUSA must deal with some hard questions: Can the league bounce back from a significant drop in attendance? Will be sponsors keep pumping in millions of dollars? Does anyone want to watch this sport on television? WUSA president Lynn Morgan acknowledged some growing pains, but she also believes the league is on the right track for steady, sustained growth in the crowded sports landscape. ``All in all, I think people really are beginning to truly appreciate what we have on the field from a competitive standpoint and some of the marketing opportunities we provide off the field,'' Morgan said Sunday. Clearly, the league ended Year 2 feeling good about itself after a highly entertaining championship game. The Carolina Courage, led by U.S. national team member Danielle Fotopoulos and international stars Hege Riise and Birgit Prinz, defeated Mia Hamm and the Washington Freedom 3-2 on Saturday. The game featured a brilliant goal by Hamm, the league's most popular player, but Carolina managed to hold off a frenzied Washington attack in the final minutes to claim Founders Cup II. ``To have a championship game be that close and be exciting is something every league aspires for,'' Morgan said. ``We couldn't have ended on a better note.'' The announced crowd of 15,321 was about 6,000 fewer than Founders Cup I, reflecting a season-long trend of shrinking attendance. In all fairness, WUSA set itself up for a fall by drawing better-than-expected crowds in its debut season, averaging 8,104 per game. Without the novelty factor, attendance dipped to 6,957 this season a dropoff of more than 14 percent. Most of the loss could be attributed to the Washington Freedom (down 36 percent despite a much-improved team) and the Atlanta Beat (a 39 percent dip after moving to a smaller stadium). Morgan pointed out that the inaugural game in 2001 drew a record 34,148 at Washington's RFK Stadium; there were no such momentous events in 2002. Also, attendance took a hit while Hamm was sitting out nearly half the season recovering from knee surgery. Carolina coach Marcia McDermott was encouraged by those fans who did show up. ``The fan base is so loyal, enthusiastic and knowledgeable,'' she said. ``I think it was an outstanding second year in terms of the fans.'' Even before the first kick of the year, WUSA was dealing with financial belt-tightening, having spent its original five-year budget of $40 million just to get up and running. The fallout from that miscalculation: Rosters were trimmed from 20 to 18 players, some front-office personnel was let go and the league headquarters was moved from New York to Atlanta. One team didn't send its press officer on the final two road games of the season, another sign that budgets were being tightly watched. WUSA was bankrolled by John Hendricks of Discovery Communications and franchise owners Cox Communications and AOL Time Warner. Morgan said those companies are still solidly behind the fledgling league, even though accounting scandals and a struggling stock market have rocked corporate America. ``These are big companies that understand the concept of investment,'' she said. ``They're not looking at us and saying, 'If they don't turn a profit next year, it doesn't work.' They think this is the right thing to do and something they believe in.'' When it comes to television, WUSA barely makes a blip on the screen. The ratings for Year 1 were abysmal - and they dropped even lower when the league switched to the obscure PAX network this season. WUSA has another year to go on its contract with PAX. Already, the two sides have met to discuss ways to widen the network's visibility and do a better job of promoting the players. The level of play certainly improved as teammates got more familiar with each other. Average scoring jumped more than a half-goal per game, going from 2.80 to 3.32. ``We all want to win, but we also want to put an extremely attractive product out there,'' Hamm said. ``Every team had a personality that could dominate and take over a game.'' Worried that expansion would hurt the quality of play, the league plans to stay with the same eight-team alignment in 2003: New York, Boston, Washington, Carolina, Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Diego and San Jose. Next year, WUSA hopes to capitalize on the buildup to the women's World Cup, which will be held in China shortly after the season ends. That would only be fitting, since the popularity of the 1999 World Cup led to the formation of the women's league. ``We can really use that to catapult us into a new fan base,'' Morgan said. ``And let's not forget the Olympics in 2004. There's a lot to look forward to on the horizon.''