Game On: Recap of WPS Media Conference Call, March 24

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It's really happening! The inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer season starts this Sunday, March 29, with the Los Angeles Sol and Washington Freedom facing off at 3pm PST in Carson, CA, at the Home Depot Center (Tickets & Info).

Today, the WPS held a media conference call, where Commissioner Tonya Antonucci spoke about the league and patiently took questions from those of us on the call. Below are some highlights:

Antonucci starts off by emphasizing that the league wants to give the fans “world-class soccer action played by the world’s best players.” The league’s business model is more de-centralized than its predecessor, WUSA, with local owners for each team with connections to the local community of fans, youth soccer teams, etc.

Antonucci praised the committed ownership groups of the inaugural season’s seven teams and announced that they will have an eighth team in Philadelphia starting in 2010, with Atlanta being a strong possibility for a ninth team.

The league is mindful of the tough economy with every decision they make, said Antonucci. At the same time, they have committed owners that are “here for the long haul.” She also announced that Hint Water (http://www.drinkhint.com/) has recently come on board as a major sponsor, which they are very excited about.

Antonucci confirmed that the league has indeed endorsed game-time Twittering for the inaugural match and is considering this for the whole season, based on the feedback from the first game. The WPS Twitter Account will be announcing which players will be tweeting this week. The tweets will be restricted to pre-game, half-time, post-game and from-the-bench….so no tweets from Marta as she winds up for a bullet into the net.

”We would never allow a communication medium to infringe on the integrity of the game. It is critical that players are maximizing their performance on the field, for their team and the fans,” said Antonucci.

When asked how the WPS would succeed where WUSA failed, Antonucci noted that the participation and interest in soccer in the U.S. has only grown since the suspension of the WUSA. In addition, they have learned from WUSA’s experience that the expenditures for the first season were too great and its success depended too much on the fame of the stars from the 1999 World Cup. With that in mind, the WPS decided to use a grassroots model, starting modestly and looking for success long-term. Taking a “very disciplined fiscal approach”. Antonucci noted that although the new league doesn’t appear to have the big names that WUSA had from the ’99 Word Cup, every league has to amplify and invent new stars. She mentioned Marta, Abby Wambach and Hope Solo as some of WPS’s dynamic personalities and great athletes.

“Marta would certainly give Mia Hamm a run for her money,” said Antonucci, “Our job as marketers is to make [our players] household names.”

There was much talk about the WPS using social media to reach and attract fans. Their Facebook group is very close to its goal of 10,000 fans. They have launched the “See Extraordinary” campaign with Puma, which is all over Facebook, the WPS You Tube Channel, MySpace and the WPS Fan Corner site. Sneak a peek for yourself:

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Antonucci expressed the need for the WPS to reach out to its fans in more creative, non-traditional ways, both to work towards being on par with larger sports leagues as well as to reach a core part of their audience, girls ages 6-16, who are active in these social mediums as are their families.

”We’re reaching out to them they where they are. They are a sweet spot for us,” said Antonucci.

While she wouldn’t give a specific salary cap for the league, Antonucci divulged that the average player’s salary for the 7-month contract is $32,000. Players are able to earn additional income through marketing appearances, camps, and playing for other teams or leagues outside of their 7-month WPS contract.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the tweeting players for Sunday’s game and don’t forget, @womentalksports will be twittering from the game as well!

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