National Women's Soccer League begins crucial third season
Those of you who follow women's soccer closely may have seen the work of Lauren Green, editor of Nutmeg Incorporated. She recently joined the Inquirer's sports desk as a copy editor. Here's the first of what I hope will be many contributions here on Philly.com, especially with the Women's World Cup coming this summer.
You will see the World Cup covered in depth here on the site and in both the Inquirer and Daily News, as I'll be traveling to Canada to cover the tournament for all of our company's print and digital properties. - JT
The 2015 NWSL season kicks off on April 10 when the Houston Dash host the Washington Spirit at BBVA Compass Stadium. It is a pivotal year for the league - no women's professional soccer league has been able to get over the hump and into a fourth season.
Jeff Plush was appointed NWSL Commissioner on Jan. 6, just 10 days prior to the 2015 NWSL College Draft. Plush spent six seasons as the Managing Director with MLS's Colorado Rapids. He also served on the MLS and Soccer United Marketing Board of Governors during that time.
In each of the past two seasons, the NWSL television contract has been announced at least a month into the season. In both cases, only matches in the final six weeks of the regular season followed by the semifinals and championship matches were on national TV.
Plush says the league is "earnestly working on something in negotiations" and is confident that the league will be making an announcement regarding the new contract in the next few weeks.
After having a total of 18 matches on Fox Soccer (2013) and ESPN networks (2014), the league will not look to increase the number of games on national television this season, in part because of the World Cup this summer.
"No, you won't be seeing that this year," Plush said. "I think the reality of timing and also with the World Cup, it makes sense for a television partner and frankly the league too, to focus our energy and our marketing platform and our efforts on something in the back half of the season and leading up into the playoffs. That's the likely scenario for this year."
Regardless of the TV deal, you won't have to look far to watch NWSL games overall. As was the case last year, every match not nationally televised will be streamed online free of charge via YouTube.
After seeing Houston come into the league in for the 2014 season, expansion has become a hot topic of conversation. While no new clubs will come into the league in 2015, the prospect of a 10th franchise entering NWSL in 2016 is a distinct possibility.
"We're having very constructive conversations with I'd say no less than six different expansion opportunities," Plush said. "I do feel confidence that we will expand. Whether that would happen in time for the 2016 season is a little bit up in the air at this point. We have our spring board meeting in Houston [on April 10] and I'll certainly plan to have an update about expansion after that meeting."
The Dash, backed by MLS ownership, played their first match just four months after the official announcement of the expansion franchise. Plush, however, does not seem as willing to bring a team in on such short notice.
"I'll be candid that we wouldn't be able to expand in 2016 in too much longer than a period of time," Plush said. "I wouldn't want to go with less than a year, so we're up against it for 2016. Expansion is a priority and I feel we will be expanding."
Both Salt Lake City and Atlanta have potential franchise owners who have expressed interest in coming into the league, with Salt Lake's coming from the market's MLS team. That w ould make three teams in the NWSL with ties to MLS clubs.
With a number of expansion franchises coming into MLS over the next several years, it is reasonable to question what, if any, impact those clubs could have on bringing a women's team with them.
Plush said that there is a mix of ownership groups who are involved in conversations with the league.
"We are certainly talking to some MLS clubs but we're also talking to some entities that aren't associated with MLS," Plush said. "I think clearly when you're talking to an existing club it brings the benefit of stadiums and a training environment and just soccer and business infrastructure, which makes it an easier platform in which to launch a new business. So clearly that has some benefits to it."
"I think anyone who has followed our league has seen the great interest in Portland and Houston. We're not close-minded about how we would expand. I think it comes down to the quality of the ownership group who is stepping forward, the quality of the marketplace and the quality of the venue they would be playing in."