National Women's Soccer League Faces Post-World Cup Obstacles: Shy Sponsors, Hotel Bedbugs

The National Women’s Soccer League should have enjoyed a much-needed public relations coup this week as star forward Alex Morgan and the rest of the World Cup-winning U.S. women’s national team continued their victory tour in front of a sold-out crowd in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Instead, the media spotlight homed in on a bedbug-infested hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.



Morgan called out NWSL officials on Twitter Monday for booking “unacceptable” hotel accommodations for her teammates on the Portland Thorns, the league’s most popular franchise. Detractors were quick to point to Morgan’s accusation of “continuing problems” with hotel rooms as evidence of the fledgling league’s tenuous financial situation.

The NWSL signed a crucial national television deal with Fox Sports in June, and its teams have experienced a noticeable bump in game attendance and ticket sales since the national team defeated Japan in the World Cup final. But the league still relies heavily on financial support from the U.S.

Soccer Federation, which spent $807,000 on the NWSL in 2014 and subsidizes the salaries of all national team players. NWSL doesn't release its annual revenue figures, but teams operate with a $265,000 salary cap, with minimum salaries set at a mere $6,842.

The NWSL hasn’t announced any major sponsorship deals since the World Cup and is still struggling to draw media attention to its regular-season games. Its leaders are optimistic about future growth, but there’s no question the league has bigger obstacles than booking new hotels.

“I don’t think one particular tweet about hotels, I don’t think that’s inherently a death blow to the women’s professional soccer league,” said Keith Strudler, director of the Marist College Center for Sports Communication in Poughkeepsie, New York. “I think they have much more serious problems, like trying to get people interested in paying for this product, watching this product on a regular basis -- outside of the umbrella of nationalism, which is a much easier sell.”

The World Cup Effect
The U.S. women’s national team’s victory came at a crucial time for women’s professional soccer in America. The country’s first two attempts at a women’s soccer league -- the Women’s United Soccer Association and Women’s Professional Soccer -- each folded after just three seasons. Unlike the previous failed leagues, the NWSL’s third season has been its most successful.

A record 21,144 fans watched the Thorns play the Seattle Reign in Portland, Oregon, on July 22. As a whole, the NWSL has experienced a 29 percent jump in game attendance since the World Cup ended and is currently averaging a league record 4,912 fans per contest,
 said Patrick Donnelly, the NWSL's director of communications. Fourteen of the first 30 games after the World Cup drew sellout crowds. Merchandise sales skyrocketed, particularly for the jerseys of national team players like Carli Lloyd, who plays for the Houston Dash. The NWSL also signed a television deal with Fox Sports, which will broadcast the entire 2015 playoffs -- a boon to revenue and national exposure.