Womens Sports Fighting for Recognition in Boston :: Athletics Athletes Papers

Women's Sports Fighting for Recognition in Boston Competing in a city long sidled with a racist reputation, sports teams and organizations in Boston have long worked toward equality, or at least a perception of it. But in the past few decades, a new battlefield has emerged in the sports-mad city's culture war - women's sports. This fresh fight, taken up recently by a professional soccer organization and Title IX-backed activists at Boston's many colleges, isn't so much against anti-inclusive bigwigs - modern day Yawkeys - but against norms, financial constraints and fan interest. The women don't have to prove they have a right to play. They have to prove they can - and people will watch. WUSA: "Working to Reorganize" The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) started with big dreams, but thin pocketbooks. Around the time of the 1999 Women's World Cup, plans were being formulated to start the United States' first ever women's professional soccer league. When the U.S. won the Cup before record crowds and jaw-dropping television figures, it was final. There would be a league, with most of the U.S. Cup roster spread between eight teams, including squads based in Boston, Atlanta, Washingon D.C. and Philadelphia. The WUSA opened its doors in 2001 to much fanfare - and heavy attendance. Boston's entry, the Breakers, drew 8,101 fans a game, and Washington led the league with a 14,421 average. Emotionally, things were great. Financially, things weren't. Though investors had put nearly $100 million into startup costs, only Hyundai and Johnson & Johnson signed on as major corporate backers. Still, the league survived, but only for a while. A business plan that called for heavy corporate sponsorship didn't pan out, and by the September end of the 2003 season, the circumstances were so dire that WUSA executives announced the league was ceasing operation, effectively immediately. As if to complete its "ashes-to-ashes" flavor, announcement coincided with the start of the 2003 Women's World Cup. "We had some great sponsors," WUSA commissioner Tony DiCicco said. "The way our previous business plan worked, we had to reach a certain number for sponsorship. We knew that after tickets and licensing, we needed this much in sponsorship, and this much from investors. We weren't reaching the number in sponsors, therefore investors had to put in more money." In the league's three-year run, Boston showed it can support a major professional women's soccer team as well as any city.