Amanda Duffy, commissioner of the USL’s growing W-League, recently spoke with me in a two-part interview about the new MLS/W-League affiliations and the League’s expansion plans for the future, which could include a professional division.
Duffy, a former W-League player herself, was named W-League commissioner in September 2010, replacing Melanie Fitzgerald who moved on to WPS. Previously, Duffy worked as the director of operations for the USL second division and before that with the first division.
W-League is now poised to enter into professional women's soccer, possibly adding a non-first division league to accommodate some of their more ambitious team-owners. All 27 of the W-League’s 2011 teams are in a position to return for 2012, plus the League is adding several news teams for 2012 and affiliating with at least four MLS teams. With Monday’s news that the U.S. Soccer Federation delayed sanctioning the five-team WPS for the 2012 season, giving WPS 15 days to find a sixth team while they battle a lawsuit with terminated magicJack owner Dan Borislow, the W-League opens up new windows of opportunity for women’s soccer.
Interview with commissioner Amanda Duffy (Part 1 of 2)
Click here for Part 2
LE: In 2011, W-League had four divisions and 27 teams. Besides the just-launched Tampa Bay team, what other new additions will we see in 2012?
Duffy: We announced earlier this year the addition of a W-League team that will start in Columbia, South Carolina, the Central South Carolina Cobras. The FC Jax Destroyers out of Jacksonville Florida, who played their first PDL game in 2011, have acquired rights for W-League to begin playing in 2012, so they also will be an expansion team for us.
We do have some other announcements. One team in the central region of the country will be the first of a few for a new division that we expect to be in place and start W-League competition in 2013. But at this point, we have the expectation of one-to-three more expansion teams that will begin in 2012 over the next two to three weeks.
LE: How many MLS/W-League affiliations are there now? Do you see more of these launching in 2012?
Duffy: Under the USL’s W-League specifically, we actually have four ties with MLS teams. Vancouver Whitecaps have the W-League component. Seattle Sounders is a little more unique, but each of these partnerships are unique in their own way.
Seattle Women receive some support from a marketing and ticket sales standpoint and some other components, so there is an actual partnership there with Seattle Sounders and Seattle Sounders Women. Adrian Hanauer previously had involvement with Seattle Sounders Women, but in terms of actual and official ownership, there’s not as much crossover.
The Chivas don’t have any sort of ownership with the Strikers, but there will be mutual benefits in terms of marketing, ticket sales, communications, public relations and just branding in general.
Then there’s D.C. United and D.C. United Women and the LA Strikers FC with Chivas USA, so under the USL banner, we already have four of those partnerships. FC Dallas also has the women’s component (WPSL) as well.
MLS teams are at the point now where they've reached a certain level with their first team and can take on other properties into their business structure, the women’s side being one of them. Most MLS teams have a youth academy that develops both boys and girls at this point and there’s the natural transition on the boys’ side from youth on up to the professional level, but not on the women’s side. So, as the girls are coming through their structure, the MLS teams are now looking for ways to continue to meet the needs of what they have in their youth component.
LE: Will there be additional MLS/W-League affiliations for 2012 beyond those four?
Duffy: There is a possibility for at least one more to happen, to be put in place and to be announced before the end of the year.
LE: What are the pros and cons of women’s teams affiliating with MLS?
Duffy: First and foremost it’s branding. MLS teams have a recognizable brand at this point. After the 2011 Women’s World Cup, there was a peak in interest and fans coming out and supporting women’s soccer. But in terms of there being brands that fans have followed and have a level of affiliation and affinity with, that hasn’t been fully realized yet on the women’s side and that’s where we can really gain a lot by utilizing what has been established on the men’s side already.
You gain so much from that brand recognition. Beyond that, they’re going to provide human resource support whether it’s communications or the social media component. You can gain so much from the resources these MLS teams already have, it’s a huge benefit to all of the clubs to have that type of partnership.
LE: How many W-League teams have affiliations with USL PRO?
Duffy: From a USL PRO standpoint, we have three, the Charlotte Eagles, Dayton Dutch Lions and LA Blues out on the West Coast that also have W-League teams. We had conversations with more USL PRO owners and they recognize at some point that the women’s component is beneficial to their overall organization. Sooner rather than later we’ll see more of those come to fruition, but for a lot of these clubs right now at the USL PRO level they’re focused on reaching a certain level with stability and maintaining higher operating standards before taking on more and adding to that. In one-three years we’ll see more USL PRO/W-League partnerships come together, just like MLS.
LE: How many W-League teams are affiliated with PDL teams?
Duffy: As of today we have 13 clubs that own both PDL and W-League teams with the possibility of a 14th, which we’ll know with certainty soon.
[FC Jax Destroyers; Fredericksburg Hotspur/Impact; Hamilton FC Rage; LA Blues U23/Pali Blues; Long Island Rough Riders; New Jersey Rangers; Northern Virginia Royals/Majestics; Ottawa Fury; Tacoma Tide/Seattle Sounders Women; Toronto Lynx/Lady Lynx; Vancouver Whitecaps Residency/Vancouver Whitecaps Women; Virginia Beach Piranhas; Tampa/VisionPro/Brandon partnership.]
LE: When I recently spoke with USL president Tim Holt, he said that there are some ambitious ownership groups, 'clubs that would like to do more programming, potentially even have professional teams.' Do you see the W-League becoming a professional second division to WPS or as something that could compare with WPS?
Duffy: I can say with certainty that there’s no intention for the W-League or us at USL to try to be in a position where we’re at a Division 1 one professional level with or without WPS there. By no means do we want to be in a position to compete with WPS directly assuming that they continue to operate on a USSF Division 1 level.
But Tim is absolutely correct that we do have some owners that are looking for a little bit more, something a little bit different for what fits in their individual club models from a development standpoint. They are looking for opportunities to bring in players at a different level, that being a level above the amateur level, which is currently what the W-League is. It certainly is a discussion at this point and something over the next few weeks and months that we want to explore with a group, whether they’re W-League owners or just soccer individuals that can help us put together the right strategy on anything we’re going to do from an advancement standpoint. We’re going to be having this conversation.
Whether that leads to a fully professional league or a modified version of what the W-League currently is, that’s still to be determined, but it’s definitely a conversation we’re prepared to have and are currently putting ourselves in a position to have so that we can meet the needs of all of our owners. While there’s a wide scale of what our owners want and they really fall into two different categories, we want to be able to meet all those needs.
LE: In a professional division you obviously couldn’t have collegiate players, or are you having discussions with the NCAA?
Duffy: We aren’t having any discussions with NCAA currently, although I’m pretty interested at the notion that it’s on the table that NCAA may do away with the spring season for the colleges, which I find interesting. I’m not sure at this point if that’s something that we would be able to take advantage of and incorporate anything at W-League and what opportunities we could afford to NCAA , universities or how we could take advantage of that. Either way, that’s interesting that that’s on the table for discussion with NCAA right now.
But in terms of where it brings us, if we add a level within the W-League or if it were a separate fully-professional league altogether – again, not at a Division 1 level - but just a league that allows for a longer season and does allow for players to be paid. That’s what we’re discussing and that’s what eventually we hope to have, that determination on what’s going to be best for longevity, stability.
We recognize that this isn’t the best of economical times, so we want to make sure that whatever decisions we make, that while we do meet the needs of all of our owners, we’re also keeping everyone in a very clear and stable situation and don’t jeopardize anyone’s ability to continue operating.
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