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MLS playing a key role Groups scramble to organize Women's World CupPosted: Wednesday July 16, 2003 6:31 PM
If it seems to be an anomaly that the 2003 Women's World Cup will be run by the men's professional soccer league, the commissioner of said league is quick to refute that notion. "There's a perception out there that MLS is managing the Women's World Cup, and that's entirely untrue," says MLS commissioner Don Garber. "The Women's World Cup is being managed by U.S. Soccer and [Secretary General] Dan Flynn. A team of people in the soccer community, including members of Major League Soccer and our teams, and employees of SUM, will be part of that project team." The SUM/MLS/WWC alliance is a difficult one to untangle, especially since there are actually two SUMs: Soccer United Marketing and Soccer United Media. Garber serves as CEO of both. Soccer United Marketing was formed last year to market MLS as well as any other soccer properties that may be acquired. Its operations are funded by the three MLS investor groups: Anschutz Entertainment Group, Hunt Sports Group and Kraft Soccer. Soccer United Media is a 50-50 joint venture between the other SUM and Dentsu, the Japanese marketing agency that invested in the startup of the league and nearly bought the San Jose Clash in 1998 as part of a consortium that included league founder Alan Rothenberg. DENTSU CONNECTION. A Dentsu employee, Haruyuki Takahashi, sits on the MLS Board of Governors. For the purpose of the Women's World Cup, Dentsu is a particularly valuable partner since it has had a long-standing relationship with FIFA and many of its sponsors. MLS chief operating officer Mark Abbott and executive vice president Mark Noonan devote the majority of their time to Soccer United Marketing projects. "We have a staff of eight or nine with plans to staff up fairly significantly in the next few weeks," says Garber. "We downsized a bit after the men's World Cup and very quickly we're going to have to upsize, I guess." Soccer United Marketing and the ABC and ESPN networks entered into a five-year agreement in 2002 to broadcast MLS games. Included in the package were the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and 2003 Women's World Cup. The Sports Business Journal reported that FIFA's decision to move the 2003 Women's World Cup from China to the U.S. prompted SUM to raise the prices it is asking for sponsorship packages by as much as 50 percent. Prices for bronze, silver and gold television ad packages will range from $500,000 to $2 million. Says Garber, "Will we be able to generate more revenue with that package? If we had it a year ago, absolutely. With 90 days to sell it, there's no guarantee." NO GRANDIOSE ILLUSIONS. Despite those hefty figures, Garber says he has no grandiose illusions of MLS and SUM making a large profit from the Women's World Cup. The 1999 event generated a profit of $2 million with a budget of approximately $29 million; the budget for 2003 hasn't been confirmed. A price tag of about $15 million has been projected internally but not finalized. With the games in China, a package of between 10 and 13 TV games had been planned. That number has increased to 18 and could be larger. "From a scheduling standpoint, we did have games in the middle of the night," says Garber. "Now we have games in the middle of prime time, and that has affected our schedule with ESPN and in some cases our team schedules." MLS games could be moved to accommodate USA '03, which will consist entirely of doubleheaders. In 1999, all games through the quarterfinals were tournament doubleheaders; the semis were coupled with MLS July 4 games. The final and third-place game were staged together. Garber confirmed that shifting dates from the original Sept. 23-Oct. 11 schedule have been discussed. Adding another weekend on the front end (Sept. 20-21) might depend on whether ABC can clear air time to televise the first U.S. game. Moving the final to Oct. 12, to avoid ABC conflicts with college football, has also been proposed. All 32 games of the 1999 WWC were televised domestically, but nobody is predicting that will happen this time around. The fall sports TV schedule is packed with college football, as well as baseball playoffs, in contrast to the rather barren summer menu of late June-early July during which the '99 tournament was played. As a rough guide to who will do what, Garber says SUM will sell the TV advertising and sponsorship packages, the MLS teams will handle ticket sales and distribution in their MLS markets, and operations will be organized and administered by U.S. Soccer with assistance from MLS and WUSA personnel. The U.S. Soccer Foundation, based in Washington, will work on security and government issues. REACHING THE '99 AUDIENCE. Garber admits prime-time television exposure and related coverage will enable MLS to market its own product to audiences it has had trouble reaching: the predominantly young and female WUSA core fan group, as well as the American public that was swept away in 1999. "There may be some of that, but it's not a selfish agenda as it relates to receiving benefit for Major League Soccer and its players," says Garber. "It wouldn't be worth the work and the commitment that we're making. "This is not something our teams are going to make money on. If the games end up going to RFK [Stadium], our [D.C. United] staff and the Freedom's staff are going to sell tickets, and they're going to do it because it's the right thing to do for the sport. It's not something our teams are being paid to do." Ridge Mahoney is a senior editor at Soccer America magazine. |
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