It is the end for Women's Professional Soccer and some might even believe -- given the dissolution of the similarly high-hoped W-USA after three seasons, back in 2003 -- the end of women's professional soccer in northern North America altogether. It's been a very long 13 years since Brandi Chastain's sports-bra moment, after all.
So, why did this happen? And, more importantly from our perspective, what does it mean for the Canadian women's national team?
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For the immediate future, it doesn't have much impact on Big Red's preparations for this summer's Olympics. With WPS's 2012 season already nixed, the members of Canada's WPS contingent had already found new clubs or were taking part in the national team's extended training camp in Vancouver.
Vancouver, in fact, has been a major destination for members of the Canadian women's national team; the Whitecaps women's team boasts seven current senior national-team members, and a number of Canadian youngsters likely to make the jump in the years ahead.
The Whitecaps play in the USL's W-League, along with teams in seven other Canadian cities: Victoria, Ottawa, London, Hamilton, Toronto, Laval and Quebec City. Two of those -- Victoria and Toronto -- are affiliated with men's clubs in the USL's PDL. The W-League, like the PDL, is a development league. In other words, the W-League isn't a substitute for WPS, as it isn't professional.
But it is a league that gives young players the chance to play along more experienced ones, while maintaining their collegiate eligibility (still a very important element of the northern North American soccer pyramid).
None of that answers the question of what the long-term future holds for standout Canadians who'd been in WPS for several years -- such as Christine Sinclair and Karina LeBlanc -- or the countless other female players hoping to make (somewhat of) a living through the game. Some members of the Canadian team ply their trade in Scandinavian leagues, which seem to enjoy a decent amount of stability and support. But what about the opportunities on this continent? What about players who can't commit to going overseas?
Those, unfortunately, are not answers that anyone has at this point.
Which brings us back to the first question: Why did WPS fold? The easy answer would be that they became embroiled in a legal dispute with a former owner whose erratic behaviour was deemed unacceptable by the rest of the league. But then, a league that's on solid, sustainable footing generally doesn't disappear when one owner decides to go rogue.
It sounds like oversimplification, but the biggest issue for the women's game is the biggest issue for the men's game, and for every other organization and entity on the planet: The almighty dollar.
WPS folded because not enough people invested in it. That ranges from small investments (individual fans paying for tickets) to large investments (corporations and wealthy individuals purchasing teams and/or advertising). This is to take nothing away from the sincere passion of those who have been involved -- and, indeed, some great things were accomplished by the people who were willing to invest: The first-ever stadium dedicated to women's soccer opened near Atlanta in 2010.
It's no surprise, then, to see T. Fitz Johnson -- owner of the Atlanta franchise -- as the one quoted in the above-linked ESPN story as saying, "We sincerely regret having to take this course of action" in relation to WPS's dissolution.
The problem was not with T. Fitz Johnson, or the myriad other people who invested their emotion, time and money into making WPS work. The problem, quite simply and unfortunately, was that at the end of the day, there weren't enough people like them.
That, undeniably, is extremely frustrating. But it's also not a unique experience. On the men's side, followers of the domestic game (both on the club and national-team level) have scraped and clawed for years (and continue to do so) to convince people who love the game of soccer (either playing it, or watching some overseas version) to love the sport of soccer in northern North America.
When the old North American Soccer League was able to attract stars such as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer to these shores, it seemed all was surely well. Attendance was solid overall, and occasionally through the roof (the Montreal Manic drew 58,542 fans to a playoff game in 1981, a record that was only beaten this past weekend). Yet, after 17 seasons -- despite the best intentions of so many people -- the league went belly-up.
Much like with WPS, the reason was seemingly straightforward: Too much expansion, too quickly. You can chalk that up to greed, poor planning or any other number of factors, but ultimately it's the same underlying problem: The almighty dollar. Too much going out, not enough coming in.
Major League Soccer is now in its 17th season. Barring some near-unfathomable catastrophe, the league will surpass the old NASL in terms of longevity. But it hasn't been easy. With the relatively recent arrival of David Beckham, "MLS 2.0" and nationwide TV contracts, some could be forgiven for thinking MLS has always been as stable and ascendant as it is now. Long-time, long-suffering fans of the league will quickly remind newcomers that it wasn't.
While the single-entity structure is often derided these days, it's also credited for ensuring that MLS didn't go the way of its predecessor. Lessons learned, progress made. Whether WPS learned from the lessons of its predecessor, it's tough to say, as the comparison isn't direct -- the Dan Borislow situation helped derail whatever progress the league may have been making, or momentum they may have been collecting.
Still, to treat WPS's demise as the endpoint of any dreams of a vibrant professional women's league in northern North America would be foolhardy. True, the chorus of "soccer's breakthrough moment in North America is just around the corner" has been ringing for decades now. And perhaps interest in the domestic game will never match or exceed interest in faraway leagues.
But the financial health of MLS is evident in the number of new, soccer-specific stadia being built, opened and packed to the brim with merchandise-wearing fans, and in the jockeying being done between multiple cities for the league's coveted 20th franchise.
There are differences between the men's game and the women's game. This can't be disputed. But another indisputable point is that Canada and the U.S. are teeming with people who love soccer. People who may not currently consider women's soccer their cup of tea, but who could be brought around to the realization that, at the end of the day, 22 people kicking a ball around is pretty awesome, no matter where you are or who's playing.
That, though, takes time, investment and -- considering the quick rise and fall of WUSA and WPS -- a different model. What that model is, and where that investment will come from, it's impossible to say right now.
But in the same way MLS came about due to the 1994 men's World Cup, perhaps the 2015 Women's World Cup can light a new spark on this continent. That spark won't be lit in one defining, magazine-worthy celebratory moment after a penalty kick. It will be lit in the years of buildup, as corporations and wealthy individuals continue to see returns on their investments in the game of soccer. And it will be fueled further if WWC2015 is successful in the most important way: On the balance sheet.
No one can say what the next incarnation of women's professional soccer in northern North America will look like, or when it will arrive. But the history teaches us that the day will come.
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