October 30 – “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound.” –Can the same be said for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) & Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup?
The tournament concluded on Friday with the Kansas City Current defeating NJ/NY Gotham FC 2-0 in front of an announced crowd of 3,668. Other than the crowd, it seems as though the football world just didn’t care for a tournament pitting two of the world’s fastest-growing women’s leagues.
Adding to the lack of gravity surrounding the match was the fact that NWSL commissioner, Jessica Berman, skipped the game along with sponsor executives.
The concept of this tournament, which feels like an echo of MLS’s Leagues Cup, was discussed internally before becoming a reality this year. While addressing the needs of multi-national competition, the fact that only six Mexican teams joined the 14 clubs from the NWSL created a lopsided tournament.
“The Summer Cup lacked organization and a proper connection between both leagues, as it was very one-sided towards the NWSL,” said one Liga MX Femenil source who was granted anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the tournament.
They added: “The Mexican league is professional and can offer many interesting perspectives, but it seems the NWSL way was the only way, which meant the Mexican teams had to learn how things are done in the USA and we were the ones who had to adapt to their way of doing things.”
Along with this imbalance, logistical issues also played a part with many of the matches staged in the USA and not Mexico. With teams south of the border beginning league play in July, many of the clubs were forced to play multiple matches per week, while also travelling thousands of miles.
With stadium costs rising, several NWSL teams elected to play matches at alternative venues, including eventual finalists Gotham, who played their matches in Philadelphia.
One NWSL team executive described the Summer Cup as “a total bust” that lost a lot of money due to low ticket sales and poor advertising.
The Challenge Cup was created as a competition to salvage the 2020 season during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it morphed into a preseason tournament in 2021 and 2022 before becoming a season-long cup competition last year.
In the last edition of this tournament, each player on the winning team received a $10,000 base prize, plus appearance bonuses. This year the money on offer was substantially reduced with a $3,500 prize was awarded to each player on the winning team.
Unless this event sees better marketing, promotion, and respect, it’s hard to see sponsors chasing good money after bad.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1734895036labto1734895036ofdlr1734895036owedi1734895036sni@o1734895036fni1734895036