uruloki’s lair

So, it turns out that no one watches women’s soccer, and they had to close the doors.

Translation: not enough customers watched the matches to draw business, and selling 10s of Mia Hamm shirts wasn’t apparently enough. However, that is not the conclusion that the mainstream media is drawing. Labeling it the “most important story in Tuesday’s paper,” Graham Hayes of ESPN thinks that the demise of WUSA “leaves [a] void in sports.” Fortunately, the entire article, while bemoaning the loss, serves up the very reasons that it should have folded and highlights the problems. Apparently, no where was it about making a product that people wanted, which is essential in America, the land of consumers. If it wasn’t about “who scored the most goals,” it missed that fundamental aspect of sports that is combat and competition: sports highlight the abilities and achievements of individuals within the context of a team. What do we remember about the NBA in the 90’s? Michael Jordan and the Bulls, not the Bulls featuring Michael Jordan. 90% of the people in the US couldn’t tell you who plays for the San Francisco Giants other than Barry Bonds. Hayes in fact admits that when he says, But I thought it wasn’t about that? Hayes believes that WUSA provided something that was missing for young girls. I propose that it still does: a lesson in economics and reality. If people don’t want something, it should not be kept around to waste resources. If people want something, they don’t care who makes it, whether man, woman, or other division of interest. When a product blows through $100 million in 3 seasons, it may be time to reevaluate the business model. (Don’t use Amazon as an argument, even with an overall negative cash flow, is still moving billions of dollars worth of merchandise and equity. The overall losses are in low percentage points, while WUSA was nearly 90% loss.) When your initial investment is for a 5 year plan, and you blow it in 3, you have serious problems. Even commissioners from other women’s sports don’t support Haye’s contention that “some things are more important than the bottom line.” Of course, there isn’t any acknowledgement of the wonderful experiment that was WUSA, just more moaning about not enough positive examples for females in some area of life. I mean, America is so great that we spend $100 MILLION dollars for women to play soccer (not exactly the most popular sport in the US), which is close to the GDP of some countries (source). There’s more, but once again, I have done enough damage for one night.

Tags: Stupid people //