By Zach Baru
With ticket sales booming after the U.S. Women's soccer team made their run to the FIFA World Cup final, the Boston Breakers find themselves in an interesting situation. Women's soccer interest nationwide is the highest it's been since the 1999 World Cup win, and the Breakers must take advantage of all of the added attention to their sport. With the unstable condition of their league, Women's Professional Soccer, this is certainly an important time for the Breakers franchise.
WPS, in it's third season, came close to canceling the 2011 season. With only six teams competing this season, the league no longer has it's west coast franchises. With the current state of the league, it is essential that the Breakers use this current boost in interest for women's soccer to their advantage.
So the question is, what has the Breakers' marketing done to capture this interest? The answer is, unfortunately, nothing. Plain and simple. They have failed to put themselves in position to turn the increased interest into new fans. This is sad news to not just Breakers fans, but Revolution fans as well. Having attention to both the women's and the men's teams is important for creating a strong foundation for a soccer community.
What the Breakers need, starts and ends with the media. Their media presence has certainly seen an increase from the World Cup, but it is still far from where it needs to be. Team news, game recaps, and of course, game broadcasts, are no where near where they should be.
Without media attention, not only will people forget about the team, but more importantly, they will not believe the team is worth watching. And this becomes an enormous problem for the Breakers. Since a solid broadcasting contract does not happen overnight, this can certainly take a season or two to happen. However, in the short term, stronger media coverage can be accomplished. Having the media mention upcoming games, scores, news and showing highlights is much needed.
During such an exciting time for women's soccer, the Breakers seemed to rely only on the efforts of fans themselves to join in. The opportunity this World Cup provided was just too great to call the Breakers' efforts satisfying. However, it is not too late. The interest in women's soccer has peaked to a point where the Breakers must capitalize, and turn it into an interest of their own.
Zach Baru can be followed on Twitter @zbaru and reached at zachbaru@gmail.com.
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