WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci has announced that she will be stepping down at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Antonucci has been the guiding force behind the launching and development of the league since inception. She has led the league from its very beginnings, through the first season, and expansion. She helped secure sponsorships with PUMA and Citi and negotiated a deal with Fox Soccer Channel. Over the course of the past couple of years, the league has seen strong growth in sponsorships and partnerships under her leadership. She has also helped the league navigate through the demise of two franchises.
WPS General Counsel Anne-Marie Eileraas will take the title of CEO, Women's Professional Soccer. She will work with the WPS board, heading up the business and organizational aspects of WPS, while the board will deal more with the strategic direction of the league.
"Commissioner Antonucci's contributions to this league and to women's soccer on the whole are too numerous to list," said T. Fitz Johnson, Chairman of the WPS Board of Governors. "No other person did more to bring this league from idea to fruition over the past six years than she did. WPS would not be here without Tonya Antonucci and without her tireless work and unending passion for launching this league."
"The Board is incredibly excited that Anne-Marie Eileraas has accepted our offer to take over from the Commissioner as the CEO of Women's Professional Soccer."
Best wishes on future endeavors to Commissioner Antonucci. Congratulations and good luck to Ms. Eileraas in her new position.
FC Gold Pride Presented with Regular Season Championship Trophy
Commissioner Tonya Antonucci presented FC Gold Pride with the regular season championship trophy before Saturday's match at Pioneer Stadium. It was presented to club owners Nancy and Brian NeSmith of FC Gold Pride.
The trophy was passed to general manager Ilisa Kessler, head coach Albertin Montoya, and captain Rachel Buehler before the the entire team was photographed with it.
FC Gold Pride finished with a 16-3-5 record and 53 points, 17 points ahead of 2nd place Boston. They will host the WPS Championship presented by Citi on September 26.
Solo Fined and Suspended for Twitter Remarks
Atlanta Beat goalkeeper Hope Solo has been fined and suspended by the WPS Disciplinary Committee for Twitter remarks following the Beat's 1-0 loss to the Washington Freedom on Saturday. She has been suspended for one game and fined $2500. Additionally, she will be required to do 8 hours of community service. She was deemed to have made "prejudicial statements and public criticism" which is covered by Section 13.1.3 of the League Operations Manual.
Solo openly criticized officials during several tweets after the Beat/Freedom match and appeared to question the objectivity of both the officials and the league. She will have seven days to appeal the suspension and community service and 30 days to appeal the fine.
Showing posts with label Tonya Antonucci. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tonya Antonucci. Show all posts
September 14, 2010
May 27, 2010
Athletica Folds
Saint Louis Athletica has discontinued operations and folded. Founding owner Jeff Cooper released the following statement concerning the team today:
“The termination of Saint Louis Athletica is a painful outcome from the funding shortfalls and ultimate default by the investors who had the obligation to fund and operate the team on a day-to-day basis. I’ve given this matter my complete attention since returning to a more active role in the last few weeks, and numerous parties have spent a lot of hours during that time exploring what options or solutions might be available. Despite best efforts, nothing was found that would answer the immediate needs of the franchise. With more time, it is possible the answer to the financial challenges Athletica faced would have been met, but unfortunately we do not have the benefit of extra time. The investors who defaulted on a contract to fund Athletica through this season and beyond broke a promise to a league, team, players and a community, and that is what is most troubling about today’s development. I am grateful for everyone’s support of Athletica and am particularly appreciative of our players who represented the sport and our community with such class and spirit.
Despite the disappointing outcome with Saint Louis Athletica, we continue to work hard on securing the long-term future of AC St. Louis.”
WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci made the following statement regarding Athletica's demise:
“It’s incredibly difficult to lose a team in mid-season like this. We looked at a few options as a league together with our Board and U.S. Soccer, but the operational hurdles and finances just didn’t work out. In the face of a severe funding gap in St. Louis, the local ownership group is shutting down the team at this point.”
The loss of Athletica brings WPS back down to 7 teams, which is the number of teams that started last season. However, the loss of perhaps the league's two marquee franchises, the Los Angeles Sol and Saint Louis Athletica, within 5 months does not bode well for the league. The two teams finished 1st and 2nd in the 2009 regular season with a combined record of 22-9-9, while the rest of the league's combined record was only 31-44-25. Athletica was only in 5th place in 2010, but were the only team to have defeated the top two teams, FC Gold Pride and Philadelphia Independence.
To make matters worse, three of Athletica's players, Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama, and Tina DiMartino, have had to go through this twice in a very short period of time.
“This is a setback, but it’s one individual franchise and the loss of a team is an unfortunate reality of pro sports,” said Antonucci. “We’ll continue to have great games and an exciting season for our fans. The solid foundation that we built in 2009 is there. We have the same number of teams that we had last year during a successful first season. We’ll get through this stronger and keep moving the league and business forward.”
While it should be stressed that the Saint Louis financial situation is isolated from WPS as a whole, we also heard similar comments about the strength of the league going forward when the Los Angeles Sol folded just four short months ago.
In addition, it is a major blow to soccer in the city of St. Louis. Once thought to be a frontrunner for an MLS franchise, the city has now lost one soccer team and may eventually lose their NASL team if things don't improve. There appears to be an inability to find a responsible ownership group in St. Louis and support thus far has been less than hoped. Quite frankly, the city's credibility as a major soccer town is crumbling.
Saint Louis Athletica will not play any further matches and Athletica's players will become free agents as of June 1. The scramble to sign free agents which will ensue could create a bit of chaos of its own in the middle of a season. Unless roster sizes are increased by the league, several players on the remaining WPS franchises will be losing their jobs. One also has to wonder about the financial ability of those teams to sign free agents if they are already at the limits of their budget.
The league will reconfigure the 2010 schedule shortly and it will be released next week.
“The termination of Saint Louis Athletica is a painful outcome from the funding shortfalls and ultimate default by the investors who had the obligation to fund and operate the team on a day-to-day basis. I’ve given this matter my complete attention since returning to a more active role in the last few weeks, and numerous parties have spent a lot of hours during that time exploring what options or solutions might be available. Despite best efforts, nothing was found that would answer the immediate needs of the franchise. With more time, it is possible the answer to the financial challenges Athletica faced would have been met, but unfortunately we do not have the benefit of extra time. The investors who defaulted on a contract to fund Athletica through this season and beyond broke a promise to a league, team, players and a community, and that is what is most troubling about today’s development. I am grateful for everyone’s support of Athletica and am particularly appreciative of our players who represented the sport and our community with such class and spirit.
Despite the disappointing outcome with Saint Louis Athletica, we continue to work hard on securing the long-term future of AC St. Louis.”
WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci made the following statement regarding Athletica's demise:
“It’s incredibly difficult to lose a team in mid-season like this. We looked at a few options as a league together with our Board and U.S. Soccer, but the operational hurdles and finances just didn’t work out. In the face of a severe funding gap in St. Louis, the local ownership group is shutting down the team at this point.”
The loss of Athletica brings WPS back down to 7 teams, which is the number of teams that started last season. However, the loss of perhaps the league's two marquee franchises, the Los Angeles Sol and Saint Louis Athletica, within 5 months does not bode well for the league. The two teams finished 1st and 2nd in the 2009 regular season with a combined record of 22-9-9, while the rest of the league's combined record was only 31-44-25. Athletica was only in 5th place in 2010, but were the only team to have defeated the top two teams, FC Gold Pride and Philadelphia Independence.
To make matters worse, three of Athletica's players, Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama, and Tina DiMartino, have had to go through this twice in a very short period of time.
“This is a setback, but it’s one individual franchise and the loss of a team is an unfortunate reality of pro sports,” said Antonucci. “We’ll continue to have great games and an exciting season for our fans. The solid foundation that we built in 2009 is there. We have the same number of teams that we had last year during a successful first season. We’ll get through this stronger and keep moving the league and business forward.”
While it should be stressed that the Saint Louis financial situation is isolated from WPS as a whole, we also heard similar comments about the strength of the league going forward when the Los Angeles Sol folded just four short months ago.
In addition, it is a major blow to soccer in the city of St. Louis. Once thought to be a frontrunner for an MLS franchise, the city has now lost one soccer team and may eventually lose their NASL team if things don't improve. There appears to be an inability to find a responsible ownership group in St. Louis and support thus far has been less than hoped. Quite frankly, the city's credibility as a major soccer town is crumbling.
Saint Louis Athletica will not play any further matches and Athletica's players will become free agents as of June 1. The scramble to sign free agents which will ensue could create a bit of chaos of its own in the middle of a season. Unless roster sizes are increased by the league, several players on the remaining WPS franchises will be losing their jobs. One also has to wonder about the financial ability of those teams to sign free agents if they are already at the limits of their budget.
The league will reconfigure the 2010 schedule shortly and it will be released next week.
April 7, 2010
Commissioner Antonucci Gives Positive Outlook in Kick-Off Conference
In a Kick-Off Week conference call, WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci gave a very positive outlook for the league's present and future, while acknowledging the challenge of overcoming a weak economy. Among the key points in her address:
1) Season ticket sales are up nearly 20% for returning teams.
2) Local sponsors are up about 150% on average.
3) Four teams have announced jersey sponsors already this year.
4) WPS hopes to improve attendance numbers by 5-10% over last year's 4600 average.
5) WPS is launching a new ad campaign, "Defend Your Turf" this kick-off weekend.
The commissioner cited other key developments including the partnership with Citi as the WPS's first league-wide jersey sponsor, expanding to a 24-game schedule into September, the launch of two expansion franchises in Philadelphia and Atlanta, the opening of a new soccer-specific stadium in Atlanta, and the growth of an international presence in the league with 19 countries now being represented.
The 2010 WPS season kicks off Saturday, April 10 in Washington with the Breakers taking on the Freedom. This is followed by 3 games on Sunday, April 11. The two expansion teams, the Atlanta Beat and the Philadelphia Independence face off in West Chester. Marta and FC Gold Pride travel to Saint Louis to face Athletica. Finally, the Chicago Red Stars travel to New Jersey to face defending champions Sky Blue FC in a nationally televised game on Fox Soccer Channel.
March 12, 2010
WPS Announces New Partnership with Citi
Women's Professional Soccer has announced a new founding partner, Citi. The global financial services giant joins PUMA, a founding partner in the WPS inaugural season. The Citi logo will appear on the back of all team jerseys, just below the number. This represents a major breakthrough for WPS, their first national jersey sponsor.
“Given our global reach, Citi is thrilled to contribute to the growth of the world's most popular game here in the United States,” said Mark Ingall, Citi Managing Director, Global Strategic Media. “More and more Americans, including millions of women and girls, play and follow the game. This partnership will be an effective platform to attract and retain customers, including young women and families in local communities across the country. We are very pleased to support these tremendous athletes and their passionate fans."
“We are proud to welcome Citi into the WPS family,” said Commissioner Antonucci. “Our national partners are so vital to the growth of our league and helping spread the message that women’s professional soccer is a world class product that is here for everyone to enjoy in the long term.”
“Given our global reach, Citi is thrilled to contribute to the growth of the world's most popular game here in the United States,” said Mark Ingall, Citi Managing Director, Global Strategic Media. “More and more Americans, including millions of women and girls, play and follow the game. This partnership will be an effective platform to attract and retain customers, including young women and families in local communities across the country. We are very pleased to support these tremendous athletes and their passionate fans."
“We are proud to welcome Citi into the WPS family,” said Commissioner Antonucci. “Our national partners are so vital to the growth of our league and helping spread the message that women’s professional soccer is a world class product that is here for everyone to enjoy in the long term.”
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