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Taking a Peek at the Women's Pro Football Leagues

© Michelle Parke

It's like déjà vu, almost. The football rage is catching and not just with the XFL and Arena football. The women are getting in the game at the pro level as well. There are two leagues for women's pro football, just like there were two pro women's basketball leagues a few years ago. We saw one of those basketball leagues succeed and one fold within three years. The WNBA is growing and is proving to be successful not only through ticket sales but also promoting the game of women's basketball and reaching its growing fan base. Can women's football find this kind of success? That is the $64,000 question.

Currently the Women's Professional Football League (WPFL) is in the middle of its inaugural season. As with any start-up league, it has its share of ups and downs. There have been problems with uniforms and issues about pay and contracts. However, this is to be expected with unchartered territory. On the flip side, the league can boast some great talent.

The National Women's Football League (NWFL) is still in the formation stage and is scheduled to launch in March. This league is planning to have tams in cities where the WPFL has not set up camp as of yet. For the past few months, the NWFL has been holding try-outs for its teams on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

Unlike the WNBA and the ABL, these leagues are not backed by the NFL. This means neither league has the access to the money, marketing or connections like the WNBA did with its brother, the NBA. Neither football league has television exposure yet. The ABL relied on grassroots marketing and a strong, consistent fan base to sustain the league's short-lived existence. The ABL had little television exposure and this is one reason why the league, which could have boasted stronger talent than the WNBA, did not succeed. The WNBA, on the other hand, has strong television deals with NBC and Lifetime. The WPFL and the NWFL can learn from its basketball sisters. Television and media exposure is critical to an infant league. It will reach those fans who want to support women's football and can help ticket and merchandise sales. In addition, it can reach potential sponsors who may not have heard about this great investment opportunity. Women's sports are growing rapidly and American businesses have finally realized women's sports fans are a vital consumer base and women's sports are marketable.