The Women’s Professional Soccer league lives on but it will do so without one of its seven remaining franchises.
The Chicago Red Stars will suspend operations for the 2011 season after failing to meet funding requirements set forth by the struggling league. The WPS will play its reduced schedule with only six squads.
Red Stars part-owner Arnim Whisler told the Associated Press that some investors were “scared away”
The team will attempt to return in 2012, which is great… except for the fact that the entire league may not exist beyond this year. They may get a boost from the Women’s World Cup this summer, but success in the international game might not translate to ticket sales and sponsorship money for WPS.
In the meantime, the Red Stars management hopes to find places for its players to play.
“We will work with our players to help them find teams quickly while the free market is in full swing,” Whisler said.
That’s a lovely sentiment, but there’s currently a glut of female soccer talent who need jobs. The Red Stars are the fourth team to disband in the past year, leaving a flooded market. The best (read: most marketable) couple players – members of the United States national team – will land jobs, but the rest of the roster will struggle to latch on to a club.