7 Things To Seek When Selecting A League For Your Team

1. VISIBILITY – You want your team, which is your business, somewhere it will get national recognition. It makes your players proud, builds your fan base, increases awareness of women’s professional football, and most importantly gives your organization great selling points for sponsors. In 2004 the Women’s Professional Football League was featured on The Dennis Miller Show, CNBC, CNN, Blind Date, Voice of America, Business Sports Weekly, and EBONY. Not to mention the various local news publications around the United States.

2. PARTICIPATION – Whether it’s owning a gourmet restaurant or a 7-11, wouldn’t it make sense that you would want a voice in what happens in your business, which in turn is your time and money? The Women’s Professional Football League is operated by a Board of Directors that is comprised of members from each team (IE: ownership or a GM). The Board is overseen by a league commissioner. The Executive chairs, in the league IE: The Executive Director, are voted in by YOU, the Board, each year, the WPFL is truly run by its members.

3. FINANCIAL FREEDOM – Shouldn’t you get to decide where your organization purchases equipment, etc? Shouldn’t you get a vote in where your league fees go, what the league budget is set up for? Shouldn’t you get to keep all of the sponsorship money your team solidifies? The Women’s Professional Football league still remains the only league that has an “open book” policy on the league’s financial status and spending. Each year the league Treasurer provides each Board member with a proposed budget for the year, the Board votes on not only the proposal, but any future spending and fund raising. The league also does not require an organization to give the league a percentage of the sponsorship funds a team acquires. In fact, if an individual team provides the WPFL marketing team with a solid lead, which turns into a league sponsor, the league gives the TEAM a percentage!

4. ASSISTANCE – Wouldn’t you want to be in a league that provides continual assistance towards your success? In the Women’s Professional Football League, we want you to be successful, because it keeps the league successful. The league has Executive Chairs that assist in media and team local and national promotion, we set you up with a “sister team”, and the WPFL offers different options to come into the league, to ensure your first year is a success, and almost guarantee your teams future growth thereafter. The league also, has a Marketing team to assist each team with promotion and sponsorship. The marketing team also works continually in solidifying league wide sponsors that will assist not only the league, but each team.

5. OWNERSHIP SCREENING – Imagine that you invested in a franchise, that the corporate office’s goal was simply “More”. Imagine that you had a team that was on your home schedule, that didn’t show up because they were just not financially secure; you had to refund tickets, sponsors, etc. We have all heard the saying, quality, not quantity. In the Women’s Professional Football League, we go through a very thorough investigation so not only are our new potential owners financially prepared for the “worst case scenario”, but they also have a clear background investigation, and they are prepared for what is ahead of them. This not only protects the league, but it protects you and your established sister teams from something like the above example happening, and ensuring that the WPFL is recruiting the up most in quality ownership.

6. FOUNDATION – We have all done it, reached for a cotton swab and called it a Q-Tip. Why, because consumers, fans and sponsors, always best associate with an original. You should want your business with a league that has a solid foundation of longevity. Not only is the Women’s Professional Football League the original women’s pro football league, they are the longest operating women’s professional sports league in the NATION! Putting the WPFL even ahead of the WNBA.

7. FOOTBALL SEASON – Would you start a water ski team in December, or better yet how well do you think the NBA would go over in October, during the NFL season? Football season is football season. Why, because football fans are different. They are the fans that look forward to a game in the rain, and stay to cheer on their team in a blizzard. They are the fans that save all year to be a continued season ticket holder. The fans that know the college teams as well as the pros. Just look at the high school in your area, are there as many baseball stands as there are football, and which high school sport year after year gets the most attendance…football. Because football fans look forward to “football season”, and nine times out of ten will watch anyone competitively play a football game during football season. So why would you start a women’s football team, in any other season, than football season? The Women’s Professional Football League is the only women’s pro football league that runs their season in…football season.

For information on how YOU can have a team in the WPFL for 2006 please contact the Director of Team Expansion, Norman Killion at 262.496.9788.

OFTEN IMITATED, NEVER DUPLICATED…THE WPFL, IT’S ALL IN THE NAME.