> not to mention expansion of women's soccer ... It might make me fall in love with the game, however, because I have seen how relegation is a high stakes event for teams and the fans
England in particular's struggled with pro/rel in the women's game because from a financial sustainability standpoint, there's effectively no place to promote from or relegate to -- if you aren't Liverpool or Man United, promotion can be a financial bullet to the head. And if you're Liverpool, the stakes of relegation are next to nil, but if you're Doncaster, the stakes are utter destruction and demotion past the second and third tiers because of unattainable financial requirements. (Mexico's leagues, men's and women's, have had similar problems with pro/rel.)
The US has a similar, more systemic problem on the women's side. Even with new pro second-division leagues starting, our real women's second division is the NCAA, with all the legal baggage that carries.
Amusingly, Chelsea's women's coach thinks England's league should look into the US model without pro/rel: https://www.90min.com/posts/emma-hayes-wsl-should-be-open-fr...
England in particular's struggled with pro/rel in the women's game because from a financial sustainability standpoint, there's effectively no place to promote from or relegate to -- if you aren't Liverpool or Man United, promotion can be a financial bullet to the head. And if you're Liverpool, the stakes of relegation are next to nil, but if you're Doncaster, the stakes are utter destruction and demotion past the second and third tiers because of unattainable financial requirements. (Mexico's leagues, men's and women's, have had similar problems with pro/rel.)
The US has a similar, more systemic problem on the women's side. Even with new pro second-division leagues starting, our real women's second division is the NCAA, with all the legal baggage that carries.