WPS Playoff Format - Weigh in Here

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Permalink Reply by K C on January 28, 2009 at 4:21pm

I like a lot of things about the new playoff format. It rewards the first place team from the regular season by putting them in the final. It gives three different cities a chance to host a playoff game. It makes the 3rd and 4th place teams have to win 3 games to win the championship. It gives the 1st place team time to sell tickets and build up the championship game.

The only drawbacks I see is if the gap between the regular season and final is too long, the 1st place team may get rusty and lose their edge. The other drawback is that it's going to be hard to sell tickets to the first playoff game (3 vs. 4) if the teams don't find out until the last weekend who will finish where. It may give you only a few days to sell tickets for the first game.

I like the terminology of Challenger Match-->Championship Match (or WPS Cup Match), but I'm not sure about the Qualifying Match name. I can't think of anything better at the moment.

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Permalink Reply by chevy on January 28, 2009 at 5:53pm

I am unfamilar with this formate so I am curious to see it in action. The only potential drawback I can see is as KC already noted that the #1 seed might get a bit flat with so much time off between matches. I think this formate actually favors the #2 seed more than anybody else because they get a home match, a rest and they don't have too much time off to lose their edge. To benefit the #1 seed I think the club manager of the #1 seed would need to schedule a friendly to keep their squad sharp.

As far as the names of the rounds:
I like these
Preliminary Round--> Championship Qualifier--> WPS Championship Match

I don't think Cup should be used in case the league decides to schedule a Cup series during the season at some point. I thought I heard Tonya mention that awhile back.

I don't like the use of semi-final when it does not apply to 2 matches. It seems too much like having a quarter-final with 3 matches. It just seems odd.

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Permalink Reply by gollumsmeagol on January 29, 2009 at 7:28am

I am excited that the WPS is trying to reward regular season excellence, making the season that much more intense, as teams try to achieve the best record possible. It will help keep excitement high for all matches.

I like chevy's suggestions for "Preliminary Round--> Championship Qualifier--> WPS Championship Match."

Personally, I propose the idea of (in lieu of an All-star game), have the first place team play an exhibition againt a team of all-stars from the non-playoff teams. This could be done the same wekend as the Championship Qualifier match. That way , the first place team gets a week off, a non-elimination match against great players, and a warm-up for the Championship match. It also is an additional showcase for the league and the great players whose teams may have had a down year.

Jonathan N.

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Permalink Reply by StarCityFan on January 29, 2009 at 9:09am

What everyone else is saying: It's great that the regular season championship will really count for something. I always felt that the Freedom's WUSA championship was just a little bit bogus since all they really had to do to win it was be a (barely) above average team during the regular season, then go on a two-game winning streak, admittedly on the road against tough competition.

The long layoff for the champs would be the only concern, but gollumsmeagol's idea of a Champion vs. non-playoff all-stars match to fill the interval sounds like an interesting idea.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Jeleniewski on January 29, 2009 at 5:21pm

I like this format. It gives everyone in the league a chance for 4th place.

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Permalink Reply by WPS on January 29, 2009 at 6:41pm

Thanks for the thought so far! all great points, we really appreciate the feedback.

To clarify, the games have been named:
First Round --> Super SemiFinal --> WPS Cup --> WPS Champion

if you're interested in exploring more, our wps web coordinator, amanda, started a blog at bigsoccer.com... and Jack Bell from goal.blogs.nytimes.com wrote a great article. we'll try to keep you all abreast of the discussion about this as it appears.

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Permalink Reply by chevy on January 29, 2009 at 7:36pm

Well as long as the Final isn't called the Super Duper Final. :-)

I do like gollums idea, it would give the players at the bottom of the standings a reason to keep playing and provide the #1 seed with an extra home date.

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Permalink Reply by amers on January 29, 2009 at 8:07pm

I also love the playoff system it makes everyone play hard for a playoff spot. I can not wait for the regular season schedule to be fullout.

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Permalink Reply by amers on January 29, 2009 at 8:09pm

The team I feel has the most pressure to clinch a playoff spot is going to be skyblue since espn says they are the most stacked team.

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Permalink Reply by Alondra on January 29, 2009 at 9:32pm

It makes for a very competitive season. I feel like all of the teams are just going to be goin at it from the first minute of their first games.

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Permalink Reply by Austin H on January 30, 2009 at 2:31pm

I see that, with the #1 team having some time before the final, the idea is to have a build-up of the atmosphere similar to finals for other major tournaments in the US sports landscape where the final location is set beforehand, but what happens if a team with a small stadium wins the regular season?
I mean, if the final location is a stadium with seating for 3-5k, it kinda defeats the point doesn't it? MLS Cup and the Superbowl use the down-time before the final to mass advertise to the local area, and people from out-of-town can arrange to fly/drive in long beforehand. But if the stadium can't hold the larger crowd....
I guess what I'm asking is if the small-stadium teams (STL, SKY, WAS) will consider trying to find a bigger stadium if they win the regular season.

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Permalink Reply by soccer_guy on January 31, 2009 at 12:17pm

At least there is a reward for first place in the season - unlike MLS where your reward for winning the Supporter's Shield is to play your next game on the road.

www.goaltalk.net

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