Pro Football: Rockford Riveters women’s pro football team forming
By Doug Halberstadt
Sports Columnist
Most of the time, I’m a glass-half-full type of guy. I like to think I’m fairly open-minded and willing to give most things the benefit of the doubt. However, there is one thing I’m fairly confident doesn’t stand a chance in the world of local sports. It’s women’s professional football. I think it’s doomed before it ever gets started.
A group of local people is trying to form a women’s professional football team called the Rockford Riveters. They are attempting to recruit players and hold tryouts in an effort to get ready to field a team next spring in the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL).
According to their website, the IWFL has its headquarters in Texas and has more than 30 teams spread out across the entire country. The Rockford Riveters are slated to play an eight-game regular season next spring featuring match-ups against teams from Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.
Several men’s teams have tried to make a go of it here in Rockford at various levels of pro and semi-pro football. In my lifetime, I know there have been multiple versions of the Rockford Rams, and the Rock River Raptors came and went. It is extremely difficult to build and maintain a professional football team. The costs are enormous. They seem to exist for a season or two, but then the economic reality sets in. The amount of money needed to maintain a team far exceeds most individuals’ budgets. As soon as the owners realize this is a money-losing proposition, the plug inevitably gets pulled.
Granted, there is a certain novelty of the thought of women playing football. There is even a league where the ladies play the game wearing only helmets, pads and lingerie. That league has survived because of lucrative television contracts. Without those, they would have been history long ago. The Rockford Riveters won’t have the money coming in from having their games broadcast on national television.
I’m not sure what makes these ladies think they have any chance at success. If they want to get together and play a pick-up game or two in a park someplace, go for it. But, for them to think they can sustain a professional team and the costs that go with it is highly unrealistic.
They’ve definitely got an uphill battle getting this team off the ground and onto the field next spring. Perhaps they haven’t noticed the economy isn’t exactly aligned with incubating any new sports franchises, especially one as risky as this.
Time will either prove me right or wrong on this one, but I’m confident this idea is bust before the Riveters ever put on their make-up and pads.
Doug Halberstadt can be reached via e-mail at Dougster61@aol.com.
From the Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2011, issue
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8 Comments
Doug,
I don’t live in the Rockford area so I’m new to your column, but do you normally right about things that evidently you have no knowledge about. Whatever happened to the time when people writing these types of articles actually did their homework. I too own a women’s football team and we are slated to play Rockford this upcoming season. The two things that you had correct; 1)there is a team forming in Rockford. 2)they play in the IWFL, that’s it. Did you know that the IWFL has been around for 10 years? Did you know that the team from Minnesota has actually been around for 13 years? Ok Doug, how about the fact that in this economic times we actually create an affordable, fun event for the whole family? Hmm how about that fact that most of the teams in are league are VERY active in their communities with various charities….no didn’t know that either huh. Wow Doug trying to help you out here but your really making it hard for me. How about the fact that the expenses that you ranted about really isn’t as much as you (or people that don’t do their homework) might think!! Doug I do have to apologize you did have one other fact correct, and that was there is a league (and let me help you here once again) called the LFL and yes they do play in bathing suit type uniforms. Doug have you ever been told through out your life that you can’t do something (Someone should have said being a Columnist to you) then the chance comes that your able to see if it is really true? These ladies don’t skip around, the bust their bust to learn the game and they sacrafice a lot to play the game!! How about the next time you decide that you want to write an article about women playing football you try to do some homework. Meet some of the players, find out about the league, or maybe just the people trying to run the local team. It’s people such as yourself that make it difficult because you have “damned” the team before they even had a chance to start. Be a good boy and do your homework, by the way I own the Madison Cougars look for us on their schedule, would LOVE to meet you!!
Dear Doug,
Just because they arent televised doesn’t mean they wont succeed. Women do it for the love of the game, not necessarily because they want to be on tv and get paid millions of dollars. I wont deny that the idea would be awesome, but for example the chicago force has been around for many years and theyre quite a successful team. Check out the chicago force womens football http://www.chicagoforcefootball.com I agree its hard for a womens tackle football team to stay alive, but if you look into the mutiple Womens tackle football leagues around the nation you’ll see its not that uncommon.
Really?! Your going to write such a negative article about something you clearly know nothing about?! Women’s tackle football doesn’t need national tv to be able to sustain itself. There are women all around the US that would love to play the sport if given the opportunity, so who do you think you are to turn that down? What kind of message are you sending to your readers and the youth of this country???
It’s a shame that Mr. Halberstadt did not research this a little further and maybe even contact the owners of the team! Women’s Tackle Football is not about making money. It is about providing women a chance to play a sport that most men, like Mr. Halberstadt, think women can not. Women are very strong and intellectual and these women that play football do so not for the money, because they all pay to play, but it’s what they want to do. They put their heart and soul into it and I can guarantee you that these women could care less about their make up, when they are preparing for a game or when they are on the field. I only hope this article gets more women to stand up and say “I wanna play”.
Doug, I’m amazed at your lack of knowledge and support. Really???? women’s professioinal football and lingerie football in the same article???? Hardly the same! My daughter plays for the Madison Cougars. She is proud to be associated and was picked as an all star in the league for her accomplishments. It’s an awesome organization in which many hours are put in doing charity work and their own fund raising. Maybe an article about how the public, other sports groups and individuals should support these women would be better suited.
Better idea….. start visiting the surrounding area teams and truly experience it before passing on your opinion.
Wow, Doug. Thanks for bringing us the latest news and opinion from 1962. Why, next you’ll be telling us women have the audacity to wear pants, drive and smoke cigarettes!
Actually, teams like this CAN often sustain themselves. Especially in a bad economy, where cheap ticket prices + local entertainment = win. It’s also often more fun than over-promoted and overcommercialized “pro” sports where money ends up being more fun than the game (sadly).
I just seen this on the local news and I hate to say it but I have to agree with Doug on this one. I have seen many teams come and go here and after seeing the owners interview I do not think this will even make it past this year if they even have it going at all.
Dear Doug,
I think it is a great idea, but you need to slowly move around to other stats so every state can have some teams and get all wemen active and helthy. This would also help with the obesaty of USA so more poeple(women)get there 60 min. of there heart bet up. I would love to particapate in this.