| From Press
Services
Carson, CA – Women’s Soccer Initiative, Inc.
(WSII), a not-for-profit entity dedicated to guide the re-launch of women’s
professional soccer in the United States, was announced today.
Veteran sports business professional Tonya Antonucci
has been named Chief Executive Officer and will lead the re-launch efforts.
Antonucci, 36, brings over a decade of business experience to the effort,
having spent over seven years with Yahoo, Inc.
She headed up Yahoo! Sports and served as general manager
of Yahoo’s partnership with the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World
Cup. Prior to her business career, Tonya played soccer at Stanford University,
and she was an assistant coach at Stanford and Santa Clara University.
“We felt it was very important to bring aboard a
full-time leader from the sports business community to preside over this
stage of our re-launch,” said former WUSA Commissioner Tony
DiCicco.
“In Tonya Antonucci we have identified the right
person to move us rapidly towards the final step of building and launching
a new league.”
In July a WUSA Business Strategy Summit, attended by
a diverse group of business, investment, marketing, sponsorship, and media
executives, was held to develop a consensus view on a viable business model
for re-launching the professional women’s league.
In response to key findings of that summit, Women’s
Soccer Initiative, Inc. was created to act as the driving force in the re-launch
effort.
“The creation of WSII and subsequent hiring of Tonya
Antonucci reflect the feedback we have received from our investors and industry
experts to bring a dedicated, business-focused component to the re-launch,”
said WUSA Players’ Representative Julie Foudy.
Antonucci will assume all day-to-day responsibility for
the league’s reorganization efforts including the construction of a
new business model. “We know we have an outstanding, unique product
on the field for fans” said Antonucci. “It is our mission to build,
in concert with investors and sponsors, a disciplined, long-term business
plan that will allow us to showcase these amazing athletes and this great
sport in an innovative way to the public.”
For additional information and updates on the reorganization
efforts of the world’s premiere women’s professional soccer league,
log onto www.WUSA.com. |
