New York, February 27, 2007 – Ownership groups representing six major US cities, including Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Washington, DC, have signed letters of intent to become charter members of the Women’s Soccer Initiative, Inc.’s (WSII) effort to launch a new major women’s soccer league in the United States.

WSII anticipates that teams will play their first games in the spring of 2008, capitalizing on the interest generated by the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in September.

The new league will be built on a traditional franchise model and will play its games in stadiums designed for soccer, enabling teams to generate and retain more revenue and better showcase the sport, according to Tonya Antonucci, CEO of WSII. WSII is a non-profit organization founded to develop a business plan to relaunch women’s professional soccer in the United States and is backed by grants from the U.S. Soccer Federation and U.S. Soccer Foundation.

“We have learned from the successes and mistakes of the [Women’s United Soccer Association] and have created a business model that makes good economic sense,” Antonucci said.

Shearman & Sterling represents WSII on a pro bono basis. The attorneys involved include partners Beau Buffier (New York-Antitrust), Creighton Condon (New York-M&A) and Vicki Veenker (Menlo Park-Intellectual Property/Litigation), counsel Daniel Glazer (New York-Intellectual Property) and Susan Reiss (New York-Intellectual Property) and associates Nathaniel Asker (New York-Antitrust), Bryn Jedlic (San Francisco-M&A) and Jan Westfall (San Francisco-M&A).

For additional information contact:
Tally Goldstein | New York | +1 212 848 4437