After 25 years in business and a handful of championships, the Wave's future -- and the future of indoor soccer in Milwaukee -- is in doubt. Fox 6 reported last night that the Xtreme Soccer League is folding, leaving the team without a league.
Word has it that longtime owner Charles Krause is going to end his financial support, too. Given the state of the economy, the prospects for the team to find new ownership -- and a new league affiliation -- in time for a 26th season seem rather bleak.
The Xtreme Soccer League came into being after the dissolution of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
The Wave joined the Detroit Ignition, the Chicago Storm and the New Jersey Ironmen in a centrally-owned, four-team league that hoped to focus on indoor soccer as well as futsal, street soccer and beach soccer.
While the team searches for new investors, the popular summer camp program will continue.
As a sports consumer, I hope that the Wave can find a way to continue operations, if only because my 8-year-old really liked going to the games.
Outside of a few hardcore fans, nobody really seemed to care what league the Wave was affiliated with or which team it was playing. People went to watch indoor soccer in a family-friendly atmosphere. You would think there has to be a market for that, even in tough economic times.
I always thought that as long as the tickets are reasonably priced and the game production is entertaining, people would probably go watch the Wave scrimmage it's developmental unit, the Armada, and come away feeling entertained.
The question is whether that would be financially viable.
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
