Marta will be moving to another WPS franchise after Thursday's news that the Los Angeles Sol has folded. (Photo: Newscom)

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Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in the United States is considered the highest quality women's league in the world, but only one year old, it has yet to reach even its infancy.  Small hiccups should be expected.

Losing your marque franchise, however, is more than a hiccup.  From the outsider's perspective, WPS having to fold the Los Angeles Sol hints at instability, harkening back to the financial woes the befell the league's predecessor:  WUSA.

The good news for the world's best women's soccer league:  this situation is weird enough to bely generalization.

Sol's ownership group, the same Anschultz Entertainment Group that owns Los Angeles Galaxy, just wanted out, and rather than wait for another buyer to meet their demands, they walked away, forcing commissioner Tonya Antonucci's hand.

In the long run, it might be a good thing:  the league losing an ownership group that did not seem entirely supportive of the cause.  In the short term, the women's soccer world is worse off for having lost WPS's headline act.

More thoughts after the jump.

Most sports leagues do not make money.  Teams and clubs are the fantasies of the rich.  It is only slightly more reasonable to expect a sports venture to make money than it is to expect a new Porsche 911 to retain its value when you drive it off the lot.

Where you make money back is selling your team.  You spend years building the brand, best done by winning.  Once you're done with your toy, you sell it, and if you've played the game right, you reap the rewards.

Another way to build the brand is marketing.  We saw AEG do this with David Beckham, who dramatically increased Galaxy's value when he came to Los Angeles.  In 2008, Galaxy was estimated to be worth $100 million, far more than any other Major League Soccer franchise.

AEG seemed to be doing the same when they brought Marta over from Sweden with the enticement of a $500,000 guaranteed salary.

The Sol had the best record in the league last season, and although they ultimately lost the title to Sky Blue FC, they had become the league's most recognized team.

For whatever reason, AEG decided not to stick around.  The Sol lost $2 million last year - probably the most in the league, but a total completely management for the AEG conglomeration - and AEG could not find another buyer, potentially one that would keep the team at Home Depot Center, paying rent.

These unique circumstances of the Sol-AEG situation should give WPS-followers hope.  There are not situations within league management that are like AEG's.  AEG had said from the get-go that they would help start the franchise.  They never committed to a long-term stay.  

The other management groups in WPS?  They seem in it for the long haul.

At Set Piece Analysts, I go deeper into the perspective on AEG, who is not talking.  I also did a podcast last night with Jeff Kassouf, who has been doing great coverage at Set Piece and Equalizer Soccer.

Though the league looks intent on getting back into Los Angeles for 2011, WPS is down to eight teams for 2010.

The Sol players will be allocated to the remaining teams next Thursday.

Now, with that bad news out of the way, we'll move on to talking about Cup of Nations, Libertadores, and the upcoming weekend in club soccer.  Busy day here at World Soccer Digest, but as somebody whose closest WPS team (geographically) was the Sol, I send my condolensces to the thousands of fans who supported the club last year.  Also, though I don't know him personally, I feel for Charlie Naimo today:  the team's General Manager who I know had worked hard for the players and club over the last year.