Former lingerie football league coming to town

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — Central Texans love their football, year around. We’ll be getting some more here next spring. The professional Legends Football League is adding an expansion franchise here.

If you’ve never heard of it, you may have seen it. It used to be called the Lingerie League but began retooling its image in 2013. They don’t wear lingerie anymore, but beyond the shoulder pads the rest of the uniform is still rather scant. The Legends Football League will own the team here, but locals can vote on the name for the team and its games will be played at the Cedar Park Center.

Out at a recreational field in Cedar Park Thursday night, KXAN asked some soccer dads what they thought of the rather eye-catching promotional video. Josh Dawn was quick to reply, “I think the Cedar Park Center will do anything to get fans inside the building.” Asked if he might attend a game, he laughed, “Not with my wife.”

Nearby, Homer Rocha viewed the video appreciatively and said he might try a game. Asked if he found it visually appealing, Homer also smiled, “Yes, in a positive way, a respectful way. After all my wife might see this.”

Cedar Park’s soccer moms seemed pretty open minded. Jessica McCarthy smiled, “I think it’s kind of awesome but why are they wearing bikinis? To prove they’re tougher than men, take the falls better?” When it was suggested to her that maybe less clothes made the players faster, Jessica did not seem convinced.

Melissa Uribe had no issue with the new league, “If you’re going to have women in bikinis, and some of them have pretty hot bodies, that’s okay. But lets see the men do the same thing. Fair is fair, right?”

The league kicks off here in the spring, no schedule set yet. There are six teams already in the league, including L.A., Seattle, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and Omaha and they hope to expand further. The city of Cedar Park says they have no comment on the entertainment booked at the center.

There will be team tryouts on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Soccer Zone in south Austin.

The league promises plenty of hard-hitting action, no Deflategate scandal nor backfields in motion.

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For India’s largest lingerie e-tailer, privacy pays

BENGALURU Discretion is paying off for India’s largest online lingerie retailer Zivame: its sales have risen five-fold in the four years since its launch and just last week, it received $40 million in funding from local and foreign investors.

The start-up is one of several e-tailers cashing in on the awkwardness many middle-class women feel buying underwear in public in this deeply conservative society.

It now plans to further boost sales by opening 100 “fitting salons” over the next three years where clients can get measured before making purchases online, its founder told Reuters.

“We made it cool to talk about lingerie,” Richa Kar, who is also Zivame’s chief executive, told Reuters. “We answered the question of whether lingerie is worth investing in.”

Physical stores ring in the bulk of the sales in India’s 110 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) lingerie market. These shops, however, range from pricey boutiques in glitzy malls to streetside stalls and makeshift shops where the sales assistants are often men.

Many women say websites give them a discreet, budget-friendly and comfortable alternative, fuelling growth in the online lingerie sector which consultants Technopak estimate at 70 percent a year, albeit from a small base.

The overall lingerie sector is growing at 16 percent, they added.

Zivame is currently valued at around $100 million. After its latest funding round, it counts Zodius Technology Fund and Malaysian state fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad as investors.

Other online lingerie retailers in India include Pretty Secrets and Clovia.

($1 = 66.4400 Indian rupees)

(Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Miral Fahmy)

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