Not sure that there's an especially big mystery to solve here. Why is women's soccer (still) fighting to exist? For the same reason that opera, theater, poetry and many other kinds of otherwise worthwhile endeavors struggle to find reliable commercial success: the interest in them is insufficiently broad. There are surely gains to be made and good luck to those who commit themselves to developing these niche-markets. I suspect they are fighting losing battles, but then there is often much of value even in lost causes...
6
We should remember how long •men’s• soccer has struggled for a foothold in the U.S. as a pro sport with a strong following, and how slow that progress has been. The U.S. already has a good number of sports, in all seasons, that are well-established with loyal spectator bases. It is difficult for •any• newcomer to that market to find a place, and persuade fans to divert some attention, on a continuing basis, to a new sport that they have to learn how to watch, understand, and appreciate the complexities of. (That learning curve exists for all team sports; none is transparent.)
This is an old story: people like what they know. They also like to rationalize those tastes — to come up with ostensibly objective reasons for liking what they know, and for asserting that what they don’t know isn’t worth liking. The previous posts in the comments here offer abundant examples of our apparently boundless inventiveness in such rationalizations. Most of us would rather stretch our creativity to its limits, than admit that our tastes and preferences in so much of life are simply arbitrary.
In any event, the popularity of women’s soccer is on a rising trajectory. I suspect it won’t be long before the women’s detractors show the same telling shift that we have seen among the soccerphobes: going from smugly stating that the game will •never• be popular in this country, to frantically blaming a conspiracy by the Times and others for the public’s steadily increasing interest in it.
— Brian
This is an old story: people like what they know. They also like to rationalize those tastes — to come up with ostensibly objective reasons for liking what they know, and for asserting that what they don’t know isn’t worth liking. The previous posts in the comments here offer abundant examples of our apparently boundless inventiveness in such rationalizations. Most of us would rather stretch our creativity to its limits, than admit that our tastes and preferences in so much of life are simply arbitrary.
In any event, the popularity of women’s soccer is on a rising trajectory. I suspect it won’t be long before the women’s detractors show the same telling shift that we have seen among the soccerphobes: going from smugly stating that the game will •never• be popular in this country, to frantically blaming a conspiracy by the Times and others for the public’s steadily increasing interest in it.
— Brian
2
I love watching women's soccer but, let's face it, spectator sports are just entertainment so that their fate better be decided by the free market. Playing soccer is a totaly different issue and that requires little or no infrastructure at all. I grew up in Hungary in the fifties and all we neeed were a bus ticket, some kind of a ball, and some objects to designate/imitate the goalposts.
For all the strides that women's tennis has achieved, it's still not on par with men's tennis. But when there's an audience that that sponsors and advertisers want, when there's a fan base for the sports, there's solid ground to build on. One cannot say as much about women's soccer, not in US or even elsewhere in the world where soccer is national religion in those countries. Granted that there are a lot of girls playing soccer in schools and minor leagues these days, there is no pathway for a viable future to make it as a career. (In fact, the same can be said of the male counterparts in US male soccer, with only a small handful making a name for themselves, and the rest just scrap by which is very sad.)
I do wish all the best for women's soccer, but I won't hold very high hopes to see them achieving par with male soccer in my lifetime.
I do wish all the best for women's soccer, but I won't hold very high hopes to see them achieving par with male soccer in my lifetime.
1
There seems to be a lot of problems with reading comprehension among the commenters on this thread. (or perhaps you guys are all frustrated athletes who are afraid because women can play this game better than you? Do you really think that just because you don't like to watch something, no one else does?) As the article states clearly, boys, given the popularity that the women's game has had, there's something else going on here. Advertising revenue has not been on pace with the extent of the viewership.
In 1999, I sat in the top row of the Washington football team's stadium for a Women's World Cup game because the place was packed - sold out. Washington Freedom games that followed at RFK were well attended. Now, DC's team plays 45 miles away from DC - still gets packed, but it's a smaller stadium and harder to get to for those of us closer in.
So what's the problem? Maybe some of the advertising and other corporate entities making decisions about sports to support care more about the misogynist dolts and their very tired and childish refrain of "no girls allowed" than they do about the very real fan base.
In 1999, I sat in the top row of the Washington football team's stadium for a Women's World Cup game because the place was packed - sold out. Washington Freedom games that followed at RFK were well attended. Now, DC's team plays 45 miles away from DC - still gets packed, but it's a smaller stadium and harder to get to for those of us closer in.
So what's the problem? Maybe some of the advertising and other corporate entities making decisions about sports to support care more about the misogynist dolts and their very tired and childish refrain of "no girls allowed" than they do about the very real fan base.
2
PS from Vancouver - sure the weaker teams boot and run. But the better teams use a combination of tactics triangles, possession, through balls. The belief that women's soccer is hit and hope says more about your lack of knowledge of the game than the state of women's soccer. However at its best the women's game is a slow version of elite men's games, at its worse its a slow version of League 1 or Lega Pro B. However I do understand why you may see women's soccer the way you describe it. In Canada there is 1 great player and as a Canadian soccer supporter you better hope someone hits it to her.
They're not as good as the men. There, somebody the guts to say it. They're not as good. The games aren't as entertaining. Soccer is like basketball - a hard contact, physical game for which women are not fit. Check the injury statistics - female hips and leg bone structure - angular and less dense - are not apt for contact sports.
2
Of course they're not as good as the men. As the article's first two paragraphs clearly demonstrates, they're better. Much, much, better.
And I have some girls on my boy's lacrosse team that could play any boy to the ground.
I'm old enough to have been turned down from little league, and found out about soccer too late and in the wrong place (the petition we circulated as freshman at my high school to start a soccer team for our high school took 13 years to actually realize.
I remember Mia Hamm, and I thought that would cinch it. Here I am, surrounded by youth soccer players, high school players, and women's soccer is still a 3rd class sport.
I'll just keep on coaching lacrosse. If they can't take women with a strong kick seriously, maybe they'll listen to us if we carry D-poles. Of course, they'd have to let the girls hit in lacrosse, too, which is a whole other complaint....
And I have some girls on my boy's lacrosse team that could play any boy to the ground.
I'm old enough to have been turned down from little league, and found out about soccer too late and in the wrong place (the petition we circulated as freshman at my high school to start a soccer team for our high school took 13 years to actually realize.
I remember Mia Hamm, and I thought that would cinch it. Here I am, surrounded by youth soccer players, high school players, and women's soccer is still a 3rd class sport.
I'll just keep on coaching lacrosse. If they can't take women with a strong kick seriously, maybe they'll listen to us if we carry D-poles. Of course, they'd have to let the girls hit in lacrosse, too, which is a whole other complaint....
1
I wholeheartedly support the fight to win the same recognition for women's football as for the men's game, and I'm squarely behing A Wambach's struggle against playing the 2015 World Cup on artificial turf -- a patently sexist decision by FIFA.
But could journalists covering these questions please do their homework? Jaime Lowe writes: "no professional male player, after all, would be willing to play on artificial turf in any tournament, let alone in the World Cup." Tell that to the players on France's first division FC Lorient, who play on turf at the Stade du Moustoir (which means that global stars like Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic play there), or Portugal's 1st division's Boavista FC, or Switzerland's Young Boys, or the players on little-known clubs like Real Madrid or (in the near future) Arsenal who train on turf, or ... well, you get the idea.
But could journalists covering these questions please do their homework? Jaime Lowe writes: "no professional male player, after all, would be willing to play on artificial turf in any tournament, let alone in the World Cup." Tell that to the players on France's first division FC Lorient, who play on turf at the Stade du Moustoir (which means that global stars like Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic play there), or Portugal's 1st division's Boavista FC, or Switzerland's Young Boys, or the players on little-known clubs like Real Madrid or (in the near future) Arsenal who train on turf, or ... well, you get the idea.
2
@ Paul — You’ve shown that some (a very few) top-tier European clubs play their home games, or train, on turf. But those turf venues in Europe are where teams play their “regular season” home games. That doesn’t undermine Lowe’s assertion about the surfaces that top men’s players would find acceptable for tournament play.
— Brian
— Brian
2
What's the argument here? Male soccer/female soccer?. One is a sport, one is a joke. I love sports, I love jokes. Room for all.
4
Yeah, with all the diving and whining, men's soccer IS a joke.
2
The reason why the comparison with Tennis is completely inapt is that all the major tennis tournaments are contemporaneous. Go to Paris, Wimbledon or Flushing Meadow, and you can see, perhaps, Novak Djokovic playing Andy Murray in the same session as Serena Williams is playing Maria Sharapova. Tennis long ago opted for pay parity, and it was in my own lifetime that the dividing line in the majors was that they were amateur only; no pros welcome (until 1969, I think).
The Men's and Women's World Cups don't even get played in the same year. And it is questionable whether the Women's World Cup is even a bigger deal than Women's Olympic Soccer. Men's Olympic Soccer was, and remains, marginalized by the advent of the World Cup.
There are 53,000 in Edmonton today for the WWC inaugural. Let's see how China-New Zealand draws.
The Men's and Women's World Cups don't even get played in the same year. And it is questionable whether the Women's World Cup is even a bigger deal than Women's Olympic Soccer. Men's Olympic Soccer was, and remains, marginalized by the advent of the World Cup.
There are 53,000 in Edmonton today for the WWC inaugural. Let's see how China-New Zealand draws.
2
My all-time favorite soccer quote: "Scoring at will, Chicago beat Dallas 1-0."
6
I think that a notable portion of the "women's soccer is boring" contingent (a droning refrain in nearly every women's sport probably since the dawn of humanity) come to that conclusion based on the way it is filmed for broadcast. Larger tournaments like the Olympics and the World Cup get better treatment: dynamic camerawork, quality on-field coverage, broader range of quality announcers, and so on. Of course this has to do with ad revenue and money but it is important to note. How many times has an unbearably dull men's EPL or MLS game been made at least tolerable by how it looks on-screen? It might be beneficial to invest a little more in this aspect of the way the vast majority of fans watch soccer.
1
What are you talking about? Women's soccer. basketball, tennis and softball are produced exactly like the men's games on every network I get.
Just watched Canada vs China on the Fox streaming site.
Identical to Brazil last year, including the "look away/crossed arms" player intros!
Just watched Canada vs China on the Fox streaming site.
Identical to Brazil last year, including the "look away/crossed arms" player intros!
It is the perfect time for Europe, North and South America to create a new World Football Association.
One problem with women's soccer is that they want to emulated men's soccer. When the first women's team was in Washington, D.C. they played, like the men, at RFK. There are lots of young girls playing soccer in suburban Virginia, but very few parents wanted to take their young girls on the DC Metro to RFK--too much of a hassle. It would have made more sense to play in local Northern Virginia stadiums (George Mason, and the local high school stadia) where their natural fans are. Of course, they will not make the big bucks at small suburban locations, but most professional sports in the U.S. started small.
The article compares the state of the women's and men's World Cups, but neglects to mention a key fact: The men's game has been around decades longer & has thus had much more time to evolve and grow.
The men's World Cup was founded in 1930. The first women's WC was 1991. Among other things, this means the talent pool in the men's game is much deeper, and many cities around the world have been cheering on their teams for generations. In the U.S., several women's leagues have come and gone, making it hard for deep, long-lasting loyalties to form.
The men's World Cup was founded in 1930. The first women's WC was 1991. Among other things, this means the talent pool in the men's game is much deeper, and many cities around the world have been cheering on their teams for generations. In the U.S., several women's leagues have come and gone, making it hard for deep, long-lasting loyalties to form.
3
With all due respect I couldn't disagree more with PS in Vancouver. His/her comments suggest that North American sports fans do not understand the game; ergo, boring. Lowe hit on two very important points: FIFA and Blatter and MLS teams with women's divisions which will hopefully draw the same fan base. See, we can learn something from the Europeans if we will get off our athletic high-horses. And, the dark years between the spectacular final in 1999 and 2011 are behind us. The boost since 2011 and the 3,000,000 youth players in the U.S., as well as a thriving college game are testament to that World Cup success (American football, in contrast, is losing big-time at the youth level). In spite of turf in Canada I have nothing but high hopes for the momentum to be gained in the woman's game, and Canada's superb preparation. In the next month there are new superstars waiting to be crowned.
1
I don't think this is a gender issue. Men's soccer is just as unpopular in America.
7
This is a wildly inaccurate statement. Men's soccer is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds.
2
Futbol was developed by men to be played by men. Women need to develop sports specifically for themselves, so that fans will not compare them against men's play like they do when women play soccer or basketball. Tennis is an example of a sport that was developed for use by both sexes, and women professionals appear to do well financially, as do their sports businesses because fans appreciate women's play as much as men's. That is not true for basketball, and probably for soccer.
1
Great point. The simple truth is that when you compare women to men playing the same game, generally the men offer a higher level of play. That level attracts more attention, and people are more willing to part with their money to see it. I'm all for equal rights, equal treatment, etc. but a simple eye test reveals a huge difference between men's and women's basketball, and an even bigger gap with baseball. I am not as well versed on soccer, but one does not have to be to see the different level of athleticism on display. I'm sympathetic to the problem women's soccer faces, but I don't see a solution given the athletic difference and inherently limited discretionary funds and leisure time for the populace.
4
When was the last time that you watched Div 1 college women's softball? It is so much more entertaining than baseball. The women are highly skilled and the smaller diamond creates a faster game. The gate receipts are growing too. I my mind soccer is just boring, whether played by men or women. I tried watching one of the recent exhibition games and was not impressed with the USA women.
Based exclusively on the fortune I spent outfitting my two daughters through school and travel soccer, I'd have thought women's soccer in the USA was the goose that laid the golden egg.
1
This article ignores the elephant in the room. For whatever reason, and with the possible exception of tennis, the vast majority of people simply have no interest in watching women play sports.
20
women's volleyball is fun to watch
1
"For whatever reason, and with the possible exception of tennis, the vast majority of people simply have no interest in watching women play sports."
Actually, the vast majority of people simply have no interest in watching anybody play sports, either. So let's concentrate on soccer. The article says, speaking of women's soccer that "...the match was watched by more people in the United States than the Kentucky Derby."
It also says "More than 400 million people worldwide saw at least part of the women’s 2011 Cup."
Perhaps you didn't read the article?
Actually, the vast majority of people simply have no interest in watching anybody play sports, either. So let's concentrate on soccer. The article says, speaking of women's soccer that "...the match was watched by more people in the United States than the Kentucky Derby."
It also says "More than 400 million people worldwide saw at least part of the women’s 2011 Cup."
Perhaps you didn't read the article?
4
It's true, with caveat. Not all sports is the same on gender level. As a biased on-and-off spectator, I have to admit, I like watching men's soccer and tennis, and don't care much about the women's games in these sports (whatever the big-name athletes might be), but I like watching women's gymnastics (the elegance of which is unparalleled) and don't care much about the men's game in those sports. This has nothing to do with gender discrimination but it's simply what each of those sports is geared for.
2
I've said it before and will say it again. There should be much more soccer between the Women's National Teams around the World. The professional leagues have no interest for me. By now there should be a Copa America for women.
1
Where will you be drawing your national team from, if you don't have professional leagues in your country, or any country, for that matter? The sports cannot survive on national competition and exhibition matches alone.
You can say it now, or you can say it again, but your proposition simply doesn't make sense.
You can say it now, or you can say it again, but your proposition simply doesn't make sense.
3
It was not the team's executive committee that asked banned Borislow, it was the league's proven inept management. Also, the nickname complaint was filed by one disgruntled player who was dismissed mid-season, losing the salary and perks that Borislow respectfully provided to these gifted athletes. Many of the athletes, including Wambach and Solo attended Borislow's July 2014 memorial, even after they had zero to gain. Borislow would have proven to be the savior of women's soccer in America if FIFA and others were not corrupt and solely focused on men.
1
"Why Is U.S. Women’s Soccer Still Fighting to Exist?"
I think you've answered your own question.
"Then, in the final seconds, with Brazilian players feigning injury and the goalie taking her time with every touch…"
I think you've answered your own question.
"Then, in the final seconds, with Brazilian players feigning injury and the goalie taking her time with every touch…"
1
@ third.coast — Basketball continues to be filled with floppers, and college basketball ascended to heights of wild popularity even before the introduction of the shot clock, when teams could stall away the whole period.
It’s amusing how the soccerphobes think their whining about “flopping”, and various clock issues, constitutes brilliant insight — when a moment’s thought makes it obvious that those issues are every bit as present in sports that are already tremendously popular in the U.S.
— Brian
It’s amusing how the soccerphobes think their whining about “flopping”, and various clock issues, constitutes brilliant insight — when a moment’s thought makes it obvious that those issues are every bit as present in sports that are already tremendously popular in the U.S.
— Brian
2
How can you grow a product that is not available on television?
1
$5.8 million in ad revenue seems like a pittance. I wonder how this compares to even minor TV events.
The ad dollars won't materialize if there's no audience. Simple as that.
1
A sad thing here, one that people don't really like to talk about but is pretty glaring in women's sports: it seems that society tends to get behind, support, exalt, female athletes who are pretty or "sexy" (to a man's standard).
I don't think this is fair, so please don't accuse me of being sexist. But it obviously exists and has for some time. And the money flows to pretty and sexy.
I'm sure Chris Evert made a lot more in endorsements than Martina. I would bet Alex Morgan makes a lot more than Abby Wambach. And, ok, let's just call it out: there is sexuality/sexual preference factor at play here, which is sad. For some reason, global society, with engrained sexist tendencies, can not look past it. Is it getting better? In pockets of the world. But we still have a long way to go...
I don't think this is fair, so please don't accuse me of being sexist. But it obviously exists and has for some time. And the money flows to pretty and sexy.
I'm sure Chris Evert made a lot more in endorsements than Martina. I would bet Alex Morgan makes a lot more than Abby Wambach. And, ok, let's just call it out: there is sexuality/sexual preference factor at play here, which is sad. For some reason, global society, with engrained sexist tendencies, can not look past it. Is it getting better? In pockets of the world. But we still have a long way to go...
9
Your point is valid; your fear of being called "sexist" misplaced. One doesn't need to celebrate or condemn the biological imperative. The "feminist" conceit that we can earnestly apply 21st century behavior modification to natural instincts developed over millions of years would be amusing if it wasn't so arrogant.
Oh...and Martina has done just fine in the endorsement department. My favorite tennis player.
Oh...and Martina has done just fine in the endorsement department. My favorite tennis player.
1
What you've pointed out, the big elephant in the room, is true. The same is true even in today's women tennis. For all the power and tourny that the Williams sisters have won, I bet they're still behind the Sharapova in endorsement deals. In fact, this is true even in the men's world. The winsome face/personality always gets ahead, as in the case of Federer who still leads in the endorsement dollars, even though he's slipped from the No.1 rank for quite some time.
2
It is simply not fun to watch.
8
Reminds me of Jackie MItchell, the 17 year old female who struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and was never heard from again....
5
Here's an idea: instead of watching other people play sports, go play them yourself.
Here's another idea: because professional sports glorify the pursuit of money over all else, they corrupt everything they touch: fans, officials and players. Maybe the amateur ideal was better.
Here's another idea: because professional sports glorify the pursuit of money over all else, they corrupt everything they touch: fans, officials and players. Maybe the amateur ideal was better.
9
Like college football and basketball. We all know professionals play for money.; we accept that. Universities have a different mission (in theory). I would abolish all college sports, spend the money to fund mandatory PE or intramurals. Leave the blatant corruption and perhaps teach the students a lifelong participatory sport.
To even know if this would succeed if there was more investment it'd have to be broadcasted a lot more than it is. World Cup works because it's a special event much like the Olympics. I just fear most people perceive women's sports as not that aggressive or competitive as men's. WNBA 2.0.
The best constrast though is Rhonda Rousey. Somehow she defies this because of her aggression. She has a legion of male UFC followers that pay top dollar to watch her destroy people.
The best constrast though is Rhonda Rousey. Somehow she defies this because of her aggression. She has a legion of male UFC followers that pay top dollar to watch her destroy people.
1
It's simple really. We Americans will rally around any sport that wears the flag. But after the hoopla, Americans also won't follow a boring sport, that being women's soccer.
3
That was one of the most memorable sporting events of the past 10 or 15 years. It's awful that FIFA and an overall lack of solid marketing and development didn't parlay it into greater stability for these athletes.
1
Soccer played at its highest level is always going to draw a crowd. Both the Men's and Women's World Cup matches prove that every four years. While the women's game in this country doesn't suffer from the same lack of star power as the men's, the fact that it's played at a much slower pace and its stars are dragged down by mediocre supporting casts, not many find it compelling. Unfortunately, that isn't likely to change. As a spectator sport, women's soccer will continue to hang on by its fingernails, if at all.
1
The marketplace decides the value and worth of a league. Women's soccer is not something people get behind. Even MLS is paltry compared to real leagues in Europe. Sorry ladies, hope you win, but like Track at the Olympics, I won't see you again for 4 years.
David, you are obviously unaware that despite its questionable quality, MLS has the 7th highest average attendance in world football, even greater than Italy's Serie A. Check the attendance figures, half of all Serie A matches take place before 10-15,000 fans, and the big stadia (San Siro, Olimpico in Rome and San Paolo in Napoli) rarely sell out.
4
Besides being a boring game, they don't show enough skin. There is a reason that ladies ice skating and tennis and beach volleyball are popular, and it isn't just the athleticism.
"A men’s team coming off that kind of performance — and TV ratings — would arrive home to seven-figure European club contracts and endorsement deals."
This is absurd. How many (male) US players are playing for the best European teams?
The answer is at most one. The US players are not up to the level of the best European or South American players. They are not even at the level of the best African players.
As to the women's game, it is getting better, but it still has a long way to go.
I am not talking about strength, but technical ability.
I just watched the US - South Korea game. I lost track of the bad passes.
Football, the real one, is not an American game.
This is absurd. How many (male) US players are playing for the best European teams?
The answer is at most one. The US players are not up to the level of the best European or South American players. They are not even at the level of the best African players.
As to the women's game, it is getting better, but it still has a long way to go.
I am not talking about strength, but technical ability.
I just watched the US - South Korea game. I lost track of the bad passes.
Football, the real one, is not an American game.
1
Well, there is Julian Green at Bayern and there is an American at Arsenal (I believe he played in an FA Cup game last year). Then, outside of the CL teams, you have: Tim Howard at Everton, Brad Guzan at Villa, and Cameron is at Stoke. Also, for the future, there is an American at La Masia and one in Madrid's youth system. That's not bad for a country that only cares about football, the real one, every four years.
I bet if they combined men's and women's soccer--let the best of both genders play, without having a separate league just for women--this problem would go away. Very few women would play, but that's another story.
The alternative explanation to the headline question is: they're just not that good.
The alternative explanation to the headline question is: they're just not that good.
Didn't we just, I mean JUST see an opinion piece in the Times about lowering the baskets for the WNBA to generate, I don't know, more mocking laughter? Women's collegiate sports are a product of Title IX. Attendance is spare. And it's not just women. College lacrosse and soccer for the men don't bring in disinterested third party spectators the way that football and basketball does, either. That's why they're referred to as non-revenue sports. The logic holds that when you try to market these sports at the professional level, the crowds will be smaller, and for the women, smaller still. The biggest potential market for women's professional soccer is women, but the women who do follow soccer are more likely to follow the men's teams. So, to sensibly revise the question, it isn't soccer - it's non-major sports in general, and women's sports in particular that are drawing the yawns. Somebody leaped to the conclusion that there was a market for this stuff. It turned out not to be so much a conclusion as a cliff.
1
“Women's collegiate sports are a product of Title IX.”
•That’s• a product of shallow analysis. In fact, the historical lack of opportunities for women in collegiate sports was a product of prejudice and ignorance. Title IX attacked the effects of those unjust impediments. It’s a failure of intelligence, when one assumes that the way things have always been done reflects a natural order, and is the rational mode of conducting the affairs of life. Most of the time, it instead reflects the limited interests of those who happened to get their way at some time in the past.
— Brian
•That’s• a product of shallow analysis. In fact, the historical lack of opportunities for women in collegiate sports was a product of prejudice and ignorance. Title IX attacked the effects of those unjust impediments. It’s a failure of intelligence, when one assumes that the way things have always been done reflects a natural order, and is the rational mode of conducting the affairs of life. Most of the time, it instead reflects the limited interests of those who happened to get their way at some time in the past.
— Brian
2
Women's soccer is fighting to exist for the same reason that ALL women's professional sports teams are fighting to exist. The fans are not interested. They are not interested because the players are not as accomplished as male players. No amount of politically correct blather can change this fundamental reality. Professional sports is a business, not a morality play, where the fans vote with their dollars.
18
You know, when a movie is promoted endlessly but people just refuse to see it, it's called a flop, and we all move on.
But when women's soccer gets endless hype from our media, and people refuse to see it, then I guess the people are a flop, and we can never move on.
But when women's soccer gets endless hype from our media, and people refuse to see it, then I guess the people are a flop, and we can never move on.
8
I have enjoyed watching female sports, particular tennis and field hockey. I'm a soccer fan since grade 3. I have never been able to watch more than 10 min of women soccer. It may be fun to play, but as spectator sport it is dull.
1
This analysis is extraordinarily simplistic and in parts inaccurate. Firstly, many of the soccer teams in the men's Major League Soccer play on non-grass surfaces. And yes, the USA soccer team is excellent but the main there is no national league is because their is no sporting appetite for one. There are just too many sports in the USA that take up the time and minds of the viewing public. It took decades to build up men's soccer to its current level and it only took off after the imports of super stars from widely established teams in Europe and South America. Their is no similar soccer structure for women. Believe me if there was money to be made in it, business would be fighting to sponsor women's team but because of lack of interest from spectators (including women) there is no sponsorship. I am a soccer fanatic and after the Premier league, La Liga and the Champions league final on Saturday, I will watch as many of the World Cup games as I can, but even I don't have the time or the appetite to pay attention to a women's soccer league
2
Could it have to do with women's soccor having among the highest rates of brain damage of any sport?
@ erik — Any right-thinking person, if making such a remarkable and sweeping accusation, would back it up with citation to some reliable factual source. But you give us none, implicitly stating that you think we should take your word on faith. We’re all aware that there are concerns about concussions and brain trauma in soccer. But I’ve never read anything that suggests anything approaching an assertion that that women’s soccer has actually proven one of the riskiest sports for brain trauma.
In that light, a free-floating accusation such as the one you’ve flung at women’s soccer is reprehensible.
— Brian
In that light, a free-floating accusation such as the one you’ve flung at women’s soccer is reprehensible.
— Brian
2
Women's sports thrive on what I call Patriotic Feminist Chauvinism, the pleasure of chanting USA!-USA!-USA! Entrepreneurs should organize a league in which the plucky American women's team constantly crushes the evil vixenesses from Russia, Iran, and France.
2
What's wrong with France?
Go to any park on a weekend, and you'll see girls playing soccer. Some (including my daughter) dream of playing professionally. Their parents buy jerseys, score tickets for the US Women's National Team when they play nearby, and maybe even will take them to Canada this summer.
There's a market here, and a demand. But a professional league that focuses on the smaller, cheaper markets can't build a fan base big enough to support suitable salaries. The NWSL is building a base on shaky sand.
Better to follow the lead of the women's tennis. Aim high, deliver a great product, and get the best players in front of the largest number of fans in the biggest markets possible.
In time, it will work: just ask Serena Williams.
There's a market here, and a demand. But a professional league that focuses on the smaller, cheaper markets can't build a fan base big enough to support suitable salaries. The NWSL is building a base on shaky sand.
Better to follow the lead of the women's tennis. Aim high, deliver a great product, and get the best players in front of the largest number of fans in the biggest markets possible.
In time, it will work: just ask Serena Williams.
3
I'm sorry that they withdrew their protest to play on toxic artificial turf...no future in that...
2
The focus on a league is itself the problem. Every four years the women's national team enjoys huge success. Then these women return to a struggling league made up of teams with diluted talent (no offense to the other players). The very things that made the national team so popular are lost.
Womens' soccer, in the USA anyways, should follow the barnstorming model. It works for ice skating, golf, Nascar, and a host of other extremely popular sports. Have all the American stars, and anyone else from around the world you can get, play together in one city. You could set up shop somewhere for a week, with exhibition matches, clinics, meet the player sessions, a short tournament -- all the things that soccer fans, and young female soccer fans especially, would love.
I have zero interest in driving a couple hours to see some regular season game between two random pro teams with maybe a handful of players I've heard of. I am, however, very interested in taking my kids to the Womens Pro Soccer Festival, or whatever you'd call it, featuring this weekend only all the famous players and the up and comers and everyone else in between. As someone who's been to USWNT games at Soldier Field, I know first hand how big a draw they can be.
Womens' soccer, in the USA anyways, should follow the barnstorming model. It works for ice skating, golf, Nascar, and a host of other extremely popular sports. Have all the American stars, and anyone else from around the world you can get, play together in one city. You could set up shop somewhere for a week, with exhibition matches, clinics, meet the player sessions, a short tournament -- all the things that soccer fans, and young female soccer fans especially, would love.
I have zero interest in driving a couple hours to see some regular season game between two random pro teams with maybe a handful of players I've heard of. I am, however, very interested in taking my kids to the Womens Pro Soccer Festival, or whatever you'd call it, featuring this weekend only all the famous players and the up and comers and everyone else in between. As someone who's been to USWNT games at Soldier Field, I know first hand how big a draw they can be.
5
Advertisers know who's paying attention and who's not and if they don't want to get behind Women's Soccer it's because of lack of interest. To compare it in viewership to the rarefied air of the Kentucky Derby is disregarding the cultural history of the derby.
1
[[The match was watched by more people in the United States than the Kentucky Derby.]]
Right. I have friends who make a ritual of going to the Derby every year. I admire them for having family traditions, but I also know that theirs is just an excuse to get blind drunk.
Statistically speaking though, and since the WC is a quadrennial event, I feel like you should either divide the WC audience by four or figure the total of Derby viewers from the four years leading up to 2011.
[[Why Is U.S. Women’s Soccer Still Fighting to Exist?]]
I looked at a picture of the team and didn't see a tremendous amount of diversity…lots of blonde white women, a couple of black or biracial women.
Maybe that's one source of their problem, a lack of diversity.
Right. I have friends who make a ritual of going to the Derby every year. I admire them for having family traditions, but I also know that theirs is just an excuse to get blind drunk.
Statistically speaking though, and since the WC is a quadrennial event, I feel like you should either divide the WC audience by four or figure the total of Derby viewers from the four years leading up to 2011.
[[Why Is U.S. Women’s Soccer Still Fighting to Exist?]]
I looked at a picture of the team and didn't see a tremendous amount of diversity…lots of blonde white women, a couple of black or biracial women.
Maybe that's one source of their problem, a lack of diversity.
I'd say women's soccer is doing fine in the US. Many thousands of girls play the game and every high school and college has a women's soccer team. None of this existed 30 years ago.
Maybe the future of women's professional soccer is in Europe. Europeans like soccer a lot more than Americans do. I'm doubtful about the tennis analogy. Billie Jean King was a big star when she started her circuit, Chris Evert came along shortly thereafter, and she was a much bigger star than Billie Jean King. Abby Wambach and Hope Solo are all-time greats at their positions, but they don't compare in star power to Billie Jean King and Chris Evert.
Maybe the future of women's professional soccer is in Europe. Europeans like soccer a lot more than Americans do. I'm doubtful about the tennis analogy. Billie Jean King was a big star when she started her circuit, Chris Evert came along shortly thereafter, and she was a much bigger star than Billie Jean King. Abby Wambach and Hope Solo are all-time greats at their positions, but they don't compare in star power to Billie Jean King and Chris Evert.
6
The truly great and charismatic players are already long gone:
Hamm, Lilly, Werden, and the best of all- Akers. Stars? Wambaugh is boring and Solo is a thug. The other players are ...who? The only star in the game is Marta.
Once upon a time, the US team played an open dynmaic win at all costs game-it was fun to watch while the US men were zeroes. Now it is the other way round. The tedious technocrats like DeCicco took over (and they continue to babble nonsense jargon in the broadcast booth) and wrecked the product. And yes, ALL spectator sport is an entertainment product.
Despite the huge number of girls and women who play the game in this country, very few watch it or even know there is a World Cup let alone any professional leagues. 20 years ago, the women's game was my passion; now I'll likely not watch a single match.
Hamm, Lilly, Werden, and the best of all- Akers. Stars? Wambaugh is boring and Solo is a thug. The other players are ...who? The only star in the game is Marta.
Once upon a time, the US team played an open dynmaic win at all costs game-it was fun to watch while the US men were zeroes. Now it is the other way round. The tedious technocrats like DeCicco took over (and they continue to babble nonsense jargon in the broadcast booth) and wrecked the product. And yes, ALL spectator sport is an entertainment product.
Despite the huge number of girls and women who play the game in this country, very few watch it or even know there is a World Cup let alone any professional leagues. 20 years ago, the women's game was my passion; now I'll likely not watch a single match.
1
My then junior high aged son was told by his PE teacher that they wouldn't play soccer because it was a "communist sport." My three year younger daughter played on boys teams until she was 16 because there wasn't a real girls league here. The local high school didn't offer boys soccer until she was a senior -- never for him. Over the last decade both teams have neared state championship, sent players to quality college teams, even had state record-holding player. IT TAKES TIME!
Remember the 84 World Cup here when we didn't even have a top level league? That WC still holds the record for attendance.
Does anyone remember what was said in 1996 when MLS nstarted? All the so-called experts saying doom and gloom. When MLS folded teams in Miami & Tampa naysayers chorused that the end was near. Now there are 20 teams and many cities begging for a franchise. IT TAKES TIME!
Women's teams are now starting to draw crowds. Maybe we should support their growth, attends their games, watch them on TV & stop moaning.
Remember the 84 World Cup here when we didn't even have a top level league? That WC still holds the record for attendance.
Does anyone remember what was said in 1996 when MLS nstarted? All the so-called experts saying doom and gloom. When MLS folded teams in Miami & Tampa naysayers chorused that the end was near. Now there are 20 teams and many cities begging for a franchise. IT TAKES TIME!
Women's teams are now starting to draw crowds. Maybe we should support their growth, attends their games, watch them on TV & stop moaning.
1
The notion that women's pro soccer is especially popular in Europe is a myth. For instance, typical attendance at a match in England is under 1,000. NWSL crowds are a multiple of that. The Portland Thorns routinely play before crowds of over 10,000 which would be unheard of anywhere else in the world.
http://www.football-lineups.com/tourn/FA_WSL_2014/Stats/Home_Avg_Atte/
http://www.football-lineups.com/tourn/FA_WSL_2014/Stats/Home_Avg_Atte/
1
Be careful saying that Sepp Blatter "resigned this week." He announced his *intention* to resign, which is not nearly the same thing. In 2011, he announced his intention NOT to run for a fifth term. How did that work out? As the country song goes, "How can I miss you if you won't go away?"
23
the turf issue is criminal for the women's world cup. there is no way the women or anyone for that matter should be playing on rubberized carcinogens/future lung particulate (think silicosis, etc.) As for grass, they need to come up a better way to get good turf without all the pesticides/herbicides which have their own challenges to the environment as well as to the players. Let's hope for a a superb world cup. play on. As Shankly said: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”
21
The women should refuse to play on artificial turf.
1
It has to be said and let me be the first to say what many, if not most, are really thinking: women's soccer is plain boring! This is not to say that they are not superb athletes. Absolutely they are. But football is much more than "boot and run" which pretty much sums up the state of women's football today. The fittest team with the best athletes will win - not the best team.
43
I disagree. I find that I generally enjoy watching women's soccer (and basketball) more than the men's version. Of course, the sports are played differently due to the fact that women and men have different physical capabilities. I think one has to let go of the comparison and enjoy the game (and the strategies) when athletes play a sport at the highest level. Women's basketball is a game played below the rim and often depends more on playmaking than the men's game. It's really apples and oranges. On the soccer pitch it's also different, but to suggest that all the women do is boot and run is disingenuous. I think men will always dismiss the women's game because it isn't the same as the men's game. Let's face it, unlike male pro sports, the women's leagues draw more families with kids and that's where the marketing should be directed. Young girls appreciate having world class female athletes as role models. The USWNT and the pro league offer that.
6
American here - i.e. maybe I don't get the sport :). But I watch the men's and the women's world cups and I'm not sure I follow what you are saying - please explain!
Sorry, no idea what you are even saying.
1