Will the True US Soccer Fans Please Stand up, or at least Show up

the men are more exciting to follow because, among other reasons, there are more than a couple of teams that are any good.

I still dont know how anyone can watch the Uconn Women. I guess there’s the drama of wondering if they will ever lose, but you start to feel bad for the teams that have to play them because the games are over inside of the first ten minutes. By contrast, even when the men have been dominant, there are still many teams that are on their level, and there’s always the possibility of an upset.

I’ll confess that I wouldnt know whether this is still the case in women’s soccer but the last time I paid attention I dont remember a game USA even had to sweat.

Maybe its not like that anymore, but thats still my impression of the state of the sport.

Meanwhile, the US Men have raised their level of play since the mid-90s, whereas the women were winning then and are still winning now.

With the Men’s team there is the drama of breaking into a sport in which our country is an outsider, the narrative of steady improvement, measuring our players against the best in the world, players who play for professional club teams in the top leagues of the top spectator sport in the world. The women’s international game does not feature many of the world’s most recognizable athletes, nor is it associated with the kind of lucrative ad and merchandising properties that surround men’s soccer.

I read an article recently about how support for women’s soccer was really strong among younger girls, especially those that play organized soccer, but it tends to peter out when the girls reach middle school and high school. I agree that the best place to find support for womens sports teams is among women, if for no other reason than many guys are just jerks. (not that everyone who doesnt care about the USWNT is a jerk.)

I just sat here for over an hour composing a response to this, and then accidently hit the wrong tab and erased it.

In a nutshell, what Im getting at is that I think public perception and media attention have a lot to do with flagging interest in women’s soccer. The women broke onto the scene with that WC win, became media darlings and had success. Now the team has turned over, the league is tougher, they haven’t won, and so they no longer garner the media attention and attendance is slipping.

The point about fame was more a rebuttal of your assessment of the men’s team performance. They had their best finish in 2002, and have faltered since then, but in terms of impact on the national consciousness they have made vast improvements. This is in part due to their underdog status, a status that the women’s early success has kept from them. We can be satisfied with a group stage finish from the Men’s team, as long as they play with heart, because soccer is not our game. But for the women, who have been multiple-time champions, anything less than a championship can be seen as a step back.

The men also have the advantage of increased media exposure, because they play in leagues that are among the most-watched sports properties in the world. This means that the spotlight is never off them for very long. Moreso in the other countries but increasingly here as well there is a perception among the media that Men’s International soccer is a big deal. Obviously this begins with the fact that lots of people were into it regardless, but it spirals from there with ad money, massive TV contracts, etc, and ends up with superstar athletes and Brand Beckham. The US women had this once, but no longer, and they never enjoyed the kind of exposure in off years and in qualifying that the US men have.

And while your opinion of video games may be on a par with my opinion of women’s sports, in the computer age they are just another medium, an easy way for sports leagues to get intimate knowledge of their products into the heads of millions of potential consumers, including those who might not otherwise care. I had a beach volleyball game when I was a kid, so when I saw Misty May on espn her name rang a bell, and I even watched a match or two.

What I am saying is that name recognition translates into media attention, which can translate into more fans. In the big events, like the World Cup, people will tune in to see their national team, but in the interim, in qualifiers, and especially in friendlies, they mostly want to see what they know. Apart from the fact that it says USA on their shirt, what is the draw for the women’s team? Who is the attraction? That girl who tore her shirt off and Mrs Nomar are long gone.