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The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup semi-finals match between the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT) and Germany feels like a finals match-up. USWNT striker Alex Morgan has echoed that sentiment. If the USWNT can pull through with a win, it will set the team up with a manageable final against either Japan or England. A FIFA Women's World Cup win will translate into money making opportunities for the stars on the team and likely lead to a boost in popularity of the game outside of the FIFA Women's World Cup tournament.
I caught up with former USWNT star Julie Foudy near the start of the FIFA Women's World Cup to discuss the popularity of women's soccer and potential interest of corporate sponsors to associate with USWNT players. Foudy is the headliner for espnW's coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and has the requisite background to speak to the aforesaid topics. The following contains our conversation:
Q: How popular is women’s soccer – and soccer in general – right now in the United States? What momentum has it gained since the last World Cup?
Foudy: If you compared it to the last Women’s World Cup in 2011, going into that tournament, the team was largely unknown and then the Brazil game happened with Abby [Wambach's] late goal and that changed everything – that one goal – in terms of attention around the team. Then the Olympics, of course, winning that in 2012, there’s a lot of enthusiasm and attention around this team, which is a great sign. So I think it’s gained a ton of momentum since the last tournament, and from the last tournament. And if the U.S. can do well in this tournament, as well, then it will only help further grow the sport here. But the challenge, of course, is the women’s professional league and getting that off the ground. It’s in its third season and, if the U.S. does well, I think it will really help that league as well.
Q: How and why has its popularity grown, and what has been the result (for the sport as a whole, for the teams/athletes, for the landscape of the World Cup)?
Foudy: “I think Title IX is a large reason for that, in terms of numbers of kids playing. There are more girls playing in this country – 2 million – than, I would guess (it would be interesting to do this math), than all other countries combined in this World Cup. So you just have opportunities like no other country has. Most girls, in a lot of the countries, don’t have the chance to play or the right to play, because their culture doesn’t encourage it. In this country, you can see the infrastructures in place, the grassroots programs, the support from our Federation – it’s tremendous. So that’s why we’ve been so successful. And you have these awesome role models that resonate with kids – Abby Wambach and then you go down the list of US players who are fun to watch - I even see my kids wearing their jerseys.”
Q: More corporate sponsors are coming in to support women’s soccer and the USWNT. How have you seen sponsorship change and develop since your playing days?
Foudy: “Well, with the U.S. team, there’s much more around it because of the awareness, and now you’re seeing ads all over the place with these women. In the early years, that was not the case. It’s great to see that they’re not only coming in and supporting women’s soccer, but they’re coming in and activating in some of these ads. My hope is one day you’ll see that in other countries as well, not just here in the United States – that sponsors will start tapping into that market.”
Q: How have individual players become more marketable and more popular? Who do you feel is the most marketable right now?
Foudy: “I think so much of their success is that a girl can look at them and say, 'Oh, I can do that. I can be like that person.' You look at Alex Morgan – a great kid, a great young woman . . . she grew up in Southern California playing on club teams similar to ones I’ve played on and then went to Cal Berkeley and took the path I took to reach the highest level . . . so they see themselves in that person. It helps that Alex Morgan, (which sponsors love) is pretty and nice, and all those elements. But she’s also a great role model for them, and so I think that’s why – and she’s very visible, not just in the soccer community – she really crosses over to the mainstream as well. So the most marketable right now is probably Alex Morgan for all those reasons. And she is a great goal-scorer. It’s unfortunate that she’s fighting now to come back from her injury and isn’t getting all the minutes, but she is the most marketable at the moment.”
Q: What are the biggest differences between women’s soccer/the Women’s World Cup today and when you played – in terms of sponsorships and home country support/sport popularity? To what do you attribute these differences?
Foudy: “When we started playing, we were the first National Team put together and the first generation of players to come through. As most first generation of players in every sport go through, and the experiences they go through, you find that you have to grow the game all the time, you have to sell it – sell it to sponsors – there’s so many different things that you have to think about because none of that is in place, and you’re really pioneering for that next generation. Our experience was, of course, different because there were no other National Teams we could look up to, there were no other players we watched growing up that were women because there was no team. So most of our energy and attention in those early years was on growing the sport, building it, and leaving it in a better place – and I would never want it any other way. We talk about this a lot [the original USWNT] but there’s something to be said for being the first generation living that, and then getting through to the other side. The great thing is, since we did get through to the other side, largely because of the Olympics here in 1996 in this country, and, of course, the World Cup in 1999 where we were able to make real change in terms of how the players were treated, how they were paid, so that next generation could come on the team, and not have to fight for the things that we had to fight for. So it’s different from the late 1980s-1990s; really, when we left the team in the early 2000s, it was very similar to how it is today. Our hope was always that the game has to keep moving forward, in terms of play on the field but also in terms of promotions, marketing, how much you’re out there, and always respecting the game and always growing the game. I think they’ve done a really good job of that.”
Q: How do these changes and business/sponsorship development affect the teams and the players?
Foudy: “Well, when you have more attention and more sponsors, it’s obviously more off-the-field work and more distraction. So that’s the hardest thing to balance. And again, you want to grow the sport, and you want to, of course, grow your brand. You know, a lot of these players have limited opportunities to do that and it makes them money, but it means more things you’re doing for sponsors, more appearances, more clinics, more autograph signing, whatever it is – and it’s time away, and it’s distraction. So you have to be really careful about balancing that. And when you get to a World Cup, you do literally go off the grid and lock in and focus on what’s at hand. Because, in the end, if you’re not winning and doing well, then the sponsorships are less valuable. So you have to take care, first and foremost, of being a great soccer player, which is hard to do sometimes when you have all those other commitments.”
Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.
