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Official US Women's soccer thread: Gold Cup Final- US 1 - Brazil 0! (3 Viewers)

otb_lifer said:
love it or leave it, but, the ladies sell #### (excellence/sex appeal) that the men cannot touch atm. 
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The problem you present here is the same one the women's soccer faces as a whole in the US.

You can't have your National team be the driving force revenue wise for your sport.  It has to come from the clubs if you want to see the sport become bigger than a once every 4 year flash, no matter how big the flash is.

Today, MLS absolutely dwarfs the men's side of US Soccer financially.  But it was not always this way though.  It look a long time to grow the league to this point.   The women need to get to the point where their domestic league is bigger (financially) than the women's side of US Soccer.  When that day comes, it will be great for all of women's soccer in the US imo.   But it won't be easy and it certainly won't be quick.  

In terms of how much greater the USWNT sales are, every one of us will be long dead before any US womens player is sold for any where close to the $70m Pulisic was just sold for.  (yes I know you are talking about different kind of sales, but it is still pertinent to the financial worth of the players).

 
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Leroy Hoard said:
I'm never a fan of diluting a product. You can't give me a solid reason for 68 freaking teams competing for a title in basketball.
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The argument FIFA is using is that by expanding it they can make more money and put more money back into the women's game.  They also think they need to use the power of the WWC to open up paths in more countries for the women.

For me it comes down to avoiding having 8 more teams like Thailand.  If they spread the spots too much around the world in areas that don't yet have the infrastructure for womens soccer, it could get ugly for quality.

They are also expanding the men's to 48 teams, which most fans hate.

 
Capella said:
Nike said something like they’ve never sold this many jerseys before (I don’t know the exact specifics, I’m sure you heard the quote) — clearly there is some kind of appetite for this team/sport. Whether that translates into a successful league, I don’t know, but the USWNT is an incredibly valuable commodity. 
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Brandi Chastain celebrating in her sports bra after scoring the winning penalty in the ‘99 final is probably one of the more famous images in US sports history. That was at the Rose Bowl in front of 90,000+. Those women were so massive, they went on a big $$ tour, and started the WUSA League. That league had folded before the next World Cup kicked off 4 years later.  As Andy notes, the sport has to grow through its professional league. I saw today on twitter that the Washington post doesn’t have a beat writer assigned to the Washington Spirit.  I didn’t realize until a week or so ago that Marta plays for the Orlando team (I didn’t know there was an Orlando team, but I’ve known about Marta for years.)   The 2015 team was also massive. I have no idea where any of these women play professionally. Rapino, Morgan, Loyd, Horan? No idea where they go or what they do in the off years. 

 
CletiusMaximus said:
Brandi Chastain celebrating in her sports bra after scoring the winning penalty in the ‘99 final is probably one of the more famous images in US sports history. That was at the Rose Bowl in front of 90,000+. Those women were so massive, they went on a big $$ tour, and started the WUSA League. That league had folded before the next World Cup kicked off 4 years later.  
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oh the WUSA, the things I could tell :)  

I remember when they announced the league, a reporter asked one of the players (I think it was Foudy but I am not sure) if they thought it would be smart to have double headers with MLS teams and the player responded  "we don't want MLS teams piggybacking on our attendances".   While that sounds cocky today, and ultimately turned out to be incorrect, it was not as awful as it sounds as MLS was completely on life support back then.

Now almost 20 years later, MLS has grown into a very viable (financially speaking) league and the NWSL is wishing they could have the attendance and TV coverage the WUSA had in their first season that eventually led to their closure.

The WUSA based their entire business model on unrealistic tv ratings because many of the initial investors were cable companies (Cox, COMCAST and Time Warner were the big 3 if memory serves), and when they did not come any where close, the league folded even with the players taking a massive 30% pay cut in the last season trying to stem the losses.

As we have seen in other sports(both male and female), starting and maintaining a sports league is not too easy.   Even after all these years, the WNBA barely hangs by a thread financially and there has been no women's league in the world that had the push that league had in its early years.

 
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up close, and very personal, with our fearless Alex - yeah, it's akin to those schmaltzy pieces NBC runs during the Olympics, but, she is such a compelling personality - the look back to her early years shows what an absolute 'gym rat' she was/is, and how nobody has more of a combative competitiveness - she's well worth all the syrup here ...

(be prepared for, like, a lot of, like ... likes)

"The Equalizer"

part1

part2

 
Leroy Hoard said:
I'm never a fan of diluting a product. You can't give me a solid reason for 68 freaking teams competing for a title in basketball.
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George Mason and Florida International want a word.  So does the 8-9 UConn/Butler finals matchup of yesteryear.

 
Capella said:
you could just dump money into the woman’s sport to continue to drive the game forward and create more interest in something that is clearly growing and thriving
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Hot take: the USWNT actually needs less money because they are already so good. It's the development of the men's team that needs the resources.

 
I have DirecTV and my fox channel has been removed cause the are fighting over money with nextstar.  Any alt options to view?

 
I wonder if any of them have have said "What if at a key moment in the game my, my uniform bursts open and, uh, oops, my bosoms come flying out? That, that might draw a crowd, right? "

 
The Z Machine said:
@Charlie Steiner, I don't think that's appropriate for the topic. Pretty disrespectful in fact.
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I think/hope he was making fun of Sepp Blatter there from his infamous quote.

=======

Sepp Blatter, the president of the world governing body Fifa, said women should have skimpier kit to increase the popularity of the game. "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball," he said.

"They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men - such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?"

 
The Z Machine said:
@Charlie Steiner, I don't think that's appropriate for the topic. Pretty disrespectful in fact.
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First, I would hope you recognize that I was quoting A League of Their Own, a movie about this same general subject: a pro sport featuring women, directed by a woman and with a pretty positive overall message for and about women who pursue something they love to do. I was trying to inject some humor; sorry it offended you, it wasn't meant as disrespectful.

Second, when the narrative put forth not only hinges on the false dichotomy of comparing to the men--whose league didn't just pop up overnight and took years to just reach its current level, but also on the false narrative that they're being kept down because they're women.

Third, just like any pro sports league before them, they need to create a sustained interest and prove that their 'product' is worth what they want to get paid.  So far, it sounds like they haven't done that.  I think it's great that they're the best in the world at what they do and because this is America, they are free to act however they want, but when they present a case that implies they have a moral right to get paid more than they are, that's where I object. I'd prefer they keep it about the money as opposed to crying about how unfair things are for them when they're not only the best in world and are recognized as such, but also apparently get paid more than anyone else in the world that does what they do.

 
Might be wrong, but I think Abby Dahlkemper has played every minute of every game.  Her volleys from the back have been key.  I think she's a fixture back there for years to come. :wub:

 
Dutch are playing pretty compact between the back/mid - going to take some time to unlock that. So far we are trying long over both lines and it looks like Heath will be running all day

 
Ref lets several fouls go then calls one and hands out a warning. Definitely a foul but that's poor officiating. If you called any if the previous ones you wouldn't need to warn.

 
JaxBill said:
Ref lets several fouls go then calls one and hands out a warning. Definitely a foul but that's poor officiating. If you called any if the previous ones you wouldn't need to warn.
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Came in to post that.

Dutch were flying late into tackles without any foul or comment from the ref. I liked the yellow there- definitely a bookable foul, but should have started with warnings from the beginning.

 
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