With its players "taking turns at the top," the LPGA
Tour "has had no clear-cut star to market," according to
Steve Popper of the N.Y. TIMES, who wrote that the Tour
"awaits the advertising bonanza, while still earning its way
into the hearts and minds of television executives."
However, LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw is "confident what was
good for women's soccer will be good for all women's
sports." Votaw: "I believe a rising tide lifts all ships.
Do I have jealousy of the soccer team? No. Envy? Perhaps.
Would I love that exposure? Absolutely." Popper wrote that
the WWC team was "planted in the public consciousness" by ad
campaigns, something the LPGA "has yet to have." Votaw:
"That's one code we need to crack. You look at Juli Inkster
and her sponsors, Snackwells, Subaru and Izod -- all took
out full-page ads congratulating her. But there are things
that would fit in televised ads. That's the next step. ...
We have to ride the wings of other people's spending" (N.Y.
TIMES, 7/18). Votaw, on the marketability of the U.S. WWC
team: "Attractive, fun, approachable, college-educated,
good-looking. The same attributes used to describe the [WWC
team] can be used to describe our athletes, too" (AP, 7/18).
