The U.S. women's national soccer team's Toys 'R' Us
Victory Tour concluded Wednesday at the Rose Garden, with
the final match against the World All-Stars drawing an
announced crowd of 10,561, according to Ed Guzman of the
Portland OREGONIAN. Guzman: "Playing an indoor soccer game
in a barely half-full arena seemed like a strange way for
the U.S. women to cap a year" (OREGONIAN, 12/16). The
Victory Tour concluded with a total attendance of 136,230,
an average of 11,352 per game (AP, 12/15).
NOT A FAN: In Portland, Dwight Jaynes wrote, "I thought
this storied team would come to something more than this --
playing (and losing) exhibitions of an outdoor sport in
half-full indoor arenas, hawking cheesy souvenirs while
charging inflated prices for a mutilated version of its
game, sponsored by the world's biggest chain of toy stores."
Jaynes, on the U.S. team's performance: "They looked tired
and bored -- fed up with a concept that, frankly, made them
look a lot like greedy contestants on a game show, grabbing
for that final handful of cash before heading back to
obscurity" (Portland OREGONIAN, 12/16).
AWARDS & ACCOLADES: PR WEEK lists the U.S. women's
soccer team third in its "Best company/group publicity"
category. The Nike bra/Brandi Chastain celebration is
listed fourth under the "Best Publicity Stunt" (PR WEEK,
12/13 issue). Meanwhile, the U.S. women's soccer team came
in first in a survey conducted by Women Execs in PR, which
asked execs to choose the person/group who "accomplished
something unprecedented for women, and who had a lasting
impact on the status of women" (THE DAILY).