The U.S. women's national soccer team lost the FIFA Women's World Cup Final to Japan yesterday, and a win by the U.S. “could have given an even bigger boost to women’s pro soccer in this country and created a new group of endorsement darlings,” according to Bloomberg TV's Erik Schatzker. Bloomberg TV’s Michele Steele noted some of the players "will sign new deals, but a loss is definitely going to limit marketability already restrained by a lack of popularity for soccer in this country outside the World Cup.” U.S. F Alex Morgan, who scored the team's first goal yesterday, has “the biggest marketing potential because of her age.” The 22-year-old Morgan was the youngest player on the team. Steele said, “We’re not talking tens of millions of dollars. Maybe (Morgan) could earn up to $2 million lifetime endorsements” (“Inside Track,” Bloomberg TV, 7/18). In N.Y., Angela Daidone reported if the U.S. had won the World Cup, U.S. F Abby Wambach and G Hope Solo had the "potential to rake in $3 million to $4 million in endorsements" (N.Y. POST, 7/17).
SPIRIT SQUAD: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Hannah Karp reported Nike, the official jersey supplier and apparel licensee of the U.S. women's national soccer team, "doesn't sell a stitch of team-specific clothing" for male fans, despite the women's team's “transcendent appeal.” Nike said the women's uniforms previously were essentially "sized-down versions of men's jerseys." But this year's “sleek cap-sleeve jerseys zip up the front, hug the bust, taper in at the waist and jut out at the hips, drawing comparisons on soccer forums to Halloween's ubiquitous ‘sexy nurse’ costumes.” Nike Media Relations Manager Tim Yu said that “any such resemblance is purely coincidental.” Karp noted “nearly 2.7 million men tuned in to see” the U.S.-Brazil FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal on July 10, while “only 1.2 million female viewers watched.” Nike said that it decided to let the U.S. women “help design their own uniforms this year, without regard to the physiques of their male devotees.” Yu said the company "is confident that men who want to support the U.S. women's team will wear the U.S. men's (jersey)." He added that Nike “doesn't make women's versions of U.S. men's jerseys, either” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/16).
