Fans of the U.S. women's soccer team on Friday morning "turned out in force” for a parade through N.Y.'s Canyon of Heroes to honor its win in the Women's World Cup, according to FS1's Jenn Hildreth. FS1’s Kyndra de St. Aubin said, “It’s surprising that it took this long to honor a female sports team, but they deserve it and it’s so fun to see. It looks like a beautiful day in New York City, which is even better, and the fans are just piling out onto the street.” Hildreth said the goal now is "sustainability, keeping this level of interest there in women’s soccer" ("America's Pregame," FS1, 7/10). NBC’s Stephanie Gosk prior to the start of the parade estimated "several hundred thousand fans” would line the route. Attending the parade was free, but there were "2,000 tickets for seats here at City Hall." Gosk: "Within two hours of this parade’s announcement, they got 12,000 requests for those seats" ("Today," NBC, 7/10). U.S. MF Megan Rapinoe said, "People aren't just casual fans anymore. People are invested in soccer" ("GMA," ABC, 7/10). MLSSoccer.com's Greg Lalas said, "It's amazing what this team did to bring this country together" (CNN, 7/10).
KEEPING IT GOING: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports the big question for the NWSL is whether it can "sustain the momentum generated" by the WWC victory. The league "has many challenges," the primary one being it "must endure beyond its third season." The WUSA and WPS, two previous incarnations of pro U.S. women's soccer leagues, "folded before they could start a fourth." The NWSL also "needs to show itself worthy of a bigger, longer-term media contract and must lure fans to games despite not having a large number of national-team stars on any club." The league "also needs to expand its pool of national sponsors -- which consists of Coppertone, Nike and the National Mango Board -- and stay topical when the World Cup afterglow is gone." But NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush said that the league "does not have a big marketing budget" to tell its story (N.Y. TIMES, 7/10). In St. Louis, Dan Caesar notes soccer broadcaster Bill McDermott "isn’t predicting that the surge in interest in the U.S. team will transfer" to the NWSL. McDermott said, "I’m not going to tell you that because the women won the World Cup that the NWSL right now is going to start selling out every game. That’s not going to happen. If there is a slight uptick in attendance, let’s see if that lasts into next year" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 7/10).
SHOCK AND AWE: U.S. D Becky Sauerbrunn said the team “had no idea” the WWC final match drew 27 million viewers. Sauerbrunn: “We kept hearing that the numbers were creeping up each game but that final game when we heard that number we were just like, ‘That’s amazing, that’s unbelievable.’" She added, "We love women’s soccer, but to know the country loves women’s soccer too, it’s great.” U.S. MF Carli Lloyd said the win is "huge” for the game of soccer in the U.S. (“CBS This Morning,” 7/10).
