World Cup shops are essentially temporary huts at host venues that offer limited selections of apparelGETTY IMAGES
Women's World Cup fans in France have "found little" in the form of merchandise and souvenirs to "take home -- that is, if they can find FIFA's Official Fan Shops at all," according to Liz Clarke of the WASHINGTON POST. The shops -- "essentially temporary huts erected at venues hosting the group-stage and knockout-round matches -- offer a range of official FIFA merchandise that's far more limited" than what is typically seen at the men's tournament or at the Olympics. For example, FIFA is not "selling pins for the Women's World Cup," although "commemorative pins for decades have been popular keepsakes and currency at World Cups and the Olympics." The souvenir stands "sell just one T-shirt for boys and another for girls," which feature the tournament's mascot. ESPN's Julie Foudy said, "When you see these lines of people, and they're willing to wait an hour-plus just to buy a T-shirt, that should trigger something, like: 'Oh! Maybe if we put a few more huts up, we would sell that much more.'" Foudy added, "How do you know what your revenue source is going to be if you don't ever create a market or at least put stands up?" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/2).
TOP OF THE HEAP: Nike Chair, President & CEO Mark Parker said the USWNT's home jersey is now the "No. 1 soccer jersey, men's or women's, ever sold on Nike.com in one season." YAHOO SPORTS' Vinciane Ngomsi noted Nike's support for the USWNT has "not gone unnoticed." A glance through the company's Instagram "reveals posts dedicated to American stars" like F Megan Rapinoe and MF Julie Ertz (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/29). Fanatics tweeted the top selling USWNT jerseys so far are Rapinoe, Ertz and Fs Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Carli Lloyd (TWITTER.com, 7/1).
