Women's World Cup Soccer

By Erica D. Rowell

Howard Fienberg, a research analyst for the Statistical Assessment Service, downplays the current WWC fever, explaining that "the current success of women's soccer ... is primarily a phenomenon of female sporting success, which is why it is attracting so much attention." But whether it's the women or the sport that fans are attracted to, the publicity can't hurt either way.

Joe-Max Moore, the third leading all-time scorer for the men's U.S. National Team and a top striker for the MLS's New England Revolution, looks at the Women's Cup games with an eye toward soccer's future in the U.S. "It's got to be a positive thing. ... Most sports fans will agree that there are so many young soccer players out there and eventually ... a lot of them are going to watch soccer or be around soccer."

The question remains, though, whether companies like Adidas, Coca-Cola and McDonald's will keep up the momentum after the Cup has been decided.

A lot is riding on the U.S. team in Saturday's game.

Helitzer puts it like this: "If the Americans win, soccer becomes a major sport for women's soccer. If they lose, nobody likes second place."

But the longevity of the game will probably ultimately rely on local soccer fields where the sport is continuing to gain appeal across a broad spectrum of players, young and old, male and female.

It's affordable, simple, graceful and at the moment — especially hot. As more and more schools add soccer to their athletic programs, the more momentum the sport gains. For women, this is an especially positive development.

"As far as the psychology of sports and girls goes, girls who are involved in sports seem to have better self confidence ... than girls not involved in sports," says child psychologist Robert R. Butterworth Ph.D.

One of the biggest things that the U.S. Women's team has going for it is its, well, self-confident personality.

As general manager Brian Fleming explains, "These personalities (on the women's team) just come naturally — what you see is what you get with these players. They're a phenomenal group of players. They're a phenomenal group of people off the field."

Moore, who scored the only goal in the recent U.S. men's match against Argentina and who went to Mission Viejo High School in California with U.S. women's player Julie Foudy, says this about the young star: "She's an unbelievable person. I quickly became friends with her once I moved there. She has such a vibrant personality — everybody that ... knew her knew that she was gonna be something special."

It's women like Foudy whom marketers love. If they can find the equivalent to Michael Jordan in a female — as some believe they have in Mia Hamm, who stars with the former Chicago Bull in some sports drink commercials — they can tap into a burgeoning market.

Then, maybe, names like Hamm, Foudy and Moore will be as recognizable as Pele.

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