Hope Solo, Alex Morgan Reach Celebrity Status After USA Women's World Cup Final Loss
by Martin Shatzer on Jul 21, 2011 12:01 PM EDT
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Alex Morgan and Hope Solo were two of the stars for the USA in the 2011 Women's World Cup last week. Morgan scored the first goal of the Final, which should have been the winning goal if not for some mistakes by the United States defense. Solo made several key saves in goal for the U.S., including a great penalty kick save against Brazil to put her team into the Semifinals against France, and ultimately the Final against Japan.
Morgan and Solo have now parlayed that soccer field stardom into true celebrity status. They were photographed at the season premier for HBO's Entourage on Tuesday, the same day that the two appeared on SportsCenter for a full segment. Solo was even asked if she would consider appearing on Dancing With The Stars, but she said that she can't dance. Not that that's stopped some celebrities from participating before.
All this is fine. These incredible women deserve any bit of attention they get. But will it mean anything for women's soccer in the U.S.?
I think the answer is a soft yes. We'll see attendance numbers spike for WPS matches that feature players like Morgan, Solo, and Abby Wambach. That slight bump won't last, but all we can hope for is that new casual fans will be converted to real fans before the excitement of the Women's World Cup fades from their memories.
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Interest will spike
then wane, as usual. Remember some of the serious crowds MLS could garner in the beginning, riding the wave of the 1994 WC? But at the very least, some of the new fans will stick. I was one of those new soccer fans in 1994, and here I am 17 yrs later. I know I’m not even close to the only one.
No Washington team = No interest
I followed the Freedom from the WUSA days, and would have gone to more games if I didn’t have to drive an hour each way to the hinterlands of the SoccerPlex. Without a local team, I have no one to root for and no interest in the league.
Attendance may spike. However, things have been so bad this year, I have trouble believing that anyone will keep putting big time money into keeping a team running. Certainly whatever team Marta is on will fail, just like every other team she has been on. The joke team magicJack will either fold or be forced into irrelevancy by the punishments the league is placing on them. That will leave a max of 4 teams left. Not much of a league…
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