The Popularity of USMNT and USWNT and Pop Culture

[appoo]

Something thats been bugging me recently. Why is it that Mia Hamm and Julie foudy are able to cross over into mainsteam marketing (Mia for Nike and Gatorade, and Julie with Miller Lite) while USMNT stars like Donovan, Beasley, and Mathis (not about how good he is, purely star persona) seem to be running into brick walls. Donovan has a contract with Nike yet you rarely see him in Nike commericals. He might even have a Gatorade contract. At first I was just thinking that girls look better than boys and its boys who watch the majority of sports. But if thats true why do I have to watch tampon commercials during football abd basketball games? I'm sure that Landon is as attractive to girls and non-traditional males as any hot girl is to guys and non-traditional females. Plus with women advertising sports and beer what guy will say "hey Julie Foudy drinks Miller Lite so I will to!"

Is it simply a case of advertisers thinking that the girls are more popular than the boys? And where does Heather Mitts play into all of this?

[rymannryan]

Good question. I really don't know, but I would assume that Women's World Cup '99 has a lot to do with it, even now.

[jamison]

I don't have a magic answer either, but I would assume it has something to do with the other major women's professional sports in America. You have basketball, which is a new league as well and has not established itself. You have tennis, a seasonal and marginal sport that pops up for big tournaments but has very few people watching the WTP or whatever week in and week out. Maybe Golf, but again it's not too big. Women's soccer plays in a market (women's pro sports) that is very new and not very populated. They have a lot of area to carve out a territory, and they've been successful. I think that's part of it. With Men you have established sports like baseball, football, basketball, etc that people have been watching their whole lives. Women's sports aren't that way, and I think the USWNT was in the right place at the right time.

Also, it doesn't hurt that Mia Hamm and Foudy are relatively good looking.

[Creeper_thp]

I think it may be that the women's stars are the top players in their game, whereas, while good and rah rah rah yay america, guys like Donovan, Beasley, and Mathis aren't yet on the same level as the legit international superstars. On top of that, if you're an advertiser and your ad campaign is designed around a female athlete, then women's soccer players are probably a pretty solid bet. But with men's sports you've got so many options, US soccer players tend to be alot lower on the totem pole.

[klattamaniac]

Originally posted by appooOnU
And where does Heather Mitts play into all of this?

Hopefully prominently. AJ Feeley is a lucky guy...

[SABuffalo786]

Well at least the men don't have to win every World Cup to ensure the survival of their league.

I'd rather have a stable league than seeing some of our heroes in commercials, thank you very much.

[FlashMan]

Still, post-WC and with LD signing on for two more years in America, I expected to see a definite increase in his national exposure via his Nike and/or Gatorade deals, and yet nothing. Strange. I've read they're paying him a relatively healthy amount of money, but for what? Isn't he an asset they want to sue to their benefit?

I do agree that for men, with the big 4 sports plus 1/2 dozen pretty big ones, there's a premium on advertisingn time and the dollar, but I still expected Donovan to squeeze into a niche all his own in the past year, which hasn't happened in the slightest.

[XYZ]

It's a simple matter of supply and demand. The demand for male athletes to make commercials may be greater than the demand for female athletes, but the supply of recognizable male athletes is enormous, while the supply of recognizable female athletes is almost infinitesimal in comparison.

On the female side, there are a few basketball players, a few tennis players, a few soccer players, a few golfers, maybe a softball player (although I seriously doubt it), plus a few athletes in other sports - no baseball players, no football players, almost no race car drivers, and no hockey players (Cammi Granato's fame barely lasted a month :D).

There are more recognizable male athletes in (insert one of the big 4 sports) alone than all the recognizable female athletes in all sports combined. Plus there are tons of recognizable male athletes in minor sports. Shoot, Lance Armstrong is more recognizable than any soccer player, and he's a cyclist. (talk about your sport that don't get no respect ;))

If a sponsor wants to do a commercial using a male athlete, male soccer players are competing against hundreds of athletes in other sports. If a sponsor wants to do a commercial using a female athlete, female soccer players are competing against tens of athletes in other sports (if that many). You do the math.

[sch2383]

The funny thing is that Mia hates all of this. I talked with this woman, who knows Mia pretty well, and she said "Mia will be the happiest person in the world when she can retire, go live with Nomar, and procreate."

Anyway, I think you will see Adu all over the place in about 3 years. The WWC is starting soon, so Mia, Foudy and the like will be in the spot light, I would expect to see the same thing with the men.

OT, but have any of you seen that great adidas spot with Beckham, Zidane, Khan, and the like? That is such a great spot and should be aired not only during soccer matches but during regular TV as well.

[fluidsoccer]

Originally posted by klattamaniac
Hopefully prominently. AJ Feeley is a lucky guy...

I played high school basketball against Feeley. He's an all-right guy, obviously not as good at B-ball as football. He missed a dunk in our gym and people still haven't stopped talking about it; of course they're all losers from a town of 6,000 people, but still...

I didn't realize Feeley was dating Mitts.

[appoo]

I think you guys hit the nail on the head with the Supply and Demand theory.

[StillKickin]

Originally posted by FlashMan
Still, post-WC and with LD signing on for two more years in America, I expected to see a definite increase in his national exposure via his Nike and/or Gatorade deals, and yet nothing. Strange. I've read they're paying him a relatively healthy amount of money, but for what? Isn't he an asset they want to sue to their benefit?

I do agree that for men, with the big 4 sports plus 1/2 dozen pretty big ones, there's a premium on advertisingn time and the dollar, but I still expected Donovan to squeeze into a niche all his own in the past year, which hasn't happened in the slightest.
I think LD's Nike deal has him making a lot of appearances here and there and all over at various youth soccer events, etc., not necessarily commercials. I really expected to see some gatorade commercials, though. He was also supposed to do some kind of on-line diary thingy with Gatorade and go to their science institute and all that - but so far nothing.

[appoo]

Did anybody watch Soccer Saturday? Metros @ Fire? At half time what do I see. Julie friggin Foudy pumping Bud Light...in the middle of MENS SOCCER GAME. I mean, again, Julie Foudy makes men want to drink beer? This ain't no cat-fight commericial either

[mpruitt]

Originally posted by sch2383
The funny thing is that Mia hates all of this. I talked with this woman, who knows Mia pretty well, and she said "Mia will be the happiest person in the world when she can retire, go live with Nomar, and procreate."


Good god! I can't even discuss that possability rationally. If ever there was to be an American Soccer Golden Child. PLEASE NOMAR KEEP THE MIT OUT OF HIS HANDS. And good god I hope it's a boy.

I will say thought hat when people talka bout US Soccer and the mainstream media. I wonder sometimes where we're at, because it's not like you see a lot of Paul Caliguri Pert Plus commercials, or Tab Ramos Snickers commercials floating around. It may just have purely to do with the immediacy of having the World Cup on American soil. Unfortunately unlike the Olympics we can't garuntee that we'll be able to host it with any regularity and create those types of niche sports mainstream names on a regular basis simply for having a bunch of people watch a huge event on American soil eveyr 4 years.

[TOTC]

Originally posted by XYZ
The supply of recognizable male athletes is enormous, while the supply of recognizable female athletes is almost infinitesimal in comparison.

On the female side, there are a few basketball players, a few tennis players ....

Hold it right there, buster (or should I say Evander?). Name five male tennis players in the Top 10. Match them to photographs.

Do the same with female players in the Top 10.

You get the idea.

[FearM9]

Originally posted by fluidsoccer
I didn't realize Feeley was dating Mitts. Just wait till Mitts visits Ontario.
:D

[XYZ]

Originally posted by TOTC
Name five male tennis players in the Top 10. Match them to photographs.

Do the same with female players in the Top 10.:D I could actually probably do that but, then, I'm a big tennis fan. You should have said baseball, football, basketball or hockey because I'd have to go back 30 years (at least) to name a lot of athletes in those sports.
Originally posted by TOTC
You get the idea. Actually, I don't understand the point you're trying to make at all.

[TOTC]

I think the "you" are the general public. I mean, can the average person pick Andy Roddick, Tim Henman, and Carlos Moya out of a lineup of five people?

Serena, Venus, Jennifer, et. al. are unfortunately going to be the last of the true personalities of the game. I mean, KIM FREAKIN' CLIJSTERS AT NO. 1?????

We're getting to the point where robots are on the court; the ultimate in Ivan Lendl-eque evolution of the game of tennis.

But that's another story ...

[XYZ]

Originally posted by TOTC
I mean, can the average person pick Andy Roddick, Tim Henman, and Carlos Moya out of a lineup of five people?Well, no, of course not.

But there's a good chance they could pick out Andre Agassi. Of the current top tens, Agassi, Capriati and the Williams sisters are probably about all the average person would recognize. The average person would, however, probably recognize a number of retired tennis stars.

I doubt the average person could recognize many soccer players, active or otherwise.
(average person in the US, not average BigSoccer poster)

Being an individual sport, tennis creates individual stars.

At least some people think Venus Williams is marketable:
Williams sisters court mass appeal (http://www.usta.com/misc_pages/custom.sps?iType=1927&icustompageid=6071)

Originally posted by TOTC
I mean, KIM FREAKIN' CLIJSTERS AT NO. 1?????
That may be a rather short-lived #1 ranking. She lost today to an unseeded Lina Krasnoroutskaya. (there's a household name for ya)

[Auriaprottu]

Originally posted by TOTC
Serena, Venus, Jennifer, et. al. are unfortunately going to be the last of the true personalities of the game.

I disagree. That's a cycle. Another personality will surface in a few years.

We're getting to the point where robots are on the court; the ultimate in Ivan Lendl-eque evolution of the game of tennis.

Actually, Lendl began his career as a Darth Vader- type personality of sorts. He was the foil to clods like McEnroe and Connors, wearing black clothing, (occasionally) intimidating players by hitting balls at them, giving some of the briefest interviews in tennis history, etc. It wasn't until he hit top seven or eight that he changed. Even then, his U.S. and French Open matches with McEnroe (a player he owned early and late- Mac was better for the short middle) were the stuff of legend, USA petulance v. Eastern European clearheadedness, Adidas v. Nike (I played tennis in college in the mid-80s; Lendl is the reason I prefer Adidas clothing even now), serve and volley v. all-court/baseline, left v. right-hand... but once he matured, he carried himself more like tennis players should than Mac or Jimbo. Lendl (along with Ashe and Borg) was one of the sport's heroes to me.