I went to the recent china game in Philly. when the US bench players walked by us (we were in the 3rd or 4th row up) before the game, we could not hold ourselves back from laughing at the uniforms, I thought Cat in the Hat. The numbers and names on the back were hard to read from the field, the gray color was too light. During the men's game the next week, something was said about by the announcers about complaints about that and changing the color of the numbers.
USSF did the numbers not Nike. Supposedly, they used the wrong numbers although they were the same numbers people got with their authentic jerseys. FWIW, renderings, teasers and displays of the jersey used at least three different number styles. The numbers have changed although some have debated if they are "legal" and matching the names. This is Cat in the Hat
No idea, but here are some things to think about. Unlike most nations, 40% of register players ( the largest number of registered players in the world, including Germany, and presumably a major market fo gear) are female. You can't market to a demographic if you have nothing to sell them, can you? The three major demographics identified for soccer apparel in this country are, in order White Suburban families Hispanic families Hispanic males My guess is the second two categories are a limited market for USNT shirts. That leaves the first category. I remember being amazed at the number of kids who had Mia Hamm jerseys at the World Cup against China. I wonder if any male has sold more jerseys? One thing is a no brainer.... They would sell more women's kits for the Olympics this go-round. The market for men's Olympic team kits is pretty limited.
I'm not sure if those are actual rankings or something you pulled from the air, but even you aren't listing women for soccer apparel. Likewise, there's no reason to differentiate between Olympic jerseys (not because the men didn't qualify, but because overall sales are the comparison). The men have had friendlies and have begun World Cup Qualifying, but it would be silly to say the men are kicking the women's ass selling WC Qualifying uniforms right now.
I didn't make them up. The number of registered players is from FIFA's Big Count. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/bigcount/registeredplayers.html Though I see in the latest figures, the USA is behind Germany in registered players, but still far ahead in all players. China (not all that surprisingly) has jumped to #1 in that category. I suspect the market for $60 jerseys there is still somewhat limited, especially USA jerseys. As to the demographic figures, they come from a marketing enterprise. http://giltedgesoccer.com/wp-content/post-files/Brand-Marketing-to-the-Soccer-Consumer.pdf
http://www.justsoccerjerseys.com/authentic-soccer-jerseys/justsoccerjerseys-com-–-soccer-com-q-a/ They say the biggest shirt sellers aren't either national team, but rather EPL and La Liga shirts. I'll bet now there are more Messi shirts around than all the USNT shirts put together. But what they said about marketing the women's teams is telling. Well, now there is no WPS, and the statement that marketing women's jerseys is cyclical according to the fortunes of the WNT tell me they should be maybe trying to sell during what is their best opportunity. Yeah, it is a bit of a crapshoot, but the women have never NOT gotten gold in the Olympics, one of the chief rivals won't even be there. When else should they be marketing women's jerseys to the 40% demographic? It would seem to me you strike when the iron is hot.
As much as I support both the men and women's sides, why Nike would make the men's shirts available before the women's doesn't make any sense and I suspect there's a hint of sexism there. The USWNT were second to winning the World Cup last year and are about ready to enter their last big tournament before that 3 year development-time starts back up again. I'm sorry but sometimes it bothers me how overlooked the women's national team gets no matter how great they do. They could win 3 world cups in a row and the United States still wouldn't care.
That doesn't mean the country is sexist. That statement is simply a statement of interest. The interest is behind the men more than the women. Even women are likely more interested in the men's team than the women. It makes economic dollars and sense (bad pun) to fast forward the men's release. I'm not defending Nike, but I'm not going to see any of this as being sexist or disrespectful towards women. I'm not sure this has been mentioned, but neither release is a great wide release. The men's jersey is being sold at limited availability at best. Nike pushed that up because of bigger and more games for the men.
The women's jerseys are finally available. I just bought mine tonight, an at home "Waldo" number 20 Wambach replica jersey, it will compliment my all black number 20 Wambach replica jersey from last year.
It doesn't appear that there is an authentic jersey available for the women, as there is for the men (# block on both front and back). Does anyone know why?
when you click on the jersey, they offer you an option to putting the name and number on it. That's how I did mine.
But that's a replica jersey. The real jersey has the # on the front also and is about $50 more. The men have them for sale (or did, but they are out of stock right now).
At first I didn't know what you were talking about because I thought a replica jersey was same as on the field, at least the one's I purchased last year were exactly the same. Then I checked the men's selection and you are correct in that they two different kinds: an "authentic" and a "replica" jersey. For the women, I never saw those two options before I always assumed they were one and the same. I ordered numbers on mine, so I have no idea where they will put the numbers if they aren't going to use the white spaces. I would have purchased the exact same look of the jerseys so I'm disappointed I accidentally purchased a "replica" jersey that isn't what they wear on the field. My assumption was that if one ordered the numbers they would get a jersey with the white spaces and add the numbers on there. At any rate, 149.00 bucks for a jersey is way too much money, I have the 2011 women's world cup black jersey that just cost me 70 something plus the numbers. I'll keep you informed at what this jersey being sent to me looks like, I should be getting it sometime this week.
Both of the US women’s jerseys that I have ordered from the US soccer store have # on the back & front. The customized info says "Please note that jerseys are customized with AUTHENTIC letters and numbers."
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iq48aa5jaj9m8ir/_petQU0jSk#f:untitled.jpg https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iq48aa5jaj9m8ir/_petQU0jSk#f:untitled-2.jpg This is the jersey I got in the mail today. You are right in that it doesn't look exactly like the ones they wear as the ones they wear have those ugly white spaces for the numbers. However I'm pretty content with this style regardless and I suppose I can live without it looking EXACTLY like their shirts
Authentic numbers and lettering on a replica jersey. Of course that looks better than an authentic jersey that has to obey the LOTG.
Thanks, guess I'll have to go with the authentic replica! Hah! How's the fit? Do you need to buy a lot larger?
I really like the fit of the new jerseys, the one's from last year fit a little awkward but then again I bought a large when I probably should have bought a medium. I think buying a large is nice and loose and a lot of wiggle room, a medium if you're truely a medium is really nice fitting, I think if you are taller than 5'5'' a large might work better because the shirts aren't long. I'm not a small or extra small I'm afraid to say so I can't help you with those sizes. lol
i'm watching usa vs japan final and happened to search "us women's soccer uniform beagle boys" cause i too was reminded of the old comic characters and thought it was funny. your post was the only reference i found on internet so i joined this board to reply that you are not the only one who thought this about the gear. go usa dave