What I'm reminded of every time there's a qualifying tournament: we need to find a way to get federations invested in the women's game. I don't know what the answer is, but its certainly not happening. This is the team that almost got the last spot in the last WWC. Think about where they could be if the T&T federation had decided to invest in the team over the last cycle. Wonder why T&T, #USWNT's final group opponent, has collapsed? On day Soca Princesses were supposed to leave for North Carolina, they still didn't have a coach, plane tickets and hadn't been paid for last two months. https://t.co/0Lv2loRtHO— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) October 10, 2018
I understand and agree but it says a lot negative about the lack of any real soccer culture in the US and the near total lack of respect that women's soccer gets in general particularly in the "macho" countries. In Europe the qualifiers are getting decent attendance (That has a lot to do with home/home series) The women's game still has a LONG way to go before it is even near where the men's game is. In the match commentary they kept praising the attendance of the Mexican women's league and I know that the NWSL was mostly pretty well attended but attendance in the leagues in no way seems to relate to attendance in matches like this WWC qualifier. Of course it did not help that one set of qualifiers was stuck in an area, south Texas, with little or no real women's soccer culture. The matches set in a soccer hotbed that did not include the US were poorly attended as well so south Texas was not the only problem. I also think a LOT of the problem was brought on Fox by Fox because we could not even count on matches being shown from the start on FS1 or FS2 and even their app joined a couple of matches late. If what is promised is not on when promised the people tuning in just to get a look will not wait for the drivel to finish. Also twice what was on instead of the match was men weighing in for some fighting contest or just taking about the same. Such does not offend me, I do think it is stupid but I am not offended by stupidity, but the language and mannerisms and general behavior (not to mention the highlights) are not at all suitable for kids. So I am sure they lost some viewers that tuned in for their kids and tuned away as soon as they saw what garbage was on. I have zero sympathy for Fox and their ratings. In fact I hope they lose enough money so they release their rights and a company that actually knows a bit about soccer gets the rights before the WWC. It has less chance than Cuba had against Canada but one can always hope. The ultimate "fault" for the poor attendance and low ratings, however, lays squarely on the shoulders of the American public. They just have no respect for soccer and particularly women's soccer. I thought that was changing several years ago but, except for a very few limited areas, that has clearly not happened. The US is not a soccer nation at all and CONCACAF is not a women's soccer culture either.
From the way they count shots in soccer (if a leg is swung in the direction of the goal and it contacts the ball then it is a shot) your numbers are probably correct. To me however if a shot is attempted and it could not go into goal if not prevented it is not a shot. That is saves+blocks+goals should equal shots. A ball that hits the post or crossbar is NOT a shot. A ball that sails over the top is not a shot. A ball that goes wide is not a shot. In this game I think there actually were about 20-25 real shots but T&T had so many players behind the ball that most "shots" were blocked. It is VERY hard to actually force a save when there are 14-20 legs between you and the goal and shooting high hits an even larger total area of bodies. The US is actually shooting pretty well. Also, in the second part of the second half it looked to me like the US was intentionally passing up the best option at times to try some things they may need in other matches. So some of those attempts were lower percentage than what their choice would normally be against a pathetic team like T&T.
The women's game is much younger than the men's. On the club level nothing approaches UCL and two failed leagues in the US this century won't build a fanbase. The international game does not have enough strong teams as this tournament is proving. It's a lot easier to say there should be support without answering why. I'll explain later. We look at UFC being an odd lead in for the tournament but Fox views it the other way. The tournament is a drop off from UFC. At least they are showing the games but I agree the coverage is lackluster and I am being generous with that description. Fox has World Cup rights on the men's side through 2026 and I don't know how the rights are bundled through SUM. Put another way, the USWNT is part of the package for a little while. I may have remembered this wrong. There is a soccer culture in the US but I would argue USSF have treated it poorly. On the women's side the focus is victory tours, selling jerseys and familiar faces at the expense of the product on the field. Far too many players stay too long and the program suffers. Our developmental pipeline has clogged and too few players get looks. The contracts are a poison and both NWSL and national team need to move away from them. No one seems to mention Lloyd going AWOL from her team for a month after the last Olympics. Why not? If she doesn't care about the league why should the average sports fan? NWSL suffers from the fact they cannot create stars. The focus is on a few players whether they deserve the spotlight or not. The marketing for decades has been around a chosen few and tied to some type of social duty. Why did I watch the NWSL final? Because when Tobin Heath has the ball she is a goddess amongst mortals and deserves the same respect as Harry Kane. Because the Courage were the best women's club team in American history. Because O'Sullivan-Boureille is a great midfield duel. Because Hinkle is the best American outside back at the moment. I wish there was a better soccer culture in America as well and I wish the women got more viewers but the USSF has done a terrible job for years with what they have at their disposal. USWNT has no GM and NWSL has no commissioner. That shows a lack of respect from the top not the fans. People watch sports because it makes their life better. Has USSF done a good job of selling that, especially on the women's side? Great post by the way, you gave me a lot to think about.
I do not mind that junk being a lead in. What I do mind is drivel like weigh ins and talk shows overlapping promised coverage. In at least one case the weigh in was not even on the schedule. It replaced the start of the match for almost 5-10 minutes. Fortunately the provider I use (Sling TV) allows me to access the Fox Sports app so I am not locked in to FS1 and FS2. Not all providers provide authorization for the app but many do and I strongly recommend that everyone that can use the app instead of FS1 or FS2. The app is a little non-intuitive (OK a LOT non-intuitive) but it works and does seem to start on time. You still have the ignorant and stupid (Yes they are different things ignorance can be cured by learning but stupidity not so much) Fox announcers. If you become really upset at the Fox announcers they also have the matches on Fox Soccer Match Pass without any commentary at all. But that requires a subscription. (Which I have but would not be economical for many) I usually do not use Match Pass as I like to at least mostly know the names of who is on the ball. At matches that is easy to see but on TV it is much less so because the small screen (no matter how big) does not show enough to see the runs and switches players make. In the U20 WWC I had to, for a lot of matches, watch a streaming feed because Fox was just so horrid. I have not found such that works where I live for this tournament.
Actually, @McSkillz claimed there were 45 goals in 1st half only! I know it was just a slip up with adjacent keys, but this post quite made my day: someone had just posted that the floodgates had been opened and soon after it was 45-0! Are you serious? I am aware that you are talking by an USWNT's fan point of view, but are you really saying that a tournament where Jamaica and Panama are reaching semifinals over Costa Rica and Mexico is boring? What did it need not to be boring, in your standards? Cuba 12 Canada 0? Tridnidad & Tobago doing the same to USWNT that they did to the men's team?
So, can you tell me, what nation is a women's soccer nation? Or what sport the USA TV stations support? Even in soccer hotbead nations, they don't support the women's game. I mean, men's and women's sports will never be supported evenly, IMO, in our lifetimes.
The US WNT in the last cycle has usually pulled in five-digit audiences for friendlies, and regularly at 15000+, all over the country. And now in a tournament that actually matters, they can't sell out a small stadium. In fact, the attendance has been around 6000. The last time they played at Cary, a year ago, they had 9700+ in attendance. While some of the responsibility surely does fall on the American public, the US has shown that it will go to attend WNT games when they know about them. In fact, I'd argue the US is one of the few countries that actually does support its women's team. Right now there are people in NC who don't even know these games are happening. The same thing happened in the 2014 WWCQ tournament, and that's squarely on CONCACAF who was responsible for marketing and ticketing these games.
You can't compare the attendance or TV viewership for UEFA WC qualifying matches with Concacaf attendance/viewership. UEFA teams are generally good and matches are competitive, with some exceptions of course, whereas Concacaf is a crappy region with a bunch of crappy teams. In a country, ours, where the NWSL is still trying to get established, you are not going to get many people who want to watch Cuba play Trinidad & Tobago or Panama vs. Mexico. Mexico has an audience, yes, as does the United States team, but it is not a big name, high-quality tournament. It's the opposite. Let's be realistic.
I don't buy this at all. If you have a good game, NOT in being played Cary, NC but in a large market, they will fill the seats. Nobody is going to pay $$$$ to see Cuba or TnT play. Check the attendance when the WWC was last here. Sellouts
Big kudos to the WNT for a comprehensive victory last night. T&T program could be an excuse, but still the women play attractive football. Congrats.
I think the first 10 minutes and the last 15 versus Panama were also in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. This is when Mace was deployed as a forward in the beginning and when Horan subbed for Dahlkemper later.
If Canada ever beat the US in the final, then you would care that this tournament has a final. This is the equivalent of the Gold Cup for the women. Winning it will be hum drum until they lose. They have lost (came in 3rd) this tournament before. Poor performance in this tournament is a good augur for poor performance in the WC. That we are playing so well is a good thing. Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, and Costa Rica will probably get better. I think the USWNT has taken a step forward from where they were quality wise 4 years ago. The region now needs to take steps forward again.
It's also a matter of three matches in the same venue in a week. If there had just been one match I think it sells out but they aren't selling out all three, two of which r on school nights.
This is definitely not true... there's actually a lot of contrary evidence! Excluding MLS doubleheaders the 1996 OG & 1999/2003 WC games hosted here, almost every one of the top attendances in USWNT history were friendlies in smaller markets... #1 Pittsburgh (first game of 2015 Victory Tour) #2 Kansas City #3 St Louis #4 Birmingham #5 Louisville #6 Detroit #7 Orlando #8 New Orleans (Wambach's retirement game) #9 Boston (first game of 1999 Victory Tour) #10 Cincinnati (SOURCE - 2018 USWNT Media Guide, page 117) There are many factors and it seems to vary from city to city. Look at the MLS, many of the biggest attendances are in the smaller markets and many of the worst attendances are in the larger markets. For the USWNT, some small markets draw much bigger numbers than the large markets, even for smaller games. Some of the smaller markets (in friendlies against weaker opponents) greatly outdraw the larger markets when they have bigger tournaments with high quality opponents (eg - SheBelieves Cup). Like I said, it varies, so it's not as simple as playing in bigger markets. There are many other factors as well, such as weather, weekday/weekend, where we're at in the cycle, etc. Games just prior to WC/OG and Victory/Fan Appreciation Tours right after WC/OG always boost attendance. I'm not sure why we keep playing in Houston or Dallas (there's plenty of better options with warm weather or domes), but they're almost always a terrible draw. I'm sure the motivation to continually play in Houston (and other cities that continually get crappy draws) is highly political or financial, and not because it's in the best interest of growing USWNT/WoSo in this country.
Well the reality was FOX moved the game....I got 2 hours of UFC on my DVR. Not to worry, FOXSports2 is replaying the Match at 9:00 a.m. Central Saturday Morning for those wishing to tape.
Which is a major reason I have started using the Fox Sports app on my Roku for almost all Fox content I want to watch. The app is poorly written and clumsy to use and more than a little difficult to find the content you want BUT the streams work very well and there are replays available for almost everything and the schedule is almost always reliable because it does not matter where Fox moves stuff or if something before the event runs over. The app is just MUCH better than actually using the actual Fox channel on a TV. The app is available on many devices including Rokus, Fire TVs and Shield TV as well as almost all Android devices. I wish Fox did not have such a strangle hold on soccer coverage. Simple broadcasts with absolutely no commentary is often better than what Fox shoves down our throats.
A part of me misses when ESPN covered the Women's World Cup back in 2011. I actually like Ian Darke's commentary. Fox sports just feels weird and awkward especially when you get people like Lalas who normally covers the men's game trying to analyze the women's game. All he ever talks about or promotes is set pieces, then he'll mention something like USWNT won and it's not a surprise. The guy is always a little too smug for my tastes. Then you have people like Danielle Slaton and Aly Warner that talk about their old glory days on the USWNT for a good portion of the game. Lastly, don't get me started on "Dr. Joe". That gimmick is about as hokey as a 1960s variety show.
You touch on a lot of what I find wanting in US soccer coverage in general and Fox in particular. For some reason US commentators believe they have to fill every single second with noise of some kind. I guess they do not think that the game can, in most cases, speak for itself and don't get me started on Lalas who speaks with all the eloquence of a howler monkey and about the same intelligence. That is the very reason I sometimes choose the feed from my Fox Soccer Match Pass as those feeds have no commentary at all. I have heard people wondering why soccer broadcasts do not attract more viewers and I think part of the reason is the commentary. One of my complaints about sports like baseball and football and others on TV is how little time is spent with something, anything, actually happening. It is similar in soccer where something is happening almost all the time but the commentators keep talking without saying anything the whole time. Of course it does not help that most US commentators, even those that played the game, know little about the game on the field and the directors have no idea of which plays are truly important and which really mean nothing. One of the things that irritate me a lot is the sudden closeups of players trotting or, more often, walking back up the field after missing a shot or a pass. It seems that if a player wants camera time all they need do is shoot or pass stupidly near the goal. I cannot attend matches anymore so I have to be content with viewing on TV. It is good I am already a strong fan of the sport because otherwise what is presented, mostly, on US TV would drive me away.