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 Owner Chris Sell said the FIFA Women's World Cup had "never been
that big" in past years. But then he saw his 70-seat British-style
pub fill up for the live television broadcast, mostly with cheering
women decked out in soccer jerseys.
They were rewarded with a 3-1 win for the Americans playing in a
stadium in Winnipeg, Canada, in front of more than 31,000 fans.
"It brought a whole new genre of people in," said Sell. "Everybody
was a little bit shocked."
The auspicious start for the U.S. team, ranked second by FIFA behind
Germany, could help build support for the American women, much like
the men's team experienced reaching the knock-out stages of the
World Cup finals in Brazil last year.
U.S. teams have won the Women's World Cup twice, in 1991 and 1999,
while the men have never reached a final.
In addition to having a team with potential to win the championship,
the United States benefits this year from a convenient tournament
location over the border in Canada, and more exposure in both
broadcast and social media.
Fox Sports, which will air all 52 Women's World Cup games live,
including 16 on the Fox broadcast network, said USA-Australia
attracted 3.3 million viewers on Fox Sports 1, more than triple the
audience of the U.S. team's opener in 2011.
On Twitter, players such as forward Alex Morgan and goalkeeper Hope
Solo have more followers than U.S. male counterparts Clint Dempsey
and Tim Howard. The team is promoting their quest for the Cup with
the hashtag #SheBelieves.
There is also a daunting challenge: the United States is in the
"Group of Death," with three of the Group D teams ranked in FIFA's
top 10.
Scott Paul, who heads a non-profit organization near Washington,
D.C., traveled with his twin 7-year-old boys to Winnipeg for the
opening match.
"The atmosphere was electric. It was almost like a U.S. home game,"
Paul said.
'THE PLACE ERUPTS'
The American Outlaws, a U.S. supporters group, turned the north
grandstand into a swath of red, white and blue with chants of "USA,
USA" from the moment the players walked out of the tunnel.
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The glowing reviews for team and tourney contrast with the doom and
gloom around FIFA, world's soccer governing body, which was rocked
May 27 by indictments in the United States of nine former and
current FIFA officials and five corporate executives on charges of
racketeering and corruption.
Fans in Winnipeg pushed the scandal aside.
"Being a very deep soccer fan, I think I can overlook the FIFA
scandal and just really care about high-quality soccer," said
Chelsea Davis, 27, who came from Wisconsin.
Back home, bartenders from New York to Los Angeles said that while
female fans were not as rowdy as the men, they are bracing for a
raucous atmosphere when the United States meets Sweden on Friday.
"The place erupts when they score goals," said Brian Mullin,
bartender at the Cock 'n' Bull British pub in Santa Monica near Los
Angeles, where 100 people convened to watch Monday's game. Like the
crowd at Brooklyn's Chip Shop, it was more women than men.
One Los Angeles fan, Juan Ponciano, 30, said he plans to skip out
early from work to watch games. "We should win the whole thing, we
really should," said Ponciano. "The women, they just play really
well."
(Writing by Mary Milliken in Los Angeles; Editing by Grant McCool
and Lisa Shumaker)
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