Fans of the World Cup champion U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team are getting what they want.

More.

The team began a victory tour last weekend. It runs until October.

It’s a heady time for women’s soccer. But other women’s sports want to take advantage of the moment as well. And they’re hoping to overcome cultural obstacles that traditionally have made their sports less relevant.

Powerful potential

Five days after the U.S. won the Women’s World Cup, fans of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm welcomed a surprise visitor to the team’s home arena. Even from the cheap seats, the pink/purple hair gave it away.

“Well look who has graced us with her presence,” Storm play-by-play announcer Dick Fain told a television audience. “Is there a more recognizable face in the world of sports over the last month, than that young lady on the right, Megan Rapinoe?!”

Actually this moment wasn’t a shock. Rapinoe and Storm star Sue Bird are one of Seattle’s “it” couples. Still, Rapinoe’s appearance and standing ovation from an arena full of basketball fans, was a reminder of the powerful crossover potential of the women’s World Cuppers.

“For me it was just simply hopeful,” said Storm CEO and General Manager Alisha Valavanis. “That that awareness would continue to expose the country and the globe to the other sports.”

Like ice hockey, lacrosse, softball, pro soccer … and basketball, the most prominent of this country’s women’s professional sports.

A complex game

It would be wonderful, Valavanis said, if this awareness of the Women’s National Soccer Team and exposure to the others, were like a magic wand. That could wave away the chasm separating women’s and men’s pro sports, on issues of money, visibility and relevance.

But there’s no magic wand.

“This is a complex game,” Valavanis said, adding, “there is no quick fix to….the gap.”

Talking is a start.

Rapinoe and her soccer teammates have done plenty of that, about the gap in pay and inferior working conditions. WNBA players are confronting similar issues. Seattle forward Alysha Clark said they’ve been newly-inspired by the soccer team.

“They’re helping grow the confidence of women athletes,” Clark said, “to speak up for what we feel is right.”

An uncomfortable truth

But if a conversation about women’s sport truly has been sparked by the success and audacity of the U.S. Women’s National Team, ultimately it has to also confront an uncomfortable truth.

“Whatever sport is out there that women are trying to make their way professionally,” said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder, “the biggest problem is the extent, the depth of what I would call invisible and cultural bias against women professional athletes.”

Gilder has owned the Seattle Storm with two other women since 2008. As an undergraduate rower at Yale in the 1970’s, she took part in a Title IX protest – Title IX is the federal law that, among other things, bans gender discrimination in girl’s and women’s sports. Gilder says the protest radicalized her and made her keenly aware of the bias.

“I think we make an assumption, it’s a very deeply held assumption,” she said, “that men are more important. And you actually start seeing that in sports at a very young age.”

“[Even at] 10 years old, boys are starting to have more fans. By the time you get to high school, this interest in supporting boys’ sports has been well established.”

The choice of what to watch

The traditional argument is that male sports are better. Because the athletes mostly are bigger, stronger, faster. Gilder says it’s what often tips the balance when fans have a choice – between paying money to watch a men’s pro sporting event, or a women’s.

“But who decides that?” Gilder asked. “Who decides that women’s basketball isn’t interesting?”

Storm CEO Valavanis places some of the blame on mainstream sports media.

“What if we started to play more highlights of the women?” Valavanis said. “Would we then have those individuals, watching and saying ‘gosh I need to see the dunk. I’m only interested if they’re as fast and strong as the men.’ Or is that something we perpetuate because it’s exactly what you’re watching every day?”

Certainly the choice isn’t always to watch men.

At a recent WNBA game in Washington, D.C., Washington Mystics fan Teresa Tidwell said she’s had the choice of basketball games. And she prefers the women.

“I think in women’s basketball, particularly in women’s professional basketball, the team play is better,” Tidwell said. “In men’s professional basketball it’s a lot of run and gun. It’s not really very entertaining from my point of view.”

The WNBA hasn’t had enough Teresa Tidwell’s.

In each of its 23 seasons, the league reportedly has never made a profit. Building up attendance is an ongoing problem. Heading into the recent WNBA All-Star break, Seattle ranked fourth out of 12 teams in total attendance. Still the Storm does what it can to bring fans to games. Including a promotion offering free tickets…for donated blood.

Twenty-nine-year-old Jordan Lake and two friends took advantage of the deal at a recent home game. Their first WNBA experience.

“It’s entertaining,” Lake said, watching the Storm play the Las Vegas Aces. “I’ve grown up with sports. I love sports. You’ve got to find something else to watch in the off-season of football, I suppose.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Despite the athleticism on display in a tight, competitive game, Lake said he probably wouldn’t come back if he had to pay for a ticket.

Not betting, but hopeful

In the face of resistance, still, is there the chance to nudge a cultural change more toward women’s sports?

“I absolutely believe that it’s possible, said Storm co-owner Gilder. “At the same time, I’m a business person and I’ve been in this business for 12 years and I’m not betting on it.”

But she’s hardly giving up, either.

“I am a believer in progress,” Gilder said. “And without showing up and agitating in some way, then you’re wishing. That’s your choice. Agitate or wait.”

“Is this a pivotal moment?” she asked. “Has the Women’s World Cup team been able to bring more awareness in a way that individual Americans start looking at themselves, not in a critical way but like….’oh my gosh [women’s professional sports] could be fun to be part of,’ or ‘I want to do this,’ or maybe a little bit of ‘I should do this.'”

“I hope so.”

A new WNBA plan could help fuel Gilder’s hope.

This fall and winter, some of the league’s best players will tour the country as part of the lead-up to next summer’s Olympics in Tokyo. The training and games will also help increase visibility and connect players more with fans.

Seattle guard Sue Bird helped come up with the idea.

Her inspiration, in large part, was the electric experience of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team.

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It’s been a month since the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team won a second straight World Cup, and gained rock star popularity in the process.

Since the win, the goal has been to capitalize on that success.

U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro has been at odds with the women’s team on issues of pay and working conditions. Still, Cordeiro understands the importance of maintaining USWNT momentum.

“If you love these players of the World Cup,” he said at a victory celebration in New York City, “then come out and cheer on your local teams, NWSL teams, this year.”

The NWSL is the women’s pro soccer league in the U.S. Now in its seventh year, it helped develop the World Cup heroes – all 23 who went to France, play in the league. But it’s still somewhat unknown.

“There are a lot of people out there that don’t even know there’s a league that exists,” said Carli Lloyd, “That’s a problem.” The U.S. National Team veteran and current member of the NWSL’s Sky Blue FC echoes Cordeiro’s call to action.

“It’s about awareness,” Lloyd said.

World Cup Bump

In the National Women’s Soccer League, World Cup bump is a relative term.

In soccer hotbed Portland, Ore., the NWSL’s Thorns drew a whopping post-World Cup crowd of more than 22-thousand. Orlando had its biggest attendance in two years. Even in Houston, where major pro teams like the Rockets, Astros and Texans dominate the sports landscape, the NWSL’s Dash had a season-high turnout at its first home game after the World Cup.

“We drew just under [5,500],” said Zac Emmons, the Dash’s senior director of Communications. “For Dash games we sell the lower bowl of [BBVA Stadium]. We had the entire lower bowl sold out. [We] actually had to open some upper level sections to accommodate the crowd.”

At the second post-World Cup game, the energy was there, but the paying customers – not so much.

This time, 3,500 people showed up on a hot, sticky Sunday night. Including some who still wanted to make a statement.

“I read a call to action, and that’s what I’m doing,” said Houston resident Marco Gomez, “I’m doing it. I’m acting.”

Gomez, a 30-year-old hospital technician in Sugarland, Texas, explained what brought him to his first-ever Dash game.

“I was on Instagram,” he said, “and I read that the U.S. World Cup team was fighting for equal pay. One of the comments was a question addressed to Alex Morgan – it was like ‘hey Alex, what can we do to help out? What’s the most effective way?'”

“And the reply was, go support women’s soccer at all levels. That makes sense. So that’s what I’m doing.”

Gomez, wearing a backwards baseball cap and sipping a beer, sat and watched by himself. A few sections over, 9-year-old Remy Haguewood sat surrounded by family members. She’s been to lots of Dash games, but was as excited as ever, decked out in a white U.S. Soccer jersey and Houston Dash scarf.

“I love soccer and I love the drums,” she bubbled, “they play the drums also [the Dash supporter group Bayou City Republic]. So it’s just awesome to be here.”

And, said her mom Lacy Haguewood, it’s also necessary.

“It’s very important to stay dedicated,” Lacy said, “to stay strong for these women. They go to work every day. Carli Lloyd just played for the World Cup and now she’s here [Lloyd’s Sky Blue team was playing the Dash]. Everyone knows who she is. You just have to stay the course and do what we do and that’s show up every day.”

Not Enough

On this night, the dedication of fans like the Haguewoods’ was rewarded midway through the first half.

That’s when Dash forward Rachel Daly blasted a shot from close range into the upper left corner of the Sky Blue goal. It was the only score in a one-nil Houston win over Sky Blue. Despite her starring role, though, Daly was not to be trifled with.

In the autograph line afterwards, where NWSL players work tirelessly to connect with fans, Daly reminded autograph-hungry little girls that manners matter.

“If you say please,” Daly said to a group of kids, who hadn’t said the magic word. “I know your mom told you to say that.”

One pre-teen fan responded quickly.

“Will you please sign my card?” the girl asked. “‘Cause you said please, I will,” Daly replied.

After she made her way through the line, I asked Daly if she thought the NWSL was getting the World Cup bounce people said it should.

Again, no nonsense.

“No, I actually don’t,” she said. “I think some places are, others aren’t. Y’know I don’t think there were enough people out there for us tonight.”

Promoting Others

Daly was on England’s Women’s World Cup team, which lost to the U.S. in the tournament’s semi-finals. She wondered if Houston lagged in the stands because no U.S. National Team members play for the Dash.

Team spokesman Zac Emmons says Houston has had USWNT members, but because of trades, doesn’t now. He’s not certain that has an impact on attendance. Emmons does say it’s natural you’ll see a bigger bump that first game back [after the World Cup].

“It’s a challenge for us to keep those people coming back,” he said, “to continue engaging with them on a week in, week out basis.”

This kind of regression toward the mean is natural as the World Cup glow fades. All the more reason, said women’s soccer writer RJ Allen, for the NWSL to promote others.

“Building up players that are sort of stalwarts for the league itself,” said Allen, “highlighting those players and showing off more than just the Alex Morgan’s or Tobin Heath’s or Alyssa Naeher’s is a key. [The league] has to build up a recognizable base of players that have nothing to do with U.S. Women’s National Team.”

That should be easier thanks to a new ESPN TV deal, essentially broadcasting a national game-of-the-week. The league also secured a major sponsorship with Budweiser.

Allen, the editor-in-chief of Backlinesoccer.com, said those deals help; but more has to happen.

“I think a TV deal,” she said, “a true legitimate every-game-is-somewhere-on-television [deal], I think that is a giant thing the league is lacking.”

And while the U.S. National Team members battle for equal pay with U.S. Soccer (which pays their salaries), the NWSL, Allen said, would do well to pay its non-USWNT players more.

“You’re having players come out of college at 21, 22,” she said, “with degrees from Stanford and University of North Carolina and Duke and a lot of really good colleges, and you’re paying them $17,000 minimum salary, and they have job offers on the table for two or three or four times that.”

“So keeping that talent in the league, growing that talent, having players earn 30,000 minimum, something like that would definitely help the league because it would keep that talent.”

A New Rallying Cry

Despite the changes for which Allen and others advocate, there’s general consensus the NWSL is the most competitive women’s pro soccer league in the world. It’s where the best soccer players go to hone their games.

And Allen said the public needs to know that.

“The reason the U.S. won the second [straight] World Cup is directly because of the NWSL,” she said. “Because of players like Sam Mewis and Lindsey Horan playing in the NWSL and getting better because of this league. And without it, it becomes a lot less certain the U.S. is going to keep [its] dominance in the world.”

Meaning, the rallying cry, “If you love the World Cup winners, please support the NWSL,” should perhaps be a bit more hard-edged.

“If you love the World Cup winners, you better support the NWSL.”

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French inventor Franky Zapata made history as the first person to cross the English Channel by hoverboard, taking off Sunday from Sangatte on France’s northern coast and touching down near Dover, England.

The elite jet skier’s daring display over the 22-mile channel between France and the U.K. took just over 20 minutes. It seems nobody else has ever tried to cross the body of water by hoverboard, which in Zapata’s case was powered by a backpack full of fuel.

“I’m feeling happy. … It’s just an amazing moment in my life,” Zapata told reporters after landing, according to The Associated Press.

The board moved quickly — almost immediately after takeoff, Zapata rose high in the sky and blasted forward, standing up on his invention as he faded off into the distance above the water. The crowd clapped as they saw him off from the beach.

The wind above the channel posed challenges, he said, because gusts required him to constantly adjust his body’s position.

“Your body resists the wind, and because the board is attached to my feet, all my body has to resist to the wind,” Zapata told reporters in England. “I tried to enjoy it and not think about the pain.”

The accomplishment probably felt especially sweet because a previous attempt last month ended dramatically. Zapata attempted to land on a platform on a boat to refuel in the middle of that journey but ended up plunging into the water.

This time, Reuters reported, he used a larger boat and a larger platform.

This type of hoverboard isn’t Zapata’s first invention. One of them, called a Flyboard, enables users to fly out of the water and up into the air, shooting out jets of water and even doing flips.

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Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies are suing the creators of “The Phillie Phanatic,” to prevent them from making the green and furry mascot a “free agent,” available to root for and promote other teams.

The Phanatic debuted at a Phillies game in April 1978 with the help of Harrison and Erickson, Inc., which designed and created it.

According to a lawsuit filed in New York, the firm’s principals, Wayde Harrison and Bonnie Erickson, were paid over $200,000 by the end of 1980. In 1984, after it was clear that the Phanatic was a hit, Harrison and Erickson terminated the original licensing agreement and renegotiated a deal for $215,000. The Phillies say the 1984 agreement gave the team the rights to the mascot forever.

The 39-page lawsuit says the firm “has threatened to obtain an injunction against the Phillies’ use of the Phanatic and to ‘make the Phanatic a free agent’ if the Club does not renegotiate the 1984 Assignment and pay H/E millions of dollars.”

The Phillies claim that the team has a 41-year investment in the mascot and that it is a “co-author of the Phanatic costume” and “author of the Phanatic character.”

In addition to the Phillie Phanatic, Bonnie Erickson is also known for her work with The Muppets creator, Jim Henson. She has created mascots for other pro sports teams. But none caught on like the Phillie Phanatic.

As the Victory Journal reported:

“As Harrison/Erickson see it, three elements determine the success of a mascot character: ‘A good design, a good performer, and the support of the team,’ says Harrison. ‘None of those three things is easy. Nobody really executed the program as well as Philadelphia. The Phillies, they got it 100 percent.'”

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Updated at 3:07 p.m. ET

Jill Ellis, who won back-to-back World Cup titles with the U.S. Women’s National Team, is stepping down as its coach, U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday. Ellis will make her official exit in October, after winning 102 games and losing only seven.

“When I accepted the head coaching position, this was the timeframe I envisioned,” Ellis, 52, said in a statement from U.S. Soccer.

“The timing is right to move on and the program is positioned to remain at the pinnacle of women’s soccer,” she said. “Change is something I have always embraced in my life, and for me and my family, this is the right moment.”

During the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup, Ellis set a new mark by having coached the national team for 127 matches, surpassing former coach April Heinrichs.

“The U.S. Soccer Federation and the sport in general owes Jill a debt of gratitude,” U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro said. “Jill was always extremely passionate about this team, analytical, tremendously focused and not afraid to make tough decisions while giving her players the freedom to play to their strengths.”

“The opportunity to coach this team and work with these amazing women has been the honor of a lifetime,” Ellis said. “I want to thank and praise them for their commitment and passion to not only win championships but also raise the profile of this sport globally while being an inspiration to those who will follow them.

Ellis is fresh off an undefeated run in the Women’s World Cup, in which the U.S. team defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the final July 7 in Lyon, France.

During the World Cup, Ellis guided her squad through a gantlet of challenges, pulling off tense wins against physical opponents who were not cowed by the Americans’ elite standing. Before the title match, the U.S. won three straight knockout phase by 2-1 margins, beating talented sides from host country France, as well as England and Spain.

Along the way to clinching the title, Ellis also helped the team overcome an injury to star player Megan Rapinoe, in addition to keeping them focused on their opponents on the field, rather than on critical remarks President Trump made about Rapinoe.

According to U.S. Soccer, Ellis will transition to being an “ambassador” for the sporting federation after she leaves the coach’s post.

U.S. Soccer also announced the “imminent” hiring of a first-ever general manager for the women’s team. Once that position is formally filled, the federation said, the search for a new head coach will begin.

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Over the past 18 months, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., have investigated how a now-convicted child molester like Larry Nassar was able to serve as team doctor to the USA Gymnastics team for nearly two decades.

The result of their efforts is the Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Sports Act of 2019, which would ratchet up oversight, increase athlete representation within the Olympic movement and provide more resources to the organization charged with investigating sexual abuse within Olympic sports.

Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said the legislation continues the work the committee has been doing since early last year.

“Improving athlete safety and voice in our country’s Olympic and Paralympic community, and increasing accountability for the organizations that make up that community, are central to the initiatives and reform that we began, in February 2018,” she said. “We applaud Congress for their continued work on this critically important issue.”

The legislation would boost the number of athletes involved in the administration of Olympic sports. Right now, athletes make up 20 percent of the boards of the USOPC and the national governing bodies. That number would rise to 33 percent.

Advocates for stronger protections for athletes within the Olympic Movement, like Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a gold medalist in swimming and head of the organization Champion Women, have pushed for this change because they believe it will lead to older, more experienced individuals serving as athlete representatives, which in turn could foster change within sports organizations.

The legislation would increase funding for U.S. Center for SafeSport, an independent organization charged with investigating sexual abuse in the Olympic Movement, by requiring $20 million in funding from the Olympic committee.

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