{"id":20738,"date":"2019-08-08T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T09:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2019\/08\/08\/after-world-cup-win-other-u-s-womens-sports-leagues-ask-what-about-us\/"},"modified":"2019-08-08T09:00:27","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T09:00:27","slug":"after-world-cup-win-other-u-s-womens-sports-leagues-ask-what-about-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/after-world-cup-win-other-u-s-womens-sports-leagues-ask-what-about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"After World Cup Win, Other U.S. Women’s Sports Leagues Ask, ‘What About Us?’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Goldman<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, center, wears a T-shirt honoring Megan Rapinoe, right, of the U.S. women’s World Cup championship soccer team, and Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird, left, as Rapinoe was introduced during the first half of a WNBA basketball game between the Storm and the Dallas Wings on July 12, 2019 in Seattle.<\/p>\n

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Elaine Thompson\/AP<\/p>\n

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Elaine Thompson\/AP<\/p>\n

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Fans of the World Cup champion U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team are getting what they want.<\/p>\n

More.<\/em><\/p>\n

The team began a victory tour<\/a> last weekend. It runs until October. <\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Powerful potential <\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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?!”<\/p>\n

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Welcome home, CHAMP! ???@mPinoe<\/a> #WeRepSeattle<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/P88CvUPiar<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) July 13, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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

“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.”<\/p>\n

Like ice hockey<\/a>, lacrosse<\/a>, softball<\/a>, pro soccer<\/a> … and basketball<\/a>, the most prominent of this country’s women’s professional sports.<\/p>\n

A complex game <\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n