World Cup loss cost U.S. women’s team estimated $10 million in endorsements
Jul 19, 2011, 1:19 PM EDT
As you probably know by now, Hope Solo and Abby Wambach will be on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight, talking about coming so close to winning the Women’s World Cup. And that would be great publicity, if either had a bunch of endorsement deals lined up. Sadly, they don’t. The team has lost about $10 million in endorsements with the loss, say marketing experts. And ex-U.S. National team star Julie Foudy, now an analyst for ESPN, agrees.
Star forward Abby Wambach and goalie Hope Solo were likely the biggest endorsement losers. Both players were looking at $3 million to $4 million a year in marketing deals — a modest sum predicted by sports marketing experts but still a decent amount for a sport that has had trouble sustaining roots with the American public. The experts said another $2 million could collectively be brought in by remainder of the team.
“Yeah, the defeat cost the U.S. women some heavy endorsement dollars, but I don’t think it’s a total loss,” said Bob Dorfman, exec VP-executive creative director at San Francisco-based Baker Street Partners and an expert in sports marketing. “The final was an epic match, it likely drew a huge audience, and it made household names of Wambach, Solo and [Alex] Morgan.”
The good news: With the Olympics coming up, the U.S. team gets to wipe the slate clean. Hopefully they’re working on their delay game.
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World Cup Loss Costs U.S. Team $10 Million in Endorsements [Advertising Age]
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- southernpatriots - Jul 19, 2011 at 6:30 PM
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The US team needs to work on their delay game, also better passing to set up scoring. Don’t know if it was tiredness or something else but compared to the previous games they looked somewhat lethargic v. Japan. Maybe some greater endurance workouts or dealing with the pressure on the world stage better (Anthony Robbins, etc.). Shoulda, coulda, woulda, all are in play here. However, the Olympics are the world stage even more so than the Cup. They can prepare for this event and take the gold and that would help American soccer so much, which is already now the 4th most popular sport in the U.S. Great job ladies! Second is better than all other teams except one. Great job!
