Messing proclaims success

Event's popularity exceeds expectations

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Posted: Wednesday July 07, 1999 09:02 PM

Organizing committee president Marla Messing (left) is obviously pleased that coach Tony DiCicco (middle) has led Tiffeny Milbrett and the U.S. women to the finals. AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In Marla Messing's wildest dreams, the Rose Bowl would be filled on July 10, just like nearly every other stadium was when the United States played a Women's World Cup game.

And in those dreams, clearly the two best teams in the tournament would be playing for the championship. One of those squads, from the host United States, would have captured the fancy of the nation, transcending what has been a history-making event.

Hey Marla, stop dreaming. It all came true.

"The last two weeks have been an absolutely exhilarating experience," Messing, president of the organizing committee, said Wednesday. "As big as I thought this tournament could be, it has been bigger.

"We have established the FIFA Women's World Cup as a world-class, world-caliber, stand-alone event like no other in sports."

Unquestionably, this has been the most successful women's sports event ever staged. More than 650,000 tickets have been sold. Organizers spent more than $30 million, but will make a tidy profit.

Most significantly, women's soccer has established itself as a coming sport -- perhaps not in countries where cultural and societal limitations are placed on what women can achieve, but certainly in many of the nations that participated. Led by the United States, of course.

"It's been a stupendous tournament," FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper said. "It's the level of enthusiasm, which is partly due to the success of the American team and the media reaction. If others are smart, they should think this stuff is hot and learn from USA '99 and see how the game has gained respectability and popularity."

Television ratings have been strong, with the biggest audience yet almost certain for the China-United States final. No American men's soccer game -- not even the World Cup quarterfinal match against Brazil -- grabbed the headlines as has the women's run to the title game.

"It's been like a cultural shift," Messing said, "and the way the tournament caught fire, we've tipped into something. We think this will be a seminal moment, that people will look back in 20 years and say, `That event is responsible for the development of women's sports.'"

The tournament has been such a success that it could scare off bidders for the future. Cooper acknowledged that Australia is the only nation to submit a plan to play host to the 2003 Women's World Cup. He admitted FIFA isn't expecting much interest from elsewhere.

"This is not a hard act to follow, it is an impossible act to follow," Cooper said. "We shouldn't be so foolish as to think this will happen again."

Messing said it can happen again -- and again.

"The tangible result will be that the FIFA Women's World Cup will be a significant property," she said. "I believe all around the world we have inspired girls to get involved in soccer, in other sports. They've seen us celebrate these women on a world stage. We've captured the imagination of the U.S. public probably like no other team since the 1980 U.S. hockey team.

"And I can't think of another stand-alone women's event that has been as big as this, by all barometers we use to judge events."

 

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