U.S. Soccer hopes to turn profit on women’s finals

Five East Coast venues will probably be used for expanded tourney

The FIFA executive committee surprised no one May 31 when it awarded the 1999 Women’s World Championship to the United States.

In contrast to the hotly contested race between Japan and South Korea for the right to host the 2002 World Cup, the United States, the 1991 world champion and 1995 third-place finisher, was the only country that bid for the ’99 women’s tournament. Chile and Australia had earlier expressed interest in hosting it but did not submit formal bids.

“That’s because we have shown on the international arena we can do the job,” said U.S. Soccer secretary general Hank Steinbrecher, referring to the hugely successful men’s finals in 1994.

“I’m looking at the Olympics first, but that’s an exciting thing to be gearing our players for,” said U.S. women’s national team coach Tony DiCicco of FIFA’s decision.

The awarding of the ’99 World Championship to the U.S. has already persuaded at least one of the older veterans to try to keep playing through ’99.

“I will continue,” said Carla Overbeck, who had previously said she would retire after the Olympics. “Since we got the ’99 bid, I changed my mind.

“Everyone still wants to continue to play, because the excitement for the Women’s World Championship to be in the United States is great…We’re very confident that it’s going to be successful.”

The tournament will be held in June 1999 and feature 16 teams, as opposed to 12 in Sweden last summer. It will last 17 days and feature 32 matches to complete.

The initial plan is to hold the Women’s World Championship in five cities, all in one region of the country. FIFA had requested the tournament be held in one time zone, preferably on the East Coast.

U.S. Soccer released a list of 10 proposed stadia, but no cities will be excluded from consideration. Four cities would host the rounds leading up to the semifinals and final, which would be played in the fifth city, ideally Washington, D.C.

“If we have a home field right now, it’s got to be at RFK [Stadium],” Steinbrecher said.

U.S. Soccer is looking for crowds of 5-10,000 per game in ’99 and may schedule doubleheaders.

How much will the tournament cost to put on? Steinbrecher gave a rough estimate of $2 million, not including the cost of preparing the U.S. team.

“Our goal, of course, is to make money on the tournament,” Steinbrecher said. “It hasn’t been in the prior two…

“We believe that we will still be able to turn a profit. Not only through receipts but through sponsorship, with companies wishing to be involved with women’s sports, and also through licensing. We found that the marketing and the licensing of both prior World Cups were not done at a very sophisticated level. We believe we can do better.”

by Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Caparaz

Proposed Venues