U.S. Women`s National Team Faces Tough Road Ahead -- Media Watch

(ATR)In spite of off-field distractions, Politico reporter Mary Pilon says the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup remained a "feel-good event."

Those distractions included "the domestic violence allegations against U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo and how U.S. Soccer handled them; the peril (and humiliation) of competing on artificial turf; and the searing indictments from U.S. federal investigators against FIFA."

However, Pilon adds, this is not the greatest problem facing the Women's World Cup.

"The fact remains that when the German men won the World Cup in Brazil last year, they won a $35 million prize.

"The paycheck for the American women: $2 million."

Dan Bowens, a reporter for Fox in New York, also discusses the World Cup pay gap.

"Even the losers at the men's World Cup make significantly more than the champions of the women's game.

"An example of pay scale disparity: a team eliminated in the first round of the men's tournament made about 4 times more than what the U.S. women pulled in for winning the World Cup Sunday."

Bowens adds, "Nearly 22 million people in the United States tuned in to watch that championship game.

"While viewership of the championship match broke records, pay for the winning women hardly broke the bank."

Judd Legum, a writer forthe U.S.-based liberal political-news blog ThinkProgress, weighs in on the divide in World Cup prize money and the issue of playing on artificial turf.

"FIFA, which generates billions in revenue, also forced women — but not the men — to play this year's World Cup on artificial turf.

"This not only increased the risk of injury, but also increased temperatures on the field by 20-30 degrees."

National Pubic Radio's Bill Chappell breaks down the way in which theU.S. women shattered TV ratings records for soccer with the team's World Cup win.

"While some 17 million American viewers tuned in to the 7 p.m. ET start of Sunday's game, that number quickly grew to 21.86 million an hour later — and reached 22.86 million at 8:30 p.m. ET.

"Those figures are comparable to the 2014 World Series' Game 7, which attracted 23.5 million viewers — far more than any other game of the 2014 series."

Citing Nielsen, Chappell adds that Telemundo's Spanish-language U.S. broadcast of the final "delivered 1.27 million total viewers ... becoming the most watched game of a FIFA Women's World Cup in U.S. Spanish-language TV."

In an article written for the Wall Street Journal, reporter Steven Perlberg says, "It only took about 16 minutes for the Women's World Cup final to effectively be over, but Fox probably hoped the U.S. team's run to the championship would never end.

"Team USA's 5-2 rout of defending champion Japan on Sunday night brought in 25.4 million viewers on Fox, according to a person familiar with the final figures.

"Nielsen on Wednesday plans to formally release the number, which sets a record for the most-watched soccer game in the U.S."

Fortune writer Daniel Roberts says the "real winner" of the 2015 Women's World Cup was Nike.

"It was Nike—not even an official FIFA sponsor—that won the day.

"In the six-hour period beginning at the start of the game, the company tracked 2.87 million tweets having to do with the U.S. Women's National Team or the Women's World Cup."

New York Times reporter Jere Longman says the USWNT faces tough choices ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"The United States was the oldest team, with an average age of 29 ½ years, in the history of the Women’s World Cup, which dates to 1991. A transition is inevitable.

"Soccer is a ruthless game, and there is little room for sentiment on a team that aspires to be a champion.

"Mathematics alone will force some change."

NBC Sports writer Jeff Kassouf also discusses the road to Rio 2016 for the USWNT.

"Vancouver, British Columbia – So, what now?"

"It's a blunt question, to be fair, but it was the forward-looking inquiry for the U.S. women's national team after the last pieces of golden confetti fell onto BC Place's artificial turf.

"The Americans are also three-time defending Olympic champions, and the Rio Olympics start in just over a year."

Graham Hays, a writer for espnW, spotlights the most valuable player of the Women's World Cup, Carli Lloyd.

"In one of the truly remarkable displays in World Cup history, Lloyd not only became the first woman, and the second player, to score a hat trick in a final; she scored her three goals in the first 16 minutes."

The Washington Post's Michael E. Miller says 34-year-old Lloyd is a "bundle of contradictions."

During Sunday's World Cup final, Miller says Lloyd was a "player who could be inspiring one moment and infuriating the next.

"A player who had sandwiched two outstanding Olympics titles with a 2011 World Cup final to forget."

Compiled byNicole Bennett

Photos: Getty Images

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