U.S. Women's Team Wins 2015 FIFA World Cup and America's Interest

The Women's U.S. national Soccer team beat Japan in a historic 5-2 final match, winning the United States the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Viewership of the Women's Cup reached high marks for television viewing in France, Canada, and the U.S. Similarly, ticket sales for the Cup were up five times than that of the previous Women's World Cup hosted in 2011. Fox Sports (FOXA) announced it had tripled its revenue over the broadcast of the 2011 Women's Cup. This past Cup continues the trend of American interest in the sport formerly ignored by the United States. Last year's Men's World Cup was a huge moment for U.S. viewing as the tournament brought more viewers than both the NBA finals of that year and the prior year's World Series. But while soccer is on the rise in the U.S., the gap between men’s and women’s soccer support has become even more evident and people are hoping this recent World Cup win will lessen the discrepancy. Women’s national teams in the U.S. have a history of bankruptcy troubles and struggles to provide livable salaries for its players during their 20 week season. One step in the right direction, EA Games' (EA) FIFA 16, a videogame which many have argued helped grow soccer viewing in the U.S. before the 2015 men's World Cup, will feature twelve women's teams for the first time in the newest release.