USWNT merchandise more readily available this World Cup

Ahead of the U.S. women’s national team’s final group-stage match against Portugal, pregame broadcasts showed long lines for World Cup merchandise at FIFA’s official fan festival on the Auckland waterfront. The selection on the shelves helped make the wait worth it — a well-stocked array of jerseys, T-shirts, hats, scarves, pins and plush penguins.

Thousands of miles away, fans around the United States spent the week watching the national team’s World Cup games from bars, city plazas and living rooms. They donned T-shirts that read “Drive for Five”; hats with an embroidered image of Rose Lavelle; red-and-blue scarves with Sophia Smith’s name and No. 11. In Portland, one fan watching from home lined up U.S. player minifigures in front of the TV just as the Americans kicked off their opener.

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Through two weeks of games, this women’s World Cup has already brought a rise in attendance, viewership, upsets — and merchandise. After receiving criticism for its limited stock at the 2019 World Cup in France, FIFA expanded its on-site selection, with more than 60 stores across stadiums and fan festivals in Australia and New Zealand, and tournament officials said they have seen a surge in sales.

For fans of the U.S. national team, which reached the round of 16, merch options are more plentiful and more varied than ever before. Online retailer Fanatics has more than 475 products this year, up from about 175 in 2019, and soccer.com has tripled its U.S. offerings.

The USWNT Players Association has more than 40 licensing deals — almost double the number it had in 2019 — with brands that produce everything from T-shirts and hats to trading cards and action figures. The players association’s drive to expand the merchandise marketplace served to benefit both women’s sports fans, to whom the sports retail space has not historically catered, and the players themselves, who pushed to earn the licensing revenue that comes from products sold with their names, images and likenesses.

“A casual thing that most sports fans get to do in men’s sports is just collect something that represents their fandom or their favorite player,” said Becca Roux, executive director of the players union. “Finally, U.S. women’s national team fans are going to be able to do the same.”

In their 2017 collective bargaining agreement, the U.S. players took back exclusive control of their licensing rights, which had previously been held by the U.S. Soccer Federation. (The men’s players did so five years later.) For decades, the limited amount of merchandise that existed had been sold without players getting portions of the sales back in royalties.

During contract negotiations, the federation argued that the money derived from licensing deals was included in player salaries; the players pushed back, believing the federation wasn’t monetizing their marketability and that those rights were of enough value to stand as an independent revenue stream.

As the players’ fight for equal pay kicked into gear, group licensing was an area in which they could quickly make ground — while answering the calls of fans who had been searching, especially after the 2015 World Cup win, for ways to buy merchandise.

The players association entered into a partnership with its WNBA and NFL counterparts to develop licensing opportunities. In the summer of 2019, as brands and companies sought to capitalize on the enthusiasm and interest around the World Cup-winning U.S. team, the players association was positioned to make the most of it, inking more than a dozen deals to produce official merchandise.

In 2015, the players’ collective revenue from licensing was $0. By the end of 2019, it was nearly $1 million.

The success of 2019 gave the players association evidence of consumer interest to pitch to companies. That didn’t eliminate hurdles: Roux and her team still run into industry skepticism about the popularity of soccer or the profitability of women’s sports. But they have also found partners who share their goals.

“We also have a lot of people that are either founders at some of these companies or very high up that grew up and were of an age to remember [the World Cup-winning team] in 1999 and the impact that had on them,” Roux said. “And so they look at this and go: ‘No, we want to prove this can work. And so we’re willing, even despite the lack of sales data, to take a chance.’ ”

Jasmine Maietta was among those who took that chance. In 2020, she created Round21, an independent sports lifestyle brand, and established a collaboration with the players association as her company’s first reach into the soccer space. It has since expanded to a full line of apparel, hats, scarves and balls, available at major retailers such as Fanatics and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

A post shared by round21 (@weareround21)

“We wanted to speak to people with an honest voice,” Maietta said, “and you really don’t have to look further than the U.S. women’s national team and the players in particular around how honest and how outspoken they are as individuals in what they use their platform for.”

When preparation began for the 2023 cycle, the players association had a list of existing partners, a larger staff and more sales data. It took its players’ opinions into account through surveys of what they wanted to see.

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It also had a key benefit: an improved relationship between the players association and the national federation. After the players signed their new collective bargaining agreement in 2022, staff from the players association and the federation began to collaborate, traveling together to trade shows and sharing licensee lists. The result: More products are now “dual licensed,” featuring the official U.S. crests and colors, which has allowed for a greater reach.

“All of the conversations and resolutions to the CBA and all that entailed, that just opened up a whole level of avenues that we can work more closely,” said Maribeth Towers, vice president of consumer products at U.S. Soccer. “It’s been valuable not only to the two organizations but probably more importantly to our fans.”

🧵 So much fun stuff in store repping the squad! What are you most excited to add to cart? https://t.co/0YSebq5kkk pic.twitter.com/F2f81rN3hC

The new additions include expansions of classic apparel, such as hats and T-shirts, and forays into new spaces. There are socks, mugs, plush toys and Fathead cutouts. In the past, player-specific merchandise often was limited to a small group of superstars, such as Megan Rapinoe or Alex Morgan; this year, many licensees are ranging a larger percentage of the 23-player roster.

There are multiple styles of bucket hats, which players deemed a priority, including ones produced by Nike and by Round21. The collectible 3D figural clip player bag clips, made by Monogram, also have been something of a hit. During training camp, U.S. players Lindsey Horan and Alyssa Naeher had Becky Sauerbrunn clips on their backpacks.

Sauerbrunn, who is sidelined for the World Cup because of a foot injury, posted a photo of the minifigures of her and Mallory Swanson (also out because of injury) just before the United States’ opening game against Vietnam.

A post shared by Becky Sauerbrunn (@reeba04)

The players association’s royalty revenue grew to more than $1 million in the 2021 fiscal year. The totals from this year are expected to land in that range, which can result in five-figure payments for each player.

Outside of the United States, many national teams do not have a wide swath of merchandise, and even products made by official partners such as Nike and Adidas can be difficult to acquire. International jerseys, such as that of Brazilian star Marta, have been difficult for U.S.-based fans to find during this World Cup, while England goalkeeper Mary Earps called out Nike for not selling her jersey in its collection.

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Jerseys were a hot commodity after the 2019 World Cup. The U.S. home shirt set records as Nike’s best-selling soccer jersey, but after the Americans won, Nike quickly sold out of its small stock, leaving fans waiting for their orders and players for their royalty payments. This year, the players association encouraged providers to increase their buys, stock enough inventory across sizes and put product on sale once it arrived.

“At the end of the day, licensed merchandise is a marketing tool. It’s a walking billboard. It’s something that is necessary to help advance the game,” Roux said. “That’s why it’s so important. If you’re never doing anything that’s helping market the sport, it’s not going to grow. This is just a way to do it.”