After a gold medal performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the US Women's National Team returned home to embark on a Fan Tribute Tour presented by Panasonic. The Tour includes 10 matches, at 10 cities across the nation, over a period of four months.
The 2012 Tour kicked off on September 1st, 2012 in Rochester, N.Y. (the hometown of star player Abby Wambach) and ends on December 15, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. Other match locations include Carson, Calif., Commerce City, Colo., Bridgeview, Ill., East Hartford, Conn., Portland, Ore. (where Megan Rapinoe starred at the University of Portland), Glendale, Ariz., Detroit, Mich. and Houston, Tex. US Soccer targeted locations where the team has played before, as well as new sites,
giving new fans the opportunity to connect live with the team.
So far in the first five matches, the USWNT has averaged more than 18,000 fans per game while going 3-0-2, beating Costa Rica 8-0, defeating Australia by scores of 2-1 and 6-2 and drawing with Germany twice, 1-1 and 2-2. Upcoming opponents include Ireland and China.
The Tour provides the platform to extend sponsor activations beyond the campaigns they launched around the Olympic Games itself. Panasonic is the presenting sponsor. Visa® offers advance ticket sales to Visa cardholders before the sale to the general public. Budweiser presents a Woman of the Match award.
US Soccer connects further with fans through an Ultimate Fan Ticket - special VIP packages that include a premium ticket, a custom-made US National Team jersey with name and number, VIP access to the field before and after the game, and other unspecified "unique benefits".
At the time of this posting, ticket pricing was available only for the matches versus Ireland. For the match in Portland, the prices ranged from $38 for Endlines up to $250 for Field Table Seats, with six price points in between. For the match in Glendale, prices were $26 to $250, with five price points in between.
Public training sessions have been incorporated into the Tour schedule to
allow for further fan interaction. Admission and parking were free of
charge. US Soccer Supporters Club were offered premium seating and interested fans were able to join the Club at the stadium.
Matches are broadcast on NBC (some live) and fans can also follow the matches via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt.
Other Notes about the Tour
This year marked a coaching change for the USWNT. US Soccer used the Tour as an opportunity to present outgoing-coach Pia Sundhage with a surprise gift salute in front of fans following the 2-1 win against Australia in Carson City, Calif on September 16th.
At the same match, the team publicly honoured the death of a founding mother of the USWNT and former Major League Soccer front office executive, Betty D'Anjolell. The team recognized her efforts as part of a trio of women that helped gain support for women's soccer to be accepted by the USOC for the 1985 Olympic Sports Festival and the birth of the USWNT on August 18th, 1985.
What celebrations are the other medallists experiencing?
Click here for the silver-medallist Japan's post-Olympics news and click here for the bronze-medallist Canada's news.
Source: US Soccer.
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