Chapter Twenty-Two: The 1999 Women's World Cup w/ Marla Messing

The ArsenalVision Podcast - Arsenal FC

ArsenalVision Podcast LLC

Sports, Soccer

4.8 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2024

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 1999 Women's World Cup in unquestionably one of the most memorable moments in American soccer history. From the record crowds at venues across the United States, to the incredible moments on the field. Few images have been seen more than Brandi Chastain's celebratory moment after her championship winning penalty kick. Winning a second World Cup was a massive accomplishment for the USWNT and US Soccer. But doing it as the host country with an audacious vision for the event made it even more impactful. Marla Messing, President and CEO of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup organizing committee had a vision that women's soccer could support an event on par with the 1994 World Cup. She proposed a business plan outlining it, went to work marketing it and developed a strategy that changed the course of the game in America. Messing joined Founding Futbol to discuss her career, organizing the event and memories of the games. Founding Futbol is a year-long exploration of the critical moments that have led to soccer's emerging popularity in America. Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠FoundingFutbol.com Subscribe to Founding Futbol on your platform of choice. Host: Kent Malmros Guest: Marla Messing (Former soccer executive) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup as a legacy.
0:13.8	What I think the legacy of that event is,
0:16.4	is really how the Women's World Cup event
0:20.2	has been built since then.
0:24.0	That was our guest, Marlemessing,
0:29.0	former president and CEO of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.
0:33.8	And this is founding football.
0:37.8	In the summer of 1999, I had an internship
0:41.2	as a sports writer at a suburban Philadelphia newspaper.
0:45.1	I spent my days and nights thinking about sports, going to sporting events, learning about
0:50.4	players and their personal stories, and then doing my best to bring them to the paper's readers.
0:56.0	I covered baseball, football, and tennis. Most of the stories were about high school-aged athletes,
1:02.0	some are about adult leagues with former high school-aged athletes, some were about adult leagues with
1:03.9	former high school and college stars, still hanging on to the hope of being
1:08.1	discovered, and signing a professional contract.
1:12.5	My big project that summer was even focused on the emergence of lacrosse as the country's
1:17.9	next big youth sports explosion waiting to happen.
1:21.4	The paper covered soccer, sure, but mostly previews of the upcoming high school season, both boys and girls. Youth and high school soccer was already incredibly popular in the suburban Philadelphia area in 1999.
1:36.2	But it was far from a focus as I spent nights at the paper sports desk, assembling agate pages, editing and writing stories,
1:46.4	and talking to the other sports writers, no one was really talking about the 1999 Women's World Cup.
1:54.2	Not even while it was happening.
1:57.4	Don't get me wrong, there was an awareness,
	...

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