It also helped matters that Ally just happens to sponsor the NWSL—which gave it a relationship with the Portland Thorns—and sponsored events at Portland’s women’s sports-focused Sports Bra with owner Jenny Nguyen around soccer’s Women’s International Champions Cup. Oh, and there’s the small matter of Ally and Disney’s deal last year that invested 90% of Ally’s media spend into women’s sports—including regular, branded ESPN SportsCenter segments.
“That’s why I call this the big, beautiful ecosystem of women’s sports,” Brimmer said. “Anytime there’s something that we’re doing, there’s a whole army of people that comes out of the ecosystem that’s like, ‘Hey, we’ll help you connect it.’”
Why you play the game
For the Wrexham women’s team, that ecosystem expanded exponentially within the last 12 months.
Promotion came with travel, overnight stays, new licensing and increased player contracts and payments—and all of the administrative duties that come with it. For players, it meant a step up in competition and finishing third behind teams in Swansea and Cardiff that were more polished but perhaps “not a million miles off,” Owen noted.
The U.S. tour is another chance to showcase how far they’ve come.
“In terms of pure talent, with the women’s promotion to the Adran Premier league, they demonstrated that they deserved an opportunity like this to show off their skills on a wider stage,” McElhenney said. “Ryan and I have also been sharing the more personal side of the women’s team over the last season and finding that, just as they have with the men’s team, our audience is identifying with their stories and struggles, so this gives fans a chance to be inspired by their favorites in real life.”
Supporters aren’t the only audience watching.
While Owen hopes The Soccer Tournament and the tour provide the team a strong preseason challenge heading into their second Premier League campaign in September, she also said it may help players with another recent development: Sponsor demand. Players who once practiced, played and went home have adapted to promotions, publicity and activations—which has brought more brand attention.
“It’s getting more people involved in the game, and people coming to see Rosie, Lili and all the rest of the girls and being able to see what they can do and what they can be themselves,” Owen said. “It is a success story in terms of how much these girls are getting noticed in the street. It’s brilliant, and we hope to see more and more brands getting involved with women’s sports and women’s football.”