Megan Rapinoe labels not watching Women’s World Cup ‘terrible business’ as USA women arrive for camp

Megan Rapinoe said Tuesday that it’s ‘terrible business’ not to watch the upcoming Women’s World Cup as she and her teammates got settled into training camp in California.

The USA women will begin the tournament vs. Vietnam on July 21, and by now are household names after triumphs in 2015 and 2019.

‘I think everyone is sort of hip to the game now and understands that this is not somewhere that’s just like, oh, we should cheer for the Women’s World Cup because that’s the right thing to do,’ Rapinoe said Tuesday.

‘It is actually terrible business if you are not tuning in, you are missing out on a large cultural moment. 

‘I think we know that the bottom line, equality is actually good for business, that is something special that the women’s game has and this is the premier women’s sporting event in the world bar none and this is a paradigm shift globally, not just in the U.S.’

Sophia Smith is the NWSL’s leading goal scorer and should play a large role for the team

And Alyssa Thompson will look to add energy to the USA attack at just 18 years old

FIFA confirmed earlier this month that one million tickets have been sold ahead of the tournament, which is set to be the most attended female sports event in history.

And Rapinoe believes there’s been a ‘paradigm shift’ in the space of women’s sports as the USA women prepare for the Australia and New Zealand-based competition.

‘I think, just in general, women’s sports right now feels like we’re sort of out of just the dogged fight phase. Not that there’s not a lot still to fight for,’ Rapinoe said.

‘It feels like a real opportunity to blow the lid off just in terms of fanfare and media and sponsorships and the sort of larger business around this sport.’

Also on Tuesday, Fox Sports unveiled a massive Statue of Liberty mockup of Rapinoe’s longtime USA teammate Alex Morgan, who will hope to fire in more goals for the side this summer.

The statue will be toured around the USA, with the next stop in Charlotte, NC on July 2nd.

While Morgan and Rapinoe will bring experience to Vlatko Andonovski’s squad, Sophia Smith and Alyssa Thompson are two of the group’s younger players.

Smith, 22 years old, leads the NWSL in goals (10) while Thompson will hope to bring energy to the USWNT’s attack at just 18 years old.

The team started its training camp in California this week, and will head to New Zealand next month after hosting Wales for a pre-tournament friendly.