The “Colbert Bump” is a term talk-show host Stephen Colbert uses to describe the surge in brand awareness after he interviews someone.
Along those lines, the National Women’s Soccer League and the Chicago Red Stars are experiencing something much bigger: the “World Cup Bump.”
The U.S. women’s national team not only won the World Cup, it dominated Japan in a memorable championship game. Three members of that team—Julie Johnston, Christen Press and Lori Chalupny—play for the Red Stars, and a fourth, Shannon Boxx, retired right after the World Cup.
The Red Stars’ profile is rising substantially, as the team has drawn over-capacity crowds in its two home matches since the tournament ended about a month ago.
Meanwhile, the players are becoming celebrities. The nine-team NWSL is stocked with international talent beyond the U.S. national team representatives.
“The most shocking to me is young boys coming up to me as well as young girls,” said Red Stars and U.S. national team defender Johnston. “We expected to inspire a lot of young girls, but for it to also be young boys who come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I loved watching you play,’ is really cool.”
Johnston was one of the World Cup’s breakout stars. She was one of three American finalists for the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s most outstanding player. Johnston also played every minute of the team’s first five World Cup games and was named Player of the Match for the USA’s 1-0 victory over Nigeria in group play.
Her workhorse efforts even drew the attention of a Hollywood A-lister.
“My team told me Tom Hanks called me ‘the beast’ or something [on social media], so I thought that was pretty funny, and pretty shocking,” Johnston said.
The World Cup champs are now getting recognized everywhere from grocery stores to airports. Chalupny said she was recognized at Lollapalooza.
“There’s a lot more media interest as far as interviews and television, and getting recognized on the regular news channels,” Chalupny said. “I think the overall recognition has improved a whole lot. Hopefully that trickles down and makes this league even more successful. We hope to kind of ride this wave.”
Life after the World Cup has also seen an adjustment in the way players relate on the pitch. They were a band of sisters while on international duty, but they went back to being opponents once club play resumed.
Red Stars forward Press scored a goal in the World Cup, and with eight goals in just seven games, she’s in prime position to win the NWSL scoring title.
“It’s actually really fun to play against your former teammates that you care for so much,” she said. “You get to see the smiling faces and relive the good moments that you had with each other this summer.
“And when you’re playing against each other, you appreciate all of their qualities in a new way. It’s an opportunity to realize how dangerous all of my teammates that I’m now playing against are.”
Press also was one of just three national team players, along with Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach, to be “Simpsonized” before the tournament. An animated image of the 26-year-old striker as a Simpsons character was created to help promote the tournament.
The summer of 2015 has truly seen an explosion of soccer coverage stateside, and the World Cup victory is part of that tidal wave.
“You turn on the TV now and there’s soccer on all the time, you can’t escape it,” Chalupny said. “Where [in the past] you really had to search out Fox Soccer and had to go to these special channels to watch games.”
THE DIGIT
119 percent
According to the Red Stars, their average home attendance has skyrocketed from 1,600 fans per game for the four home games this season before the World Cup to 3,500 for the two matches since the tournament. That’s a 119 percent increase, if you’re keeping track.
STRETCH RUN
The Red Stars have four remaining home matches this season before the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs begin in mid-September. Chicago is in second place in the nine-team league, three points behind Seattle Reign FC. Just as the Red Stars feature players who competed for the U.S. in this year’s World Cup, so do their opponents (marked in parentheses).
Wednesday: vs. Sky Blue FC, 1 p.m. (Kelley O’Hara, Christie Rampone)
Sunday: vs. Washington Spirit, 7:30 p.m. (Ali Krieger)
Aug. 23: vs. Western New York Flash, 4 p.m. (Sydney Leroux)
Sept. 6: vs. Houston Dash, 4 p.m. (Morgan Brian, Meghan Klingenberg, Carli Lloyd)
Red Stars home games are played at Benedictine University in Lisle. For tickets, visit chicagoredstars.com.
Paul M. Banks is a RedEye contributor. @paulmbanks
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