Women's World Cup Win Spurs Even More Interest In Soccer
(CBS) -- For the third time, the U.S. women's soccer team won the World Cup, smokin' the competition.
CBS 2's Jeremy Ross reports the latest victory isn't helping the sport arrive -- it's already here.
Thousands supported America's best on the world's biggest soccer stage, but the enthusiasm isn't a passing fad for the Gupta sisters.
They're part of a growing number of girls kicking around the ball, and mom Anupy believes that number will rise.
"It's not a resurgence -- it's been here it's here to stay," she said.
Rafael Roman of Cicero's Chicago Soccer says the interest is turning into sales with more girls and women looking for soccer shirts and more sales of shoes, like the cleats used by the team.
During Team USA's 2011 run to the World Cup final, he saw about a 10 percent spike in sales.
After the latest victory, he says, "We're about to sell out of product."
The Guptas' soccer coach estimates in about four years' time, the number of teams in their league has increased about 140 percent.
And there's something gained you can't measure.
"It's going to mean more confidence building for these young girls," Anupy Gupta said.
In the 2011 Women's World Cup, Nielsen said roughly 13.5 million in the U.S. watched the final.
For Sunday's match, that number was nearly doubled at more than 26 million. It has been called the most viewed soccer game in the history of American television.
