Let’s not forget who opened the door to Major League Soccer after the league had eyed San Diego for nearly three decades.
Big crowds at Wave matches affirmed that large numbers of San Diegans indeed will support a professional soccer club. Gatherings of 26,000 to 32,000 were four times greater than the average turnout in the 10-year National Women’s Soccer League. Other Wave crowds doubled the league’s norms.“We’re excited to have another team in our market,” Wave president Jill Ellis said after MLS announced San Diego will house the league’s 30th team.
A global soccer star and Southern California native who holds broad appeal but draws especially loud cheers from girls at Wave matches, Morgan said she and her husband decided they would move to San Diego once her career allowed it. They were in Florida, where Morgan played for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride.
For San Diego’s soccer fans, this was a bigger coup than they could’ve envisioned in response to either the SDSU West or SoccerCity campaigns.Her Instagram account boasts 10 million followers. An endorsement powerhouse dating to her early 20s, when she made a splashy debut in the World Cup, Morgan appeared in the recent Super Bowl telecast in a pair of light beer commercials. Millions of soccer fans will watch the 33-year-old striker this summer in the World Cup.
Four summers later, Barcenas was among the 32,000 fans who attended the Wave’s Snapdragon Stadium debut. She said the atmosphere increased her desire to pursue a soccer career.