The United States’ shocking loss to Japan in the championship game of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Sunday, July 17 — the Americans took a one-goal lead in extra time before Japan tied it in dramatic fashion and won on penalty kicks — was a tough one to absorb for the team, which was heavily favored to win its first World Cup since 1999.

But the loss may have been even worse news for the Women’s Professional Soccer league, which could have used the boost in publicity a World Cup championship would have provided as it attempts to survive the start-up process and become a viable entity on the sporting landscape.

By Stacey Willets

TicketNews.com releases its exclusive weekly Top Tens today. Read on for a sneak peek of this week’s hot events.

Summertime, and the living is easy. The lazy days of summer and warm, work-free evenings are perfect for pulling up a patch of lawn and experiencing the music of your favorite recording artist live. Concert events make up half of the Overall Top Ten this week, with Rascal Flatts at number six, Dave Matthews Band at number seven, Céline Dion at number eight, Kenny Chesney at number nine, and Beyoncé at number ten. The Police are notably missing after twenty-two weeks on the chart.

International superstar David Beckham is expected to put US soccer on the map . . . and the charts. Although Beckham spent most of his time on the bench resting an injured ankle, he was put on the field at this weekend’s friendly against Chelsea just long enough to please the sold out house of fans. Beckham may not have scored any goals, but he certainly sold tickets. His long-anticipated “you had to be there” US debut lands the Los Angeles Galaxy in the number five spot on the Top Sports chart this week . . .

By Stacey Willets

TicketNews announces its exclusive weekly Top 10s and analysis for the week of 5/28/07 - 6/3/07.

                 
OVERALL TOP 10 EVENTS
Event                                This Week    Last Week

Boston Red Sox                           1            3
Wicked                                   2            1
The Police                               3            7
NBA Playoffs: San Antonio Spurs          4           n/a
Kenny Chesney                            5            9
Jersey Boys                              6            6
NBA Playoffs: Cleveland Cavaliers        7           n/a
American Idols Live!                     8            2
Chicago Cubs                             9            8
New York Yankees                        10            5

By Chris Licata

Vernon, Conn. – On Sunday, over one billion people around the world watched Italy defeat France in penalty kicks to become the 2006 FIFA World Cup champions. However, only a handful of American Web sites featured the triumph as their top story. Is America really this uninterested in soccer?