Fox's success for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 largely in the hands (and feet) of Team USA

When Carli Lloyd was playing in and eventually winning World Cups, those in the generation before hers talked about how much bigger the event had become.

Now she is the retired superstar marveling at how the FIFA Women's World Cup keeps getting bigger still. “This is going to be the best and biggest,” Lloyd said.

She might be biased, as she was speaking at an event in Manhattan on Tuesday to promote Fox’s coverage of the World Cup, which opens July 20 and will be held in both Australia and New Zealand.

But objectively, it is difficult to argue against the point. First, the field has grown to 32 teams from 24, making it literally the biggest Women’s World Cup to date.

Beyond that, every quadrennial the level of competition rises, and the U.S. must work harder to fight off challenges from every global direction.

The biggest story of the tournament will be the United States’ attempt to three-peat, something that has not been done by a men’s or women’s national team.

“It’s massive; it’s so cool to see,” Lloyd said. “I look back at my first World Cup in 2007, and it was nothing compared to what it is now."

She added, “People are going to tune into the U.S. trying to three-peat, trying to add that fifth [World Cup] star, but they’re also going to tune in because there are some other amazing teams that are playing well as well.”

Lloyd joked that she has “crossed over to the dark side” as a media member after retiring as a player in 2021. She debuted as a Fox analyst during the men’s World Cup last year.

She noted that after a crushing loss to Japan in the 2011 final, the U.S. team’s return to glory in 2015 in Canada coincided with Fox’s entrance into the event.

“There was so much build and so much hype that was going into 2015 and Fox Sports, the support, the coverage, everything about it,” Lloyd said. “Us winning definitely helped catapult it. It’s just been amazing to see the growth.”

One of Fox’s challenges this summer will be navigating time zones.

New Zealand is 14 hours ahead of the Eastern U.S.; Australia is 12 hours ahead.

The U.S. will play its group stage in New Zealand, with the first two games set for 9 p.m. Eastern Time against Vietnam and the Netherlands.

The third game, against Portugal, will be at 3 a.m., but if the United States wins its group, its first knockout round game will be back in prime time here.

The final will be played at 6 a.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 20.

Executive producer David Neal said, “It gives you a good opportunity to get exposed to a large audience [in early games], then hopefully with our storytelling and the way the team performs on the field, it will get people hooked so they are willing to get up at off hours to watch the U.S. matches."

Fox is not shy about the importance of a deep run for the United States.

“It’s an enormous benefit that our country loves getting behind the national team and wrapping itself in the flag,” Neal said. “That’s a big part of international fandom in this country. It’s why the Olympic Games are so consistently successful.

“So it’s a huge part. We live or die on the U.S. success. If the U.S. were to go out early, we would have a rough time.”

Neal said it “now is commonplace to see little boys, 7-, 8-year-old boys, wearing an Alex Morgan jersey, or a Carli Lloyd jersey. It’s tangible proof that the rise is still going. And if the U.S. women three-peat, that will be enormous.”

Fox analyst Alexi Lalas said, “There’s unfortunately not a whole lot that brings us together [as a nation], but for that moment, we’re coming together and watching this group of women try to make history and continue to make history.”

No one is under the illusion it will be easy.

“Long gone are the days of us steamrolling through teams and dominating,” Lloyd said. “We still have to have that mentality edge, because ultimately you can have all the talent in the world, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to win a championship.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.