New York City FC float will celebrate womens' soccer

Turns out New York City FC's float in tomorrow's tickertape parade won't be celebrating the team. Instead, it'll be a full-fledged commemoration of women's soccer.

According to the club, the team's float in the parade celebrating the United States womens' soccer team — which just won its third World Cup — will feature women soccer fans, and will be joining other floats in the parade in joyously saluting the USWNT.

The float will have three young women who are members of the Light Rail, the youth supporters club. It'll also feature members of the Blue Ladies, who are the womens' supporters club. Earlier, the club had announced a contest for season ticket holders through its Cityzens website that would give two winners the chance to ride on the float tomorrow; that's still the case.

However, contrary to rumor, the float won't be celebrating the team, or have any players on it. When word initially got out that Major League Soccer, and specifically, the two New York-area teams, were going to have a large role in the festivities tomorrow, the public reaction was fiercely negative. Given the vast public attention that the three-time world champions received — Sunday's final drew the largest TV audience for soccer in U.S. history — MLS was seen as wanting to muscle in on some of that attention for itself.

Instead, the attention is going to be where it needs to be — on a celebration of womens' soccer, and of the United States womens' soccer team in particular.

Why did we get there? Let's be clear about this: it's because MLS is helping put on the parade. A fourth of the parade is being funded by sponsors, and MLS is one of those. If you want to be outraged, focus it where it needs to go. That's on the brands and corporations that are perfectly happy to feed off the popularity of the USWNT, but when the time came to celebrate their success, were nowhere to be found. And when they were found, could only be bothered to pop a shruggie, like this:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That's not right.

At any event, tomorrow looks like quite the celebration. It's well-earned, and it's about time. Here's hoping for many more.