Women’s pro soccer goes big-time in England. Why now?

It was some three years ago when Rodney Cyrus decided to stop watching men’s soccer in favor of the women’s version in England instead.

He had grown cold to the “cynical approach” of the men’s game, awash with billions and churned into a product, he says. So when Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world with rich American owners, finally introduced a women’s team – 140 years after the inception of its men’s team – he switched over.

“I’m aware that they play second fiddle to the men’s game, perhaps much lower down the rung in terms of acceptance, history, and financial independence,” he says.