Hope Solo, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and other members of the U.S. team lost the Women’s World Cup soccer final to Japan in Germany. But that’s not stopping them from capitalizing on their new fame on Madison Avenue.

Solo, Wambach and Morgan have reached an agreement on a marketing deal with Bank of America, according to spokesman Joe Goode.

The trio will serve as spokespeople for a charitable program around the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October. The deal will be announced tomorrow.

The marketing deal would be among the first for the stars of the U.S. Women’s team since their march through the 2011 Women’s World Cup. The team’s performance peaked with an upset win over Brazil — but ended with a gut-wrenching loss to Japan in the final.

“The Bank of America Chicago Marathon touches many people who never lace up a running shoe because of the funds participants raise for charities each year, as well as the economic benefit the race brings to the city of Chicago,” says Anne Finucane, Bank of America’s global strategy and marketing officer, in a statement. “It takes a tremendous amount of partnership to make all of that happen, and right now, nobody better represents the spirit of teamwork than Abby, Hope and Alex.”

Solo, Wambach and Morgan’s pact with Bank of America runs through the fall, Goode says. But the bank. which frequently uses athletes as endorsers, is holding open the possibility of a long-term relationship.

The trio have been on a whirlwind media tour since returning to U.S. soil. They’ve appeared on NBC’s Today show, kicked soccer balls with David Letterman on CBS, styled at HBO’s Entourage premiere and cut ESPN commercial promos.

But they’ve also come in for stinging criticism, with some asking if they’re getting a pass on their loss because they’re women. HBO Sports’ Bryan Gumbel said its time to stop “coddling” female athletes. If a men’s team had lost the same way, they’d have been labeled chokers, he said.

Goode said marketers are looking beyond the final score of U.S. vs. Japan.

“More than winning it was really the incredible sense of teamwork that attracted the bank to Abby, Hope and Alex,” he said Thursday.

Source: USA Today

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