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To attend the U.S. Open final or not — that's the question worthy of Shakespeare, and one plenty of tennis fans will be pondering about Trinity Rodman when her boyfriend Ben Shelton squares off against world No. 2 Alexander Zverev on Sunday afternoon.
Under ordinary circumstances, Rodman would be in Shelton's corner from the opening point. She's been present for his previous matches at Flushing Meadows this summer, including his gripping five-set battle against Carlos Alcaraz that stretched past 3 a.m. ET.
But this Sunday is a different story. As it happens, Rodman has more pressing commitments.
The Washington Spirit are scheduled to host the Boston Legacy in a crucial late-season NWSL fixture as Rodman and her teammates chase first place. The Spirit (23–13) currently sit second behind Gotham FC with seven regular-season games remaining. In her sixth season in Washington — returning from an MCL sprain suffered last October — Rodman has posted a career-best 10 goals and six assists while starting all 23 matches. The 23-year-old striker signed a record-setting contract extension in January that made her the highest-paid player in NWSL history and the highest-paid female player on the planet; that same month, she was named a USWNT captain for the first time in a friendly against Paraguay.
So, yeah, she's not skipping her game.
Logistically, Rodman is all but certain to miss at least the opening of Shelton's final. The Spirit's match kicks off at 1 p.m. ET in Washington D.C., while Shelton's contest begins at 2 p.m. ET in New York City. Assuming she stays for the full 90 minutes, accounting for halftime and travel, the earliest Rodman could reach Flushing Meadows is around 4:30 p.m. ET. Men's Grand Slam matches typically run two to four hours, with Zverev's straight-set semifinal victory clocking in at just under three.
If Shelton manages to take a set or two, Rodman should be able to catch the closing stages as he battles the well-rested Zverev in the most significant match of his young career to date.
That said, whether Rodman arrives in time to watch her boyfriend compete isn't really the question worth asking. Here are a few more relevant ones:
Why are broadcasts still referring to Trinity Rodman simply as Ben Shelton's girlfriend?
Rodman's extensive list of soccer achievements deserves recognition in its own right. So why did ESPN's broadcast introduce her as "Ben's girlfriend & USWNT player" on the chyron during Shelton's first-round U.S. Open match?
"There's Trinity Rodman," the commentators said, "also known as Ben Shelton's girlfriend, and also known as a member of the US women's national team."
It would arguably have been far more fitting — and respectful of the elite athlete she is — to identify her on the broadcast's text banner as "USWNT Olympic gold medalist," "two-time Olympian," or "NWSL champion," or some combination thereof. Those labels would do her justice. Leave it to the commentators to mention that Rodman is also Shelton's girlfriend.
Rodman, for her part, didn't appear bothered. Amid the viral backlash over ESPN's choice, she showed up to the second round wearing an "I love my boyfriend" shirt.
She did, however, take issue when Wimbledon commentators mispronounced her first name and brought up her estranged father Dennis during the broadcast in July.
"For those who don't know, my name is TRINITY not Tiffany," Rodman wrote on her Instagram Stories. "Also, for Ben's matches, he has his family there as his support system, which includes his dad… my dads not even in MY life no need to bring him up during HIS matches when I don't even want him talked about during mine. It's his and his loved ones' moment. Thank you."
Rodman has made it abundantly clear that she has no contact with her father and has no intention of reconciling.
It's 2026. Why aren't women's sports taken as seriously as men's sports?
If the roles were reversed and Shelton couldn't make it to Rodman's Spirit game, it's unlikely anyone would give it a second thought. But here we are.
Consulting firm McKinsey estimated the total U.S. sports market was valued at $75 billion in 2024, with women's sports accounting for less than 2% of that revenue. Nevertheless, fan and media interest continues to drive its growth year after year, with women's sports steadily ascending and reaching its highest point yet in 2026.
The WNBA just introduced its first-ever million-dollar player salaries and, for the first time in league history, generated sufficient revenue in 2025 to trigger revenue sharing with its athletes. The NWSL expanded to 16 teams this season and, like the WNBA, secured a major media rights deal. Nielsen recorded 28.6 billion minutes of women's sports viewing in the first half of 2026, per a recent piece from The Athletic, with revenues from women's sports reportedly on track to surpass $3 billion globally by year's end.
One need only look at the debut episode of season four of Ted Lasso (spoilers ahead), in which AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton — anxious about the financial viability of a women's soccer team — finds inspiration while attending a Kansas City Current match at CPKC Stadium.
"It is a little bit proof of concept," KC Current co-owner Angie Long told ESPN. "Everything that we've built, even a show like Ted Lasso is seeing it. So, I think it's endorsement. But again, what it means for sport, for women's soccer is huge."
While the more established, revenue-generating men's leagues continue to thrive, women's sports keeps breaking barriers and setting new records in attendance, merchandise sales, franchise valuations and beyond. Ten new professional women's leagues have launched since 2024, according to The Athletic, including the PWHL, Women's Pro Baseball League and Unrivaled. For decades the U.S. has led the world in women's sports, partly due to institutional support like Title IX — and that's certainly reason for optimism.
The straightforward answer to this question: It takes time.
And last but not least: Why do we even care?
The WAG phenomenon is inescapable these days. It reached its peak with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's whirlwind — PR-driven or not — romance, and more recently made headlines when reports emerged that the NFL has been actively coordinating efforts to engage its female fanbase through a content campaign featuring players' WAGs (wives and girlfriends).
People love sports. They also love pop culture and, oddly enough, watching famous people fall for each other. Call it human nature, curiosity, parasocialism, or whatever you like. Since publicly debuting her relationship with Shelton in March 2025, Rodman has said she embraces the WAG label and even appreciates it, as it neatly sums up her connection to her boyfriend.
"I use the term WAG for me to simplify what I'm doing. For me, saying WAG is me just being like, 'Oh, I'm just Ben's girlfriend,' " Rodman told Kylie Kelce on an episode of Kelce's podcast Not Gonna Lie.
At the same time, Rodman acknowledged that dating a fellow high-profile athlete like Shelton in the public spotlight "is not for the weak."
"It's a blessing in so many ways, but there are also just so many—Yeah no, it honestly is [garbage]. Too many people have too many opinions that they need to speak on and it's just like, 'Mind your business,' " Rodman said. That should settle that.