In answer to the OP, and reinforcing what others have said:
Yes, women’s soccer is bigger in the US than in England or other traditional powerhouse nations of men’s soccer.
The Women’s United Soccer Association is, AFAIK, the only fully professional women’s soccer league in the world. It currently has eight teams (six on the US East Coast, 2 on the West Coast). It was founded in 2001, riding on the success of the 1999 Women’s World Cup, in which the USA beat China in the final on Brandi Chastain’s winning penalty kick. She ripped off her shirt and swung it around her head, making a golden book-and-magazine-cover photo opportunity. A group of investors saw the light, ran the numbers, and two seasons later the WUSA kicked off.
About 30 players on the rosters of the eight WUSA teams are from outside North America (Australia, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, and Scotland). Almost all of the players who grew up in the US system had university soccer scholarships, so have been nurtured in a way that is unknown elsewhere. Thus, when the English girls in Bend It Like Beckham play in the presence of a scout from Santa Clara University, it is truly a “big deal”. If they want to succeed as professional players, the US is currently the place to be. Santa Clara U. has one of the premier women’s soccer programs in the US, headed by Jerry Smith, whose most famous alumna is now his wife - the aforementioned Brandi Chastain. About a dozen other SCU alumnae are playing professionally for the WUSA.
However, it’s not all roses. WUSA players’ salaries range from ~$40k to ~$80k per annum, which is far below those of most male pro athletes in the US, or male soccer players in Europe. Due to the current economic recession, the WUSA has been forced to make cutbacks – the number of players on each team’s roster has been reduced, and the higher-paid players have taken salary cuts. Title IX, the US federal rule that pumped money into women’s college sports starting in the 1970s, is under attack. WUSA attendance is only about 7000 per game on average, and fewer games are being televised this season than in the previous two. It is still not clear if the league will succeed in the long haul. Unlike the WNBA (US women’s basketball), which is an offshoot of the (men’s) NBA and thus has some extremely deep pockets to dip into, the WUSA is an independent body and at some point will need to make some money for its investors.
Personal note: I am a fan of the WUSA San Jose CyberRays team, led by Brandi Chastain and starring three Brazilian ball-magicians (Katia, Sissi, and Pretinha). I was in fact one of about 17000 spectators at a CyberRays game earlier today. The increased attendance was due to (a) the “Hamm Effect” (the CyberRays were playing the Washington Freedom with Mia Hamm, who always draws a large crowd), and (b) the fact that it was a “double-header” game with the local men’s team (San Jose Earthquakes) vs the Kansas City Wizards.
It was interesting watching US Women’s and Men’s League soccer back-to-back. For the women, there were probably a dozen of the world’s top 100 players on the field. There were probably only three other women’s soccer games of comparable quality being played anywhere in the world on this day (these being between the other six WUSA teams). For the men, only one player on the field (Landon Donovan) has any kind of international name recognition, mainly based on last year’s World Cup. Around the world, there were probably hundreds of men’s soccer games with equivalent talent. However, more people watch the Earthquakes every week than the CyberRays. For the WUSA fans, the support is almost at a religious level, because they are aware that if they don’t support the league it will fold. You just don’t get the same impression at men’s sporting events. Still, the men draw the higher attendance figures.