Morgan then took a moment to thank ESPN for its recent deal to screen NWSL games.

“When the World Cup is behind us, it is the professional league that we need to continually lift up and grow,” she said. “Investment in women and girls should not only occur on the playing fields but in more storytelling of badass, amazing women who continue to show that we are more than just athletes.”

In a post-ceremony interview with Entertainment Weekly, Morgan elaborated on the importance of investing in women’s football, which has enjoyed a huge popularity surge thanks to the stunning performance of the US women’s team in the World Cup.

“I wanted to say that we need to invest in women, and when you invest in women you see the return on it,” she explained backstage. “The World Cup was a perfect example of it. Of the fact that, yes we give U.S. soccer an extremely hard time, but you have to give them credit for investing in this team over the course of the last 20 years, and you could see that in the World Cup how dominate we were… I think investing in women sports is so crucial.”

Alex Morgan’s ESPYS acceptance speech is a powerful reminder on the importance of investing in women