“Football is the sport of the future.” We have been hearing this sentiment in the United States for almost five decades.
From the all-too-fleeting glory of the original North American Soccer League and the explosion of youth soccer in the 1970s, to this day, the sport has perpetually perched on the edge of the mainstream in the minds of the media and USA sports fans. But in reality, soccer has established itself as one of the most important sports in the country for some time.
When soccer’s status as a major sport in the US is mentioned, it’s usually through the lens of the successes and failures of our national leagues, primarily Major League Soccer and, to a lesser extent, the men’s national team. from USA. That may make sense in a vacuum, but football doesn’t exist in one.
Unlike the “Big 4” sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL), MLS is not the world’s largest league in its sport. The aforementioned four are indisputably home to the best teams, the best players, and the best infrastructure on the planet in their respective sports. MLS is without a doubt the best professional soccer league the US has ever seen, with a high level of play and attendance comparable to, and in some cases higher than, teams in the MLB, NBA and the NHL. But it is easily outplayed on the field by numerous European and South American leagues, as well as Mexico’s Liga MX.
On the international side of things, while the US women are four-time World Cup champions and have had incredible success, the men, on the other hand, are historically a middle side. They (usually) qualify for the World Cup of a relatively weaker confederation, but rarely make any significant progress in the tournament.
The reality that our national soccer product is not the best in the world is the main contributing factor to the layoff culture that permeates the media and the general population of sports fans. But if you look at the popularity of the sport in general in the US, there’s no doubt that soccer is here, and it resides at the top of the minds of many sports fans.
Here are six reasons why soccer is the sport of now, not the sport of the future:
1. Soccer is already ahead of hockey
Even by standard attendance, viewership, and polled popularity metrics, football is ahead of the NHL, and nearly as popular as baseball.
When it comes to accessibility and participation in the sport, soccer blows ice hockey out of (frozen) water. Hockey requires hundreds of dollars in specialized equipment to play and dedicated facilities to play (even for the roller hockey variant). Soccer, at a basic level, requires nothing more than a ball.
If you dig into the demographics, the average age of soccer fans is younger compared to hockey and other traditional American sports.
2. The youth movement is huge for the sport.
According to research, professional football is the second most popular sport among people ages 12-24, behind only the NFL.
As these fans grow with the game, which for over a decade has included easy access to nearly every game featuring the world’s best players and leagues on TV and via broadcast, soccer will continue to rise in popularity.
Kids ages 6 to 17 make up the audience on NBC, compared to 4.6% of the World Series audience.
Undoubtedly, the FIFA series of video games has also influenced the consolidation of soccer in the public consciousness. The popular game has introduced leagues, teams, and players from around the world to millions of people, often at a young age.
3. Football presents a melting pot culture
America has always been a mix of peoples and cultures from around the world, so it’s no surprise that the world’s most popular sport has a foothold here. But in the 21st century it goes far beyond the local ethnic leagues and teams that underpinned the game in the US for much of the 20th century.
Among US Hispanics, soccer is by far the #1 sport of choice. Leagues like LaLiga and Liga MX have dominated Spanish-language television ratings for years. And more recently, leagues like the Argentina Primera and Brasileirão have secured broadcast deals in English, making all matches available in the US for the first time.
4. Soccer continues to grow rapidly
Recent reports show that soccer, though deeply embedded in the lives of many Americans for years, is still on an upward trend.
As of 2019, 52% more adults considered themselves soccer fans compared to just 7 years earlier in 2012. In that same span, field soccer saw a 7% decrease in fan numbers (perhaps due to partly due to the fact that in American football the ball is actually in play for only about 11 minutes during a game, while soccer sees about 55 of the 90 scheduled minutes with the ball actively in play).
5. Soccer is a money maker
Soccer is a huge business around the world, and the US is a huge cog in that machine.
In addition to our professional men’s and women’s national leagues and international teams, huge US media rights deals in recent years for the major European leagues have generated hundreds of millions in revenue for those competitions.
The American soccer fan looms large in the minds of many soccer executives around the world, as the US is a key market for broadcast, branding, and off-season touring. Global football revenue topped $40 billion in 2019, twice what the NFL brought in.
6. Football is something very, very important
More than half of the entire planet’s population watched the World Cup in 2018, and surely the 2022 edition will yield similar numbers.
Among US Hispanics, winning the World Cup for their country is considered the second most important event in their lives, behind only the birth of a child. And on the club side, the annual UEFA Champions League final is one of the most watched events, far surpassing the Super Bowl of the American NFL. The 2021 UCL final drew 700 million viewers worldwide, while that year’s Super Bowl drew 112 million.
While you may not hear much about soccer on your local TV news or sports radio talk show yet, there is no doubt that the sport is as important as any other in the US. Count the t-shirts the next time you visit your local mall. Count the fans that fill the stadiums each summer for friendly matches and renowned international tournaments. Count the millions of viewers who watch the plethora of soccer available live almost every day of the year in this country.
The 1994 World Cup was the beginning of the soccer renaissance in the United States. The 2026 World Cup is sure to be the ultimate statement to the world that their game is as loved on these shores, if not more, than anywhere else.
