The United States has always lacked behind when it comes to viewership and play in European Football, or soccer as it is known in the States. However, there is a lot that clubs are doing to promote themselves in the states. With the growing popularity of streaming services more leagues are selling their television rights to the booming industry. Other television shows based on soccer have also taken over viewership charts. The International Federation of Association Football announced the World Cup would be hosted in North America within the decade. Finally, popular European players and clubs are becoming more and more involved in the American market. These examples all lead to a viewpoint that soccer will continue to grow substantially.
History
Despite the miniscule amount of soccer support in the U.S. compared to other countries, it can be dated all the way back to the 1600’s in America. However, it wasn’t until 1862 that the first true soccer club was formed in the United States. Now there are five sanctioned professional leagues, Major League Soccer (MLS) being the most prominent. In 2022 the MLS averaged just over three hundred thousand average viewers per match. Although it seems like a lot, compared to the NFL’s average of sixteen million per game, soccer is almost an afterthought. The show spent time in 2022 as the seventh most watched show in the world. 2022 also saw an increase in the number of outdoor soccer players in the U.S., with numbers sitting at just over thirteen million. This spike put participation at the second highest since 2011.
Television
Recent television shows such as Ted Lasso and Welcome to Wrexham have gained large amounts of attention, mostly in the U.S. Ted Lasso isa fictional drama television show that focuses on an American football coach attempting to coach a soccer team. The showhas accumulated over twenty-five billion streaming minutes in the United States since 2020 through two seasons with a third on the way. Welcome to Wrexham is a documentary focus series about Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny’s journey as the new owners of Wrexham A.F.C, the world’s third oldest professional soccer club. At its peak, the show was the seventh most watched in the world in 2022.
Along with entertaining soccer television coming to the United States, real games themselves are so much more accessible. Streaming service Peacock purchased the television rights to Premier League and FIFA World Cup games. At just six dollars a month, this can be viewed as somewhat of a steal to appease already existing fans and coax in newer fans. After Disney purchased ESPN, they created a separate streaming service, ESPN+, listed at eleven dollars per month. ESPN+ includes streaming to Bundesliga matches as well as NCAA men’s and women’s soccer.
World Cup
In 2022, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced that North America would be the host site for the FIFA World cup. Games will be split between sixteen different cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico with sixteen being featured in America. In 2022, the Qatar World Cup reached one and a half billion total viewers and brought in one million foreign visitors.
Messi
In July of 2023 Lionel Messi signed to bring his legacy to the United States. The thirty-six year old Argentinian is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. His stellar play for both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain has etched him in history books forever. This past July, he signed into a transfer deal sending him to Inter Miami of the United States’ MLS. At the time of his signing, Google searches of Inter Miami increased by over one thousand percent. Within just three days of his signing, resale ticket prices for Inter Miami increased by over one thousand percent.
Bringing the Game Stateside
European soccer clubs have been playing exhibitions in the United States for at least a decade. In 2023 the English Premier League announced a new preseason tournament held in the United States. The tournament, titled The Summer Series, sent six teams to five cities across the states. Teams played three games within the Premier League as well as two within other European or American leagues. Chelsea FC won the inaugural tournament play with seven points to top the rest of the table. I have personally attended two Premier League matches in the United States. The first featured Manchester City and Bayern Munich at Green Bay, Wisconsin’s Lambeau Field. Despite being in a small market city and being ridden with terrible weather, the match remained at max capacity and was very much alive for all ninety minutes. The second match hosted at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois was played by Chelsea FC and Borussia Dortmund. The fans at this match went all out to support their team, boasting their colors everywhere. The stadium looked like what you would see on television in Europe. Overall, more play over the Atlantic will only grow the popularity of soccer in the United States.
Conclusion
From a general standpoint, soccer has been slowly growing in popularity for about twenty years in the United States. As more foreigners move to the states they bring their cultures, including soccer along with them. Even from across oceans clubs are doing everything they can to promote themselves in the United States. I believe that within the next decade MLS and European soccer could become a big U.S. sport.