But while attendance numbers continue to climb and television ratings for matches rival those of the NBA Finals and the World Series of baseball, the sustainability of this surge remains uncertain. For many analysts, whether this heralds a true breakthrough is still unclear.
“It has moved from the margins to the mainstream, as a sizable and passionate fan base now embraces the sport,” said Jeff Schneider, executive director of the Center for Sports, Entertainment, Media & Technology Law at the University of Southern California (USC).
Schneider noted that football — often viewed as a “foreign import” by many Americans — is unlikely to achieve the cultural ubiquity of American football or basketball. Those sports benefit from deep historical roots and emerged during an era when media consumption was less dominant.
He acknowledged, however, that a dedicated and growing community of fans both watches and participates in the sport.
This growth is largely driven by youth participation.
“Soccer has filled the void left by the declining popularity of American football among young athletes,” observed Steve Bank, a sports law expert at UCLA School of Law. “Concerns over concussions and long‑term brain injury have made football increasingly untenable for many families.”
Should the national team advance further on the international stage, the sport’s prospects in the United States will correspondingly improve. Belgium awaits on Monday evening, and scrutiny over the team’s performance has intensified following the controversial rescission of striker Folarin Balogun’s red card after a phone call between former President Trump and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.
The foundations for this expansion were laid three decades ago, when Major League Soccer (MLS) was established as part of the agreement that secured the United States’ hosting of the 1994 World Cup. Today, MLS fields 30 teams across the United States and Canada and showcases global icons such as Lionel Messi.
The most significant audience draw remains the English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga, which have fueled a marked increase in spending on football media rights, according to research by Ampere Analysis.
This expansion has positioned the United States as the largest foreign market for the four leading European leagues.
A recent Ampere survey of sports fans revealed that football has narrowly eclipsed baseball as the third‑most popular sport in the United States, with 10 percent of Americans identifying it as their favorite.
