Soccer’s influence in America is growing – but so is America’s influence on the sport.
As the states make their final preparations to host the World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada this summer, it feels like the moment is coming when the global game could finally break through to America.
While women’s football has long been established there, men’s football is now becoming more mainstream.
The World Cup will be the third major tournament in a row to be held in the country (after the 2024 Copa
America and the 2025 Club World Cup), with Premier League viewership on the rise and La Liga looking to capitalise on the American market with the game open across the Atlantic.
But states are also increasingly shaping the game and how people play it around the world.
America’s game?
“When you look at what’s happened to soccer in the United States… soccer in the United States… when you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called that? [football]? I mean, it’s football. We’ve got to come up with another name for NFL stuff.” – Donald Trump
‘It’s called football’ was the USA’s slogan at the last World Cup, but ahead of the next edition, US President Donald Trump has had his say on the matter. The game did not receive a high level of approval from the American public.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has developed a close relationship with Trump – including the FIFA Peace Prize award – but the president has been keen to talk about his support for the sport and this summer’s showpiece.
He has a long-standing association with football – as fans of the Rumbles Cup draw will know – but it’s also helpful to associate himself with the growing game in his home country.
Trump was at the Club World Cup final – how could anyone miss him? The event was when Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain in New Jersey in front of 81,118 fans.
Reece James was expecting US President Donald Trump to part ways with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino before lifting the Club World Cup trophy.
The first leg of Premier League games this season was the most-watched opening weekend on record in the States. The number of listeners has increased by 13 per cent compared to the last three years.
Twelve matches in the 2024/25 Premier League season attracted well over one million viewers. That’s a modest figure given America’s size and scale, but it’s that speed that’s key.
The Premier League is keen to promote growth. The competition’s summer series in 2023 and 2025 put the focus on friendlies and drew 82,566 to watch Man Utd vs West Ham.
Liverpool, Leeds and Sunderland have all been signed up for pre-season tours to the States this summer.
Meanwhile, La Liga is trying to enter the market in an even more significant way.
Barcelona are scheduled to face Villarreal in Miami in December 2025 in an official league game. It would have been the first authentic overseas game for a major league.
The plans were cancelled amid a backlash, but a subsequent statement from La Liga reflected its ambitions to carry the game to the USA in the future. He said La Liga “deeply regrets that this project, which represents a historic and unprecedented opportunity for the internationalisation of Spanish football, cannot go ahead”.
Barcelona also noted that “the opportunity to expand the image of competition in a strategic market with growth potential and resource production for the benefit of all was missed”.
Major League Soccer, America’s top soccer league, is currently focusing on Lionel Messi. The legendary Argentine World Cup winner was a giant signing for La Liga and David Beckham’s Inter Miami. But with Messi at 38, American soccer needs a breakout star.
Lionel Messi wins the MLS Cup.
This past season, there were only four Americans playing in the Premier League – Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, Anthony Robinson and Brandon Aaronson – and despite Mauricio Pochettino’s management, national team prospects are slim. His talent is on display in the biggest game in the world.
But when FIFA takes over New York’s iconic Times Square for the third-place playoff and then the World Cup final, soccer will be front and centre in America, if only for a brief time. This event is a major opportunity for the game to expand in a key area for marketers.
“All America can do is put on a show,” explains Greg Broughton. Sky Sports. Broughton is Chicago Fire’s British sporting director and has seen the growth of the game in the States after previous roles at Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City and Bodø/Glimt.
He expects the World Cup to have a major impact in the States.
For a more accessible video player, please consider using the Chrome browser.
