In the final session of SBJ’s two-day Business of Soccer conference that had been already packed with insights from leaders of the global game, FIFA Chief Business Officer Romy Gai opened with a headline figure that framed the conversation: All 16 global sponsorship slots for the upcoming World Cup are sold, generating the highest sponsorship revenue ever recorded for a stand-alone sports property and pushing FIFA revenues beyond $13B. The commercial ceiling for soccer, he argued, is clearly still rising.
Following up on that, MLS Deputy Commissioner and Soccer United Marketing President Gary Stevenson pushed back on the idea that the World Cup is a “catalyst.” That language fit 1994, when the U.S. needed a league, he said, saying that today, the sport’s governing bodies see this summer’s tournament as “an accelerant.” The league has built a full development pyramid -- academies, MLS Next, MLS Next Pro -- creating a place for the surge of young players and fans that global exposure inevitably brings.
“What’s different now, compared to back then,” Concacaf General Secretary Philippe Moggio noted, “is alignment.” Historically fragmented relationships between FIFA, MLS, Concacaf and U.S. Soccer are now tightly coordinated, he said. That cooperation underpins everything from competition calendars to media strategy.
“And that changes everything,” he said.
Stevenson noted that the soccer‑specific stadiums coming online in Miami this summer, New York (2027), Chicago (2028) and Boston (proposed for 2029) further embed MLS inside markets representing 40 million potential fans.
On the media side, walls are coming down. MLS and FIFA are experimenting with live clips on TikTok and YouTube, player‑focused streams, and game distribution through platforms such as EA Sports FC. “Breaking the walled‑garden model is the future,” Stevenson said, noting that streaming already accounts for half of all sports consumption and could reach 80% within three years.
Concacaf, meanwhile, sees significant upside in under‑monetized club competitions such as the Champions Cup, while FIFA continues to blend sport and entertainment — after‑time shows, concerts, ref‑cam technology — to extend fan engagement.
North America, the three leaders concluded, “is the last great frontier for global soccer.” And this time, the foundation is already built.
