Soccer fandom in the United States has increased substantially since our hosting of the World Cup in 1994 — manifested by participation, spectatorship and viewership, accompanied by a significant increase in corporate investment (U.S. Soccer reported having more than $1.3 billion in contracted revenue). In fact, according to some sources, soccer has surpassed baseball as the No. 3 sport in the U.S. (Note: I’m not quite ready to go there, and as a fan I’m appreciative of the efforts of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, et al, to broaden the appeal of baseball — but if there is a lockout, I firmly believe that soccer will be entrenched in that No. 3 spot.)
Regardless of the ranking perception in the U.S., the real issue is how U.S. soccer is perceived in terms of global perception and performance. Will we be consistently competitive? Americans are extremely competitive in their sports passions, and if our athletes are not performing successfully at the highest levels, we tend to lose interest.
So what will it take for U.S soccer to become competitive globally and sustain that ability? Our U.S. men’s national team has not experienced the level of success of our women’s team. Here are the thoughts of a non-soccer fan who nevertheless appreciates the business opportunity and embraces global competition in all sports — true WORLD championships.
Collegiate Soccer
While college football and basketball have proved to be more lucrative for athletes, NIL provides an excellent opportunity to build more competitive soccer programs. If the U.S. is going to become recognized as a premier global soccer competitor, we need to continue building soccer infrastructure from the ground up. I believe we are doing that for youth under 18, but we lack the “finishing school” necessary to provide the pool of talent that can play at higher levels. Similar to how the growth of women’s softball as a sport led to much improved and more competitive collegiate softball programs, and ultimately a pro league in Athletes Unlimited, collegiate soccer on both the men’s and women’s sides can continue to grow and improve with media interest, and of course corporate support, which is no longer a stranger to NCAA events. While this might involve reprioritizing and reallocating resources, it might prove easier to generate additional support and corporate investment for soccer.
Competitive Compensation
Compared to other professional athletes, soccer players are compensated, as a whole, well below other American sports on the men’s side, but only trail the more established WNBA on the women’s side.
For aspiring professional athletes in any sport, the promise of earning substantial income is very alluring. In this age of sport specialization, NIL opportunities and media publicity, multitalented athletes have been influenced to focus their attention and training on one sport. We can all agree, to date, that sport hasn’t been soccer. On the men’s side, MLS players are most comparable to NHL players (in roster size and international rosters), with NHL minimum player salaries starting at around $775,000 and averaging $3.5 million to $4 million annually. MLS minimums are $100,000-$110,000 and average $600,000-$700,000. However, this is in a compensation galaxy far below the NBA minimum of $1.27 million and average of $11 million to $12 million, and MLB’s average of about $5 million with a minimum of $780,000. Compensation in soccer must improve for our talented athletes to choose the sport as their area of specialization in their youth development programs. Obviously, revenue generation is key to salary growth, and some post-World Cup momentum can be an influencing factor.
Continued Growth in Media-Related Opportunities
More soccer content is consumed in the United States than in any other country in the world (including India and China). The Apple TV contract was a giant step forward for MLS and soccer fans everywhere, although that deal — originally for guaranteed revenue ($2.5 billion total, or $250 million annually through 2032) — will end after the 2028-29 season; Apple provides streaming to more than 100 countries on a single platform; and MLS gains subscriber behavior data from Apple. MLS can generate additional revenue by driving subscribers to Apple TV, an approach that may be emulated and adapted by other providers and other sports.
The first group-stage World Cup matchup of the U.S. vs. Paraguay had 29 million viewers, a record for a U.S. men’s national team game. At the time of this writing, the U.S. is 2-0 and advancing to the Round of 32, so we should expect even higher numbers.
Staying Home
Once we begin producing elite, global-level talent in soccer, that talent needs to be convinced to remain in the U.S. and play collegiately and professionally. The earning potential abroad is part of the equation, but so is the cultural positioning of soccer — make that football — as the preeminent sport, with its athletes idolized by fans. This has been an issue for the WNBA, which has since improved, and is also an issue for AUSL, which began its season with a number of key players fulfilling their international contracts.
The late Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Veeck, who passed away in 1986, said “Soccer is going to be great sport in this country someday, just not in MY someday.” He went on to say that “Baseball is America’s pastime and it will be until soccer catches on — which it will.” The winds of change are blowing, and they are blowing harder than ever.
Bill Sutton (billsutton11251@me.com) is director emeritus of the Vinik Graduate Sport Business Program at USF and principal of Bill Sutton & Associates. Follow him on social media at @suttonimpact.bsky.social.
