RE: imports
That is too simplistic an observation.
The big U.S. World Cup TV audiences were not because “foreign fans” were filling American stadiums. The TV numbers come overwhelmingly from American households, not stadium attendance.
Consider — A stadium holds 40,000–80,000 people.
A major U.S. World Cup broadcast pulls 10–25 million American viewers.
Even if every single person in the stadium were a foreign visitor (they weren’t), that has zero impact on the TV audience. TV ratings measure U.S. households watching on Fox, Telemundo, Peacock, etc. — not who sits in the stadium.
So, The real story: Americans did watch — in record numbers
The 2026 World Cup produced:
The most-watched soccer broadcasts in U.S. history
Higher U.S. viewership than the NBA Finals for several match windows
Massive streaming numbers on Peacock and Fox Sports apps
There are more fans of “El Tri” living in the US, than fans of the USMNT.