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Posted on 06/08/2026 8:33:28 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
It’s time again for the quadrennial question: Can this be the World Cup that finally converts U.S. sports fans to soccer fanatics?
In 2026, the answer might be yes, or at least closer than ever. For the first time since 1994, the FIFA World Cup is being played on (North) American soil, and polling suggests an attitude shift. According to Numerator research, nearly a third of U.S. adults now plan to watch the 2026 tournament, up from 26% in January. YouGov data shows that 43% of U.S. sports fans cite hosting the tournament as a key reason they plan to tune in, which is the single biggest driver of viewership intent. And Nielsen reported in October that 37% of the general population expects their interest in soccer to grow over the next 18 months.
But pretournament enthusiasm and sustained fandom are different things. Before speculating on how this year will be different, it’s important to unpack why the world’s most popular sport has failed to capture and hold American audiences.
Why Soccer Never Became America’s Favorite Sport
NFL football is and has been the dominant U.S. television draw since the late 20th century. Even in our era of media fragmentation and atomized taste, American football consistently dominates the ratings, surviving along with election nights as one of our last durable media events. The Super Bowl remains the apotheosis of American ritualized mass viewing. In February 2025, 127.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles crush the Kansas City Chiefs, making it the most-watched single telecast in American history. Super Bowl LX, played this past February, hit a 15-minute peak of 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
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2026 FIFA World Cup?
Never heard of it.
No, it won't, because we're not a bunch of gay communists. But importing another 20-30 million foreigners might.
They have overpriced tickets, parking, and transportation to the stadium. IDC.
No.
Soccer is boring.
Weren’t the American women doing well in some international competition in recent years?
But then, they had some unappealing personalities such as Megan Rapinoe, who would turn off some people from following soccer.
So soccer is gaining some interest, but I suspect some interest is blunted when someone such as Megan Rapinoe becomes the public face of the sport.
Hi, I played soccer at. Cal— where our team was mostly from I house. I found it an exciting game and was able to make the team even with the catching up I had to do. For years after that I coached where I was teaching — and pissed off the establishment as I got some of their players interested in my sport.
This was in San Mateo where theHigh Schools did not even have a league. Football was king and they asked me to help out because I needed to fill my schedule with coaching in each of the seasons.
By the way I also loved your take on Natural Processes.
Weren’t the American women doing well in some international competition in recent years?
But then, they had some unappealing personalities such as Megan Rapinoe, who would turn off some people from following soccer.
So soccer is gaining some interest, but I suspect some interest is blunted when someone such as Megan Rapinoe becomes the public face of the sport, at least on the women’s side.
Hi, I played soccer at. Cal— where our team was mostly from I house. I found it an exciting game and was able to make the team even with the catching up I had to do. For years after that I coached where I was teaching — and pissed off the establishment as I got some of their players interested in my sport.
This was in San Mateo where theHigh Schools did not even have a league. Football was king and they asked me to help out because I needed to fill my schedule with coaching in each of the seasons.
By the way I also loved your take on Natural Processes.
Nope
Sports as entertainment is dying. Younger generations aren’t tuned into it and the audience that is still there is feeling alienated by political posturing and thuggish antics by the players. Last thing the American public wants is to be subjected to international political posturing as well.
Viewership might improve for soccer but it is trying to expand into a shrinking base.
Sports as entertainment is dying. Younger generations aren’t tuned into it and the audience that is still there is feeling alienated by political posturing and thuggish antics by the players. Last thing the American public wants is to be subjected to international political posturing as well.
Viewership might improve for soccer but it is trying to expand into a shrinking base.
Sports as entertainment is dying. Younger generations aren’t tuned into it and the audience that is still there is feeling alienated by political posturing and thuggish antics by the players. Last thing the American public wants is to be subjected to international political posturing as well.
Viewership might improve for soccer but it is trying to expand into a shrinking base.
The left never stops.
It will be many, many years before soccer overtakes American football in popularity, if ever, IMHO. I love watching both of these sports, along with many other sports.
People who love watching football, really enjoy the breaks in the game. It gives them time to get another drink, snack, or use the restroom.
Watching soccer does not afford the viewer those conveniences. There are few time-outs. They are two completely different games.
Some of the twenty something year old guys in my office are excited for the World Cup to start this Thursday. Other twenty something year old guys don’t really care. Most of the guys over 30 don’t care. Almost none of the guys over 40 or 50 care. Virtually, none of the women care.
I just did a survey of the seven twenty something year olds sitting around me in my office.
The only ones who really care are the ones who played soccer in school. Some of them were college soccer players at smaller colleges like Merrimack.
I sometimes think of soccer as hockey except played by people running around on a large field instead of skating around on a smaller ice surface.
Hockey is low scoring game like soccer.
But the fact is, a sport like Hockey is very fast paced and exciting even when goals aren’t being scored.
Soccer, where they’re running up and down the field things take longer to develop things or slower… It’s completely not exciting to watch to my eyes .
Other people may differ, because they have a cultural attachment, or whatever… But I will never be able to watch soccer. As other posters have said, it’s probably fun to play, but watching it… Not so much.
no....well maybe.
3rd world immigrants love their soccer. It’s familial as their children love it too.
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