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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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That's due to analytics. Every move is analyzed by professionals. As a result, it feels like in a game, we are watching a bunch of robots compete against each other.
Actually pre-TV pro-football wasn’t very popular. College football was huge, but the pros were 3rd tier. Then TV hit, then the Colts-Giants championship game hit, and the worm turned.
I don’t really think they were saying better or worse. Just different. Yes under the old tech soccer was tougher to generate ad revenue on TV, but if the audience was there they would have figured it out. In the end it hasn’t caught on because hasn’t caught on. Sports popularity is a lot like a landslide, when it starts it goes, but when it doesn’t it doesn’t.
No.
Next.
It all hinges on how many boys drink soy lattes, have green or blue hair, were raised by a single mom, drive an EV, and can’t understand the outrage over Budweiser’s Mulvaney flop.
Small sample sizes.
I’m talking an entire state, and I could expand that observation: when I was long haul trucking. I saw it all over the place. Dual-purpose football fields.
Did you know there is a new pro soccer league (United Soccer League) that is coming online in 2028? It switches to the European model, and the European academy system, rather than the current “pay for play” system in youth soccer? The new stadium deals are already being made.
The day is coming where the rights to a 16 year old will be held by a soccer club......and everyone below 16 is waiting for their 16th birthday.
Marketing. It will be the undoing of MLB and the NBA. Soccer will supplant both of them once the adult interest turns. And it already has.
People are moving away from the sports industry......it does not hold the same allure.
That’s funny.
If they made the ball smaller and flatter.
Let the players hit it with sticks.
Played it on ice.
Put the players on skates.
And the players didn't drop to the ground shrieking every time another player came with in ten feet of them.
With those simple changes you could have something worth watching.
Uh, no.
Can’t wait to miss it.
Answer:
B O R I N G
DING DONK DINK DONK DING DONK
yes, as soon as it’s more popular than football, baseball, basketball, hockey and lacrosse..
If Soccer had a shot clock requiring a shot on goal every couple of minutes or whatever, it would change the game completely making it a much faster paced game. Obviously the powers that be, for reasons that I do not understand, like it slow and boring.
I think it is a great game for young children to play as they learn to play team Sports, however. It is also a sport that adults can continue to play for many years unlike football.
Hell no!
Momma’s boys whose mothers won’t let them p;ay football, so push them into a sport wherein they must use the head to shoot the ball.
“Will The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finally Make America A Soccer Nation?”
no ...
“There’s never a never, and never an always”. If immigration continues at the rate it was, not withstanding the Trump admin shutting off the spigot, there will be a steady climb of soccer popularity. In my experiences, areas with large Hispanic populations are playing more soccer than other sports. There’s a county park in South Florida I used to play softball at years ago…the softball fields have been changed to soccer fields and are full every evening and weekend.
I have never accidentally tuned into a game that wasn’t tied 0-0. Its like watching paint dry.
My take is that it’s a bit like football, but without the break in action. Do you love watching a running back get taken down after he’s only gained a few yards, or what happens if he gets past the defense and everyone is scrambling to stop him? Or when an interception happens, it changes the possession.
Soccer is much like this game of possession without the downs. And the players who a minute ago were playing offense are suddenly playing defense, without putting on different players. So each player has certain skill sets that are both offense and defense. So it’s like ice hockey in that regard, but a hockey rink is about 1/4 the size of a soccer field.
Anyway, I like all of these sports. For me, they each have their fun parts and their drawbacks. To me they are fun to watch even without the scoring aspect. I will grant that our MLS teams aren’t as talented as they are in other countries, but that is improving. I do not expect much from our USA team, but will be pleasantly surprised if they do well.
Love me some NHL…but got news for you…not very popular outside diehard hockey fans and old school legacy team areas…doesn’t carry broad support. I know there are exceptions as I’m a Florida Panther and Tampa Bay Lightning fan and grew up a Ranger and Islanders fan back in the dynasty days.
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