When Will The U.S. Finally Embrace Soccer?
The 2022 World Cup delivered the most dramatic final in the the history of the men’s tournament - a match that saw a two-goal lead vanish in the closing minutes, a crowning moment for one of the greatest to ever lace up the boots, a hat trick from the next generation’s global superstar, a desperation kick save in stoppage time, and a calm brilliance from the penalty line that delivered Argentina its first title in 36 years. Will this be the match that finally converts Americans into true fans of The World’s Game?
According to our most recent ongoing research, the answer is…not yet. Soccer remains the most popular sport by a wide margin everywhere in the world except the United States, where the NFL remains king.
How many sports fans in the U.S. are soccer fans?
Only 23.8% of sports fans in the United States identify as fans of soccer, according to a recent mixed-methods study we’ve conducted at Sports Innovation Lab. This proportion lags well behind the global interest level: Roughly 40% of the world’s population follows soccer, Nielsen reported earlier this year.
While we await final viewership numbers from the World Cup tournament, early reported metrics indicate United States viewership is growing but still trails well behind the rest of the world. Fox reported that 16.8M viewers in the United States tuned in to this year’s aforementioned World Cup final between Argentina and France, while streaming numbers surged by 158% from the previous final in 2018. By comparison, 14.9M tuned in to BBC One’s broadcast of the final—a lower total quantity but a much higher proportion of the respective markets addressed. This disparity in proportion shows just how far behind the US is when it comes to grabbing market share of attention with soccer.
That’s a huge gap for the world’s most popular sport, and it further supports the thesis we’ve devised from oir research at Sports Innovation Lab: the United States is the last emerging market for soccer in the world. This presents an opportunity that leagues and networks have long worked to capture.
So, how will soccer fandom grow in the United States? What is the consumer profile of the people who will become new fans?
These questions are increasingly important given that the next men’s World Cup will be held in North America as a part of a shared hosting awarded to the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Fortunately, our research is already starting to unpack some of the critical intelligence that brands, media, and all stakeholders in global soccer will need in the build-up to the 2026 World Cup.
Do you know who U.S.-based soccer fans really are?
Our original research tells us that U.S.-based soccer fans are deeply passionate about soccer, and have been so since childhood. 72.4% of U.S.-based soccer fans report an above-average passion for the sport, and 76% of U.S.-based soccer fans say they became fans when they were children. ***Data via a Sports Innovation Lab-administered soccer fandom survey***
They are also eager to spend on their soccer fandom:
70.4% purchased soccer merchandise in 2022, mostly buying jerseys/kits (67.8%) or t-shirts (60.8%).
They also spend to tune in, with 77.3% paying for a streaming service to watch an average of 2-3 matches per week. These figures may bode well for Apple, which secured a 10-year, $2.5 billion broadcast agreement with Major League Soccer for the right to show every MLS match beginning February 2023.
We’re also seeing early indications in our data that soccer fandom in the United States is driven by an interest in local teams and domestic leagues. In the Age of the Fluid Fan, where fans follow top personalities and trending teams across the globe, it would be reasonable to imagine that U.S.-based soccer fans are devoting most of their time to global icons at Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool, but league popularity in the United States shows soccer is the exception to the rule:
***MLS (2.02), USL (2.16), EPL (2.34), La Liga (2.87), NWSL (3.02)
The top domestic men's league, MLS, is the most popular amongst U.S.-based soccer fans, with USL right behind in second. Following the EPL and La Liga, the domestic women’s league NWSL rounds-out the Top 5. This shows that there’s a decidedly U.S. focus for U.S.-based soccer fans, which is unexpected given the reach and popularity of some of the world’s biggest soccer brands like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United, and foreign-based players like Messi, Mbappe, Neymar and Ronaldo.
For years at Sports Innovation Lab we’ve written about the emergence of the “Fluid Fan,” a new type of sports fan that is quickly dominating the sports ecosystem. Enabled by newfound access to global sports properties via the globalization and democratization of media, the Fluid Fan is characterized as open to change, empowered to choose and discover new allegiances, and continuously evolving its behavior and preferences.
But given that the United States is the last emerging market for the world’s most popular sport, we need to rethink how a nascent market may take shape in the Age of the Fluid Fan. Even as digital media and access to global soccer reach new heights in the U.S. - especially over the next handful of years - we have questions to answer:
Why might the emergence of soccer fandom here focus on local properties?
How is women’s soccer, and specifically the success of the USWNT propelling growth for soccer fandom here in the United States, and what might the impact of that be on the growth of women’s soccer globally?
What are U.S.-based soccer fan attitudes toward values and social justice issues like inclusivity, diversity, labor rights and sustainability in an increasingly exposed and scrutinized global soccer ecosystem?
How might the new Leagues Cup (2023) and other international fixtures such as Nations League matches continue to build excitement ahead of the 2026 World Cup?
How do we invite local fans to take part in international soccer, and vice versa?
How does Apple's broadcast deal with MLS (and the NWSL’s upcoming media rights deal) invite more general sports fans to start watching more?
What is the real impact of shows like “Ted Lasso” on total fandom, and what will the next big hit look like?
We continue to explore these questions and so much more as we study U.S.-based soccer fans — the last to arrive at the world’s most popular sport.