North America has long been considered soccer's final frontier—the last great unconquered market for the beautiful game. But over the past few decades, that narrative has flipped dramatically. The region has embraced soccer with a passion that's hard to ignore, and with the upcoming World Cup on the horizon, that boom is only set to accelerate.
Just look around. Visit Miami's Nu Stadium, one of the dozen or so Major League Soccer venues built across the region in the last decade and now home to Lionel Messi. The energy is electric. Or step into a sports bar in Los Angeles for an early morning English Premier League kickoff. You'll find it packed with fans, most of them speaking with American accents.
Mia Hamm, a legend of the U.S. women's national team and a multiple World Cup winner in the 1990s, still can't quite believe how much things have changed. "You didn't see that when I was growing up playing," she recalls, noting the surge in fans wearing their favorite club's soccer shirts. "It was just the small soccer community. Now, you can go along the street here in Los Angeles, in the country, people know the players."
The numbers back up the enthusiasm. When American sports fans are asked to name their favorite sport, soccer comfortably sits in third place, behind only American football and basketball, according to Daniel Monaghan of research firm Ampere Analysis. Soccer has edged ahead of baseball since at least 2021—and the gap widened considerably last year, with 15 percent of fans picking soccer versus just eight percent for baseball.
This surge in popularity is matched by an explosion in financial value. FIFA expects to make a record $11 billion in revenue from the 2026 World Cup, but soccer dollars were already climbing before the world's biggest tournament became a cash cow. Spending on soccer media rights in the U.S.—covering everything from MLS and USMNT games to European leagues—now surpasses baseball. According to Ampere, soccer fans tend to be wealthier and more willing to pay for premium sports coverage.
Domestically, MLS is thriving. This season's opening weekend drew 400,000 fans, and total attendance across the 2024 season hit 12.1 million—second only to the English Premier League globally. The roots of this rise can be traced back to 1994, when the U.S. last hosted a World Cup and planted the seeds for a new generation of fans. Now, as North America gears up to host again, the beautiful game is finally getting the love it deserves.