The 2026 World Cup is hoping that it leaves behind a soccer explosion that could see the sport grow into America’s second-biggest after the NFL, says former U.S. Soccer president Alan Rothenberg.
With a fan frenzy and an influx of new viewers to the sport from Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami to Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, the tournament will give the United States an opportunity to capitalize on the wave of momentum and secure its place in American sporting culture beyond one spectacular month.
For the host United States, a team that reached the knockout stages of the World Cup, helped set records in viewership that were already higher than Super Bowl-sized audiences.
Fox and Telemundo were expected to get 50 million U.S. Viewers to watch that Round of 16 match against Belgium, greater than what they’ll likely receive for conference championship games on the NFL earlier in the year, but in the US, even the US-Canada game drew 12.1 million, shattering the old records of soccer viewing numbers.
For MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who recently announced the league’s “Thanks World, We’ll Take It From Here” initiative to cultivate these new fans into permanent viewers, the world’s game is more important now than ever, especially with top broadcasters and streaming companies likely willing to pay out record prices for rights to broadcast the league around the world, and the continued availability of Messi.
