Cup may not be a cure-all in U.S.

Remember when soccer was being touted as the next big sport in the U.S.? Well, it looks like that moment has finally arrived.

- By KEVIN BAXTER

Ornot. It all depends on who you ask and how you interpret what they tell you.

Onone hana, there's the recent Harris Poll that found 72% of Americans profess an interest in soccer, a. 17% increase from 2020. A quarter of those are “dedicated” fans and one in five say they are “obsessed” with the sport.

Onthe other hand, there’s the stark decline in attendance and TV viewership forthe country’s top two domestic leagues, MLS and the NWSL, and the underwhelming crowds that showed up last summer for the FIFA Club World Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

These contrary findings —a growing fan base at the same time attendance and viewership numbers are falling offa cliff — come at animportant inflection point for soccer in the U.S., with the largest, most ambitious World Cup kicking off at SoFi Stadium in fewer than 200 days.

“The short answeris yes, the World Cup willbe a watershed moment for soccer in America. However, it’s unlikely to immediately lead to a significant increase inticket sales for MLS and NWSL. Soccer fandom in America develops differently from that of other sports,” said Darin W. White, executive director of the Sports Industry Program and the Center for Sports Analytics at Samford University, which next year will launchama-jor five-year study to explore howsoccer can become mainstream inthe U.S.

“The World Cup will bring millions of new Americans into the pipeline. Over the next few years we expect these new fans to progress through the pipeline, giving soccer a substantial enough fan base to tip the scales and help make soccer part. ofthe ongoing mainstream sports conversation. lam confident that the World Cup will enable soccer to reach that critical mass.”