Soccer in the US is on the rise ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022

Historically, soccer was never part of American culture. Meanwhile, it’s by far the most popular sport on the planet. Outside of the US, though, everyone calls it football, and it’s often referred to as the “beautiful game”. Soccer having such a small place in the history of US sports is somewhat of a phenomenon for people across the world. The reasons for these are many; one is the fact that the national team was never able to compete with South American and European powerhouse teams. Another is that soccer never took root, to begin with. While soccer was spreading across the world towards the end of the 19th century, Americans started experimenting with Rugby, which quickly evolved into American Football. Then there’s, of course, baseball, both stables of American culture. Basketball is also extremely popular, historically followed by ice hockey.

In recent years though, the consensus around soccer has changed. The sport is becoming more popular. Surveys among US sports fans have shown that there’s a preference; 49% of surveyees like to watch soccer on TV, compared to 37% for ice hockey. Another aspect is that online sports betting in the US have become more accessible and available in 15 states. The increased availability of sports betting is due to more sports betting bills being approved by the senate and House of Representatives in each state. That’s another factor behind the increase in the popularity of soccer. Most US sports are seasonal, while top soccer leagues from around the world can be watched and wagered on almost all year around.

Now that the 2022 soccer FIFA World Cup is around the corner, it will be interesting to see how the popularity of soccer has changed over the past years. Americans love big events, even soccer. Viewership numbers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup were record-shattering. The US draw against Portugal was viewed by 18.2 million people on ESPN alone. That’s higher than the average rating for NFL that same year and more than any of the NBA finals games that year. Those viewership numbers did not include people watching it online or using Univision. It’s fair to estimate that around 25 million US viewers watched the game between the United States and Portugal back in 2014.

If you venture outside the US, even the Super Bowl pales in comparison to the FIFA World Cup. The global viewership of the World Cup final in 2018 was watched by 516.6 million viewers globally, while the Super Bowl that same year was watched by 103.4 million viewers.

Why the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be the most popular one yet?

When Landon Donovan scored for the USA against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup, he put the team through to the round of 2016. This feat also garnered attention from the nation, which was coupled with an increase in coverage of international top soccer leagues through online streaming services. More Americans were exposed to soccer, and due to the ease of access, many youth and young adults would try to play it. There are no expensive helmets, shoulder pads, skates, or other protective equipment. All you need in order to play soccer is a ball. It’s even less expensive than baseball.

Another important factor behind the rise of popularity in soccer is the MLS signing of David Beckham back in 2007. The legendary soccer player played his last years in the MLS, which started a new era for the top league of American soccer. Since then, investments have poured into MLS clubs, and many international superstar players have ended their careers on US soil. Naturally, with a more popular and lucrative professional scene, soccer has become a more attractive option for young athletes. So much that soccer has surpassed ice hockey in popularity.

Given that the US did not qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2018, they’ve had a gap of 8 years since our last participation. That’s eight years of growth for US soccer. Another big factor that will drive viewership numbers for the FIFA World Cup 2022 is the fact that online sports betting has been legalized in many states. Most importantly, it is possible to bet on a match as it’s being played, so-called live betting. Given the accessibility of both pre-match and live betting, we are willing to bet that a majority of American sports fans will be wagering on team USA as they play through the World Cup later this year. Many will likely get in one some betting action as other top nations battle it out on the soccer pitch, all the way up to the World Cup finals, which will for sure shatter all records, regardless if team USA is playing or not.

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Bologna-born Giuseppe Bianchi has spent more than a decade living in Rome and writing about Italian football, Spanish football and the Premier League for various Italian football portals and now he writes about European football for Euro Football Rumours. He's been thinking about football transfers pretty much nonstop since the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Aside from writing, he likes to spend his time fishing and rock climbing.