Will Soccer become the next big sport in North America?

There's an old saying that the United States is the next big soccer country and always will be. However, the way things are going, this will certainly change. Soccer is becoming increasingly more popular not only in the United States but also in Canada, which currently has 3 teams in the MLS.

The MLS has been rapidly expanding, adding new teams year after year. Team valuations have also increased at a tremendous rate. In 2008 the average team franchise was valued at $37 million. Fast forward to 2019, and the average team is valued at $313 million (Smith, 2019, Forbes). The latest cities to join the MLS have been Miami, Nashville, Austin and Charlotte. Attendance has also been impressive. Two notable examples are the Seattle Sounders and Atlanta United who averaged over 40,000 and 50,000 people respectively in 2019.

Furthermore, a 2018 Gallup poll showed that 7% of adults in the US said soccer was their favorite sport compared to 9% for Baseball, 11% for Basketball and 37% for Football. These statistics change, however, when taking age into consideration. In fact, soccer is more popular than Baseball with the age cohorts of below 18 and between 18 and 54. It is also nearly tied with Basketball in those same age groups (Norman, 2018, Gallup).

The rise of North American soccer players in big-time European teams have also been increasing. From Americans Weston Mckennie and Christian Pulisic at Juventus and Chelsea, and Canadian superstar Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich.

With the continuous increase in immigration from Latin American countries (where soccer is the dominant sport), the expanding popularity of soccer especially with the younger generation of Americans, the continual growth of the MLS, and the 2026 World Cup that will be hosted in North America, soccer is bound to become a major sport here in the upcoming years.