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The story
It’s been about three months since the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada, wrapped up this summer. According to US research firm Nielsen, the number of people identifying as soccer fans rose from 66.8 million last summer to 75.2 million as of this July — a 27% jump compared to 2022. Reaction on the 5ch Geinou/Sports News+ board split over the data, with some pointing to rising viewership for MLS and the Premier League, while others urged caution, citing how the buzz after the 1994 World Cup also proved temporary. The discussion also touched on soccer’s cultural fit (or lack thereof) alongside football and MLB, and the impact of MLS’s exclusive broadcast deal with Apple TV.
Both MLS and the Premier League reportedly seeing rising popularity
About three months have passed since the excitement of the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada this summer. So where does soccer’s popularity in America stand now?
US outlet Nielsen has released data showing a major surge in American interest in soccer following the World Cup. The number of self-identified soccer fans grew from 66.8 million last summer to 75.2 million as of this July — marking a 27% expansion in the fan base since 2022.
Source: theworldmagazine.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Even European club tours over there sell out completely.
it's all yards gained, rebounds, exit velocity, stuff like that.
On the flip side, if soccer catches on in America, they might end up quantifying every stat imaginable, which could revolutionize the quality of the sport itself.
Everyone calls themselves a soccer fan during the World Cup, then forgets about it instantly and shows zero interest in the J.League 😢
Sorry to break it to you, but
the J.League's early season is on pace for record attendance
and the national team keeps posting huge ratings.
Looking forward to seeing how it affects youth participation numbers next 😄
Soccer > baseball is basically settled at this point.
This time will probably get a temporary bump too, but whether it sticks is anyone's guess.
Feels like a bad sign that young fans are looking toward the Premier League instead of their own domestic league.
MLS itself was created because of the '94 World Cup, you know.
Even by viewer numbers, this time is overwhelmingly bigger.
Fizzled out?
MLS has been on a steady growth tear lately.
The combined population of the EU and the UK is also about 500 million.
Looked at that way, soccer in North America still has plenty of room to grow.
At the end of the day, America's a football country,
Mexico's a soccer country,
and Canada's a hockey country…
not a baseball country lol
It literally says "after" the World Cup, read it again.
You're calling people out without even reading the post properly?
MLS has grown to the point where it easily surpasses NPB (Japan's pro baseball league) in market size.
The defense is so loose it makes you wonder if they're deliberately letting the other team's attackers have a good time out there.
MLS clubs have been regularly reaching the final of the CONCACAF Champions League lately, and even winning it,
so the level's probably going up.
Feels like saying you're a soccer fan there would get you branded as gay.
To really broaden the fan base, you need a free-to-watch option too.
> MLS signed a 10-year exclusive deal with Apple TV
Even after the Apple deal, a limited number of games still air on FOX and its pay channel FS1.
Also, the Apple contract was shortened by three and a half years, now running through the end of the 28-29 season (switching to a fall-spring calendar starting next year).
Deal shortened by 3.5 years for an extra $50 million — the thinking behind MLS's move to a winter calendar
https://note.com/fond_laelia4066/n/ne7f8cb766e75
Both the college and corporate leagues have the same teams winning over and over, which makes it hard to build popularity.
MLS already has Messi, on a salary that's absurd by league standards.
22 million — MLB All-Star Game
18 million — World Cup peak
2026
8.8 million — MLB All-Star Game
63 million — World Cup peak
But below that age, it's flipped entirely —
soccer now beats baseball across the board.
Must be the influence of the generation that lived through the last home World Cup.
But among Japanese athletes from that younger generation, the top earner is still a baseball player lol
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The debate over soccer’s popularity in the US often circles back to the precedent of the 1994 World Cup. Hosting that tournament led to the founding of MLS, but the excitement that followed is said to have been short-lived — a key piece of evidence for the cautious view that this time could follow the same pattern. On the other hand, the viewership figures cited in the thread (over 63 million for a 2026 World Cup final-level match versus roughly 8.8 million for the MLB All-Star Game) show a much wider gap than existed back in 1994, which backs up the more optimistic take. Breaking it down by age group, those 55 and older favor baseball by a wide margin, while younger generations now favor soccer over baseball — suggesting generational turnover may be reshaping the popularity landscape. That said, MLS’s exclusive broadcast deal with Apple TV was raised as a concern echoing Japan’s experience with the J.League, which struggled to win over new fans once it went exclusive with DAZN; several commenters noted that free viewing access will be key to widening the fan base.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Will the 2026 World Cup Make Soccer Stick in America? Post-World Cup Popularity in Focus — ‘The World Cup Could Be the Spark for Soccer’s Explosive Growth in North America’.”
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