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The 2026 FIFA World Cup has been, by all accounts, a smashing success here in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Despite a chaotic lead up to the event, the tournament has smashed everyone’s expectations and then some. For foreigners, they have experienced a culture shock for the ages. On the other side, casual American viewers have been amazed by the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
Just looking at the television ratings from FOX and Telemundo, the numbers have been huge. The final combined viewing number for the United States men’s national team’s (USMNT) Round of 16 match vs Belgium ended up being 50.1 million viewers. Truly, an insane number to imagine.
Unfortunately, the USMNT lost 4-1 and the aftermath has been rough. One thing that has been talked about since last Monday’s defeat were the words uttered by FOX Sports’ play-by-play announcer, John Strong, near the end of the match.
“If you’ve enjoyed what you’re seeing, well, support your local team,” Strong said on the broadcast. “This doesn’t have to be the last soccer you watch for the next four years. It’s a beautiful sport.”
Strong did receive backlash online pertaining to this comment which I can understand. Strong has often received criticism for the way he announces the sport and many were not pleased with him for the point he made.
Was this desperate on Strong’s part? Yes. However, more people should watch.
Domestically, Major League Soccer (MLS) and the USL Championship should have more viewers than what they currently have. With the World Cup nearing a conclusion, I’m all in for a post-tournament boom and I hope MLS uses this in their favor.
One problem. Where’s the promotion been for the league during this whole tournament?
I guess this tweet counts?
After the 2014 World Cup, I really started following MLS because I wanted to support my domestic league. It wasn’t the Premier League, but it didn’t have to be.
I remember putting on the New York Red Bulls vs Seattle Sounders FC match that fall and watching Bradley Wright-Phillips and Clint Dempsey go at it. Somehow, I watched an MLS game on NBCSN instead of Saturday Night Football on ABC. The power of a star like Dempsey convinced me to watch that over Clemson and Florida State.
12 years later, where can you find the league now? Apple TV.
The MLS on Apple TV deal has been a mess and really, so dumb on all accounts. Genuinely, why commissioner Don Garber did this really annoys me.
As much as I love the MLS, it’s still the fifth major professional sports league in the country. Some might say it’s not even one at all.
In what is a pivotal time in the history of the league, MLS seemingly didn't care enough to promote their league during the World Cup.
Alongside MLS, FOX from what I’ve seen hasn’t either. It’s also a good time to remind people that FOX Sports airs MLS matches on their main network and FS1. They mentioned Nashville SC vs Atlanta United FC and LA Galaxy vs LAFC would air on their networks this Friday awhile back and no one appears to remember.
The lack of promotion from the both of them is alarming considering what has taken place this summer. It’s worth noting that a majority of the league’s matches in the second half of the season will be behind a paywall with very few on television. How FOX Sports won’t even maximize their offerings for the league entering the fall after a successful World Cup like this one is beyond me.
I understand the league wants to make Apple TV the one stop place for fans to view the league but come on. The league still needs a presence on TV and the very few matches FOX Sports gets per season is brainless.
Come 2027, the league will be shifting to a summer-to-spring calendar that aligns with the top leagues in the world. A transition season will occur as a result between February and May. However, while I do believe the league shouldn’t have made the switch, it arguably should be happening in a different year.
Transitioning to a different league, Major League Baseball (MLB) will most likely face a lockout following this season.
So imagine this scenario for example. Knowing that FOX has the rights to the MLB and the league might not be playing by the time June comes around, the network could air more MLS games in theory. Those Baseball Night in America timeslots on Saturdays could just be handed to MLS for a little bit and it would allow more people to tune in.
However, there are a few problems with this hypothetical. For one, the potential lockout could perhaps be over by June and the MLB would still have their scheduled games as usual. Second, because of the change in the calendar, MLS will have no matches in June so there’s no potential to gain a bigger audience.
We obviously can’t predict the future. But, the chances of a lockout happening in the MLB are sky-high. I don’t think the MLS higher ups put that into consideration when making the decision to flip the calendar.
This summer has been a massive moment for the sport of soccer in the United States and one that we as a country have waited 32 years for. But, it’s embarrassing that my favorite soccer league can’t even market itself correctly in a moment like this.
I am not afraid to say that the Apple TV deal was a gigantic embarrassment for MLS at all. While a streamer will be important moving forward in any future media rights deal, MLS still needs that television presence to help continue the growth of the league.
I love this league but, the WNBA, the PLL, and the NWSL will leap frog the league in popularity if they can’t correct this mistake. FOX may need to lose the rights to the league as well because from most fans’ perspective, they aren’t good at broadcasting it.
Compared to those two entities, I have done a better job at promoting the sport domestically. It’s really not that hard. For soccer fans like myself, we’ll just have to wait and see the results of growth and momentum following the World Cup Final on July 19.