Anyway, there’s already talk of an expansion to 64 teams!
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BTDT 1986 in Azteca
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That’s what my cousin is telling me. 
Actually it would be Falklands War V. This will be their fifth meeting (not counting two friendlies) since the war in 1982; 1986, 1998, 2002, 2026, all in the World Cup. In Argentina, it would be known as the La Guerra de las Malvinas V.
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64 would be great for tiny countries that have not shot at qualification under the current number. Like, I bet even Italy would get in at that point.
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Didn’t Italy win the whole thing not too long ago?
I want to say they won the WC that took place in Germany, right?
I guess Europe is too competitive to stay on top for long.
It would take a ton of leg work, but soccer is 100% absolutely more popular than MLB and the NBA right now. The issue is that there are at least 7 leagues that have a huge following in America which leads to a splintering of the audience.
- EPL
- Champions League
- LaLiga
- Bundesliga
- Liga MX
- Serie A
- MLS
I’d bet you add up those American audiences they surpass MLB and NBA for viewers as well as social media/highlight views.
Baseball’s audience is going off a cliff with the Boomers eventually dieing off.
It would take promotion relegation and a an elimination of the salary rules for MLS to move up the pecking order
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I mean they haven’t been in the World Cup since 2014 so how good can they be? Seems to me like they’re more of a Baseball country.
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MLB has actually done a really good job of growing the game in recent years. The pitch clock has made the game way more watchable, as has the NL adopting the DH, and they’ve got more star power than they’ve had in quite a while, too.
But knowing their history I’m sure they’re about to lock out the players next year and screw it all up. That league loves to vomit all over themselves every time things are going right for them.
Come on now.
When it comes to TV ratings, no pro soccer league on its best day can match the Big Four plus major college football and basketball on their best days.
Not even close.
There’s a reason the major linear carriers don’t show pro soccer games in anywhere near the same numbers as any of those other six sports on key weekend and prime time slots: because they simply aren’t as popular and won’t get comparable ratings as a result.
You’re really reaching when you have to add up the popularity of six or seven different leagues in order to match the popularity of any ONE of the leagues ahead of soccer leagues in the USA.
That should tell you just how far behind soccer is compared to those “Big Six.”
I’m going to follow that same silly logic that you and some others here have tried to argue.
Add up the total fans and TV ratings of the NFL, major college football, the CFL, and arena football among US viewers and attendees.
Do the same by combining the ratings and attendance for the NBA and major college basketball in the USA; throw in the G-League for good measure.
And do the same for MLB, minor leagues and D1 college baseball.
Then the same for the NHL, D1 college hockey, AHL, and ECHL.
Perform the same analysis. Is soccer really bigger than those other four sports, once you do such an apples to apples comparison…all leagues combined?
I think not. Soccer will come out WELL behind.
One last exercise in case you are still unconvinced; one that will hit closer to home for you:
You teach high school, right?
Let me ask you this. At the high school you teach at, which will draw a bigger crowd: a varsity FOOTBALL game…or a varsity SOCCER game?
Please be candid in your response!
The answer is obvious of course…and VERY revealing.
And you could probably get similar results for basketball and baseball. In northern states, you’d get the same result for ice hockey.
Case closed.
You might find a small number of high schools in Houston that lack football and which are “soccer first” schools; mostly small private high schools like STE, Cathedral, and Awty where soccer will be #1.
But it won’t be at any public high school in town that has football. Not even close. And likely also not close for varsity boys basketball and baseball. Up north, same result for high schools with varsity hockey.
A 64 team march madness style tournament would be awesome
In fact do it EXACTLY the same. 2 games back to back in the same stadium…. Have commercial breaks every 5 minutes of play!
That’s the thing.
Instead of having “pools.”
Why not make it 64 team single elimination?
Good analysis CougarM and you can include Ligue 1. Pro soccer franchises are rapidly growing. lawbro is going to deny or push it aside. For someone like myself invested in the sport and seeing it grow since the 80’s I recognize the huge leap that is has made and what’s ahead.
The best case scenario would be to have a relegation, promotion system like the USL wants to do. USSOCER has always been for it. But…the same nfl owners that own MLS franchises are against it.
T-Moar makes a great point about people under 40 have grown up with access to soccer viewing and news, and the USA games on TV and making the world cup every year except 2018.
I am 54 years old and have an Italian dad. I remember watching World Cup games in 82 and 86 on Univision. I also remember my dad going to the book store on the weekend to buy the Gazetta dello Sport to get Serie A scores from the previous weekend.
NBC/USA do such a great job with the Premiere League.
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Those EPL games average way less than what any of those six leagues can get on their best days.
Again, adding a bunch of leagues together is as silly as adding pro and college basketball together.
Incidentally, I’m 54 with an Italian Mom (maiden name Parigi). Maternal grandpa was from Cefalu.
Poor analysis actually.
If you gotta combine six or seven leagues to match the popularity of one pro league ahead of you, you’re pretty far behind.
I just saw that a former Spanish minister has caused quite an outrage for his remarks about the French team concerning their match with Spain.
Read on:
I rarely hear about soccer being brought up on espn shows, and if they do, it’s a snippet. They devote all of their time to the big 4 sports and college sports because that’s what majority of Americans are interested in.
Exactly.
Outside the World Cups and occasional national team matches, pro soccer gets little airtime or news time on major linear sports carriers, and there’s an obvious reason for that: because it’s not as popular as the Big 4 plus major college football and basketball.
ESPN only talks about what they have right to, if they had rights to the WORLD cup they would have non stop coverage.
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