MLS works to bring in a new generation of fans as the World Cup comes to an end
Major League Soccer (MLS) is leveraging the excitement surrounding the FIFA World Cup to grow its domestic fanbase in the United States. The league aims to replicate the transformative growth seen after the 1994 World Cup as it prepares for the 2026 tournament.
Why it matters
The strategy reflects the broader business effort to establish soccer as a top-tier professional sport in the American market.
CHICAGO — For the past five weeks, a bar in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood has become one of the country's biggest World Cup watch parties, with lines stretching around the block for the biggest games.
Planet Money Can World Cup mania grow MLS in the U.S.? This is all the doing of Chicago's Major League Soccer club, the Fire. By the time the final whistle is blown on the World Cup between Argentina and Spain on Sunday, an estimated 60,000 people or more will have come through at some point in the summer for a taste of World Cup fever .
This watch party and others like it around the country are one piece of Major League Soccer's efforts to capitalize on this World Cup summer here in the U.S.
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