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Ask anyone in any country what the number one sport in the world is, and the answer is likely to be football. The respondent may clarify that he personally prefers another discipline, but the fact remains unshakable: the number of football fans has exceeded a billion, and no basketball, tennis, hockey, baseball or rugby can compete here.
Another thing is that in some states the picture of preferences of the majority of citizens is somewhat different. Take the USA and Canada, for example: they have the world-famous NBA and NHL (the best in the world!), and the locals are very fond of baseball. The word “football” here refers to a specific sport, which in the rest of the world is called “American”, but for the main world discipline they use the term “soccer”. For a long time, the main local soccer league – MLS – remained in the deep shadow and was not in demand even among the local public, not to mention the international one, but those times seem to be behind us.
If you like sports betting, go to O’zbekistondagi Mostbet com sharhi, but for now it’s worth figuring out why MLS is rapidly gaining popularity.
Business at the forefront
European, and even more so Latin American football has a certain aura of romance: it is something that exists for everyone, that unites the whole city and allows you to escape from any problems. You can even go to small teams for free, and if the ticket is paid, everyone can usually afford it. The same goes for direct participation in matches: if you start training from childhood, theoretically you can grow into the adult squad of a local club, and fans often come to watch their own.
In the States, however, it almost never worked that way. They quickly realized that you can make great money from sports if it is of premium quality. The NBA, for example, has managed to go through an impressive path from the moment when half a century ago it was almost on the verge of bankruptcy to earning fabulous money. The local basketball and hockey leagues are considered the best in the world in their respective sports because they operate on a simple principle: we want to attract as many fans as possible, but provide a show that is definitely worth paying for.
However, football, as the most popular sport in the world, naturally generates even more revenue. All of them settled for a long time anywhere, but not in the USA – for the reason that there was neither a full-fledged market nor investors there. However, at some point, local businessmen realized that with their focus on basketball, hockey and globally useless baseball, they were losing too much, and this situation should be changed. To do this, you need two things: first of all, to invest money, and secondly, the fans will catch up on their own.
World Cup factor
In 1994, the United States already hosted the FIFA World Cup: it was due to the fact that FIFA is trying to hold World Cups on different continents, and in North America there are not many countries with a suitable scale of infrastructure. Then, perhaps, there was no explosive surge in interest in soccer in the States, but the event was bound to come again sooner or later. And it happened – The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by three countries, including Canada and Mexico, but most matches will take place in American stadiums.
It should be noted that in addition to the classic World Cup, the United States received the right to host another tournament – the updated Club World Cup 2025 for 32 teams. The level of competition still raises questions – for example, there will be no Liverpool and Barcelona, but four little-known African teams and one from Oceania are planned. Nevertheless, the new format is always interesting to viewers, and the States, it turns out, will host two very popular events a year apart.
And it cannot be said that they have not invested in MLS before: In fact, even before the victory of the joint bid for the 2026 World Cup, recognized stars came here to play, just older ones. One of these celebrities, by the way, played a significant role in the rise of interest in the league – Beckham, finishing playing in the LA Galaxy, himself attracted considerable attention, and then also contributed to the creation of his own club – Inter Miami.
Against the backdrop of the upcoming World Cup, interest in football began to grow in the United States, investors began to pour in more money, and this very Inter Miami managed to provoke a real explosion by inviting, no less, Lionel Messi. It is clear that the Argentine is also finishing the game, but he arrived in the status of a newly minted world champion! At the same time, management brought in several more stars of “that same” Barcelona – Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets. Something similar, although perhaps on a more modest scale, happened among competitors – so the league suddenly became interesting even for those viewers who previously could not name a single MLS team.
Broadcasts to every home
A truly successful sports project must sell well – the NBA and NHL are extremely profitable because they are shown all over the world. The boards of sports leagues usually in each individual country agree with local broadcasters, but unless you represent the most advanced championship, this does not always work – a local broadcaster may consider that there is no audience, and it is much more profitable to show more prestigious tournaments.
However, MLS has signed a contract with Apple TV, which is a service available almost everywhere in the world. The agreement is valid until 2032, and allows everyone to watch broadcasts using the Internet and any gadget connected to it. If the Americans do not slow down, there is a good chance that in the next couple of years MLS will form a multimillion-dollar international audience, diverting fans from the usual European top-5 championships.
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