On Independence Day, 82,110 screaming fans packed the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, blowing past Super Bowl LVII’s attendance of 67,827 just months earlier. More shockingly, the record-shattering turnout was only for a regular season Major League Soccer (MLS) match, as soccer’s popularity soars at the expense of traditional American sports.
Last year, the 2022 FIFA World Cup final drew 26 million U.S. viewers on linear TV–more than the NBA Finals (13 million), the World Series (12 million), PGA Finals (10 million), Stanley Cup (5 million), and even the Winter Olympics (12 million). In fact, a mere group-stage World Cup match, U.S.A vs. England, was watched by some 15 million American viewers.
