A few days ago, there was an announcement in the news that the 2026 FIFA finals will be played in the USA, particularly in the New Jersey/New York area. Understandably this is great news for the local politicians and the soccer fans. Immediately they noted how much money this will bring in.
Being the eternal critic, here is my take. This is a typical American move. Bring a world sporting event to this country where there is no real fan base for it. Professional soccer team owners spend big money to bring foreign players into their teams hoping the public will become interested. In suburban elementary schools there are soccer leagues, but the problem is that kids do not stay interested in this sport. Baseball and football are the ones they all care about. For many years soccer was trying to establish itself here but with very limited success.
Baseball, basketball, football (American) and hockey are the ruling sports here. I believe one of the reasons is for soccer not finding its turf is television. This is 45 minutes of uninterrupted play. There is no time for advertisements like in the other sports. And that does not provide enough commercial time for the networks to make money. All the other sports can be interrupted for commercials, but not soccer.
So, what's the point bringing the FIFA finals, the most popular sport in the world to this country? Money is the point! There are just not enough local fans interested in this sport no matter what the organizers hope for but they will bring international broadcasting rights and advertisers. Unless, by 2026 there will be millions of illegal immigrants here and they are mostly coming from Central and South America where soccer rules, and these people will fill the stadiums. Maybe that is what the organizers are counting on. One never knows.
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