A vision sold from a portable cabin
It's hard to picture now, with the USA co-hosting next summer's World Cup, but there was a time when the idea of Americans falling for football seemed laughable. Back in 1990, Alan Rothenberg had just been elected head of the US Soccer Federation, and he was running things from a portable cabin in Colorado Springs alongside all six of his full-time staff.
The country had a World Cup to host in four years, no top-flight domestic league, and a national side that hadn't won a World Cup match since 1950. FIFA's decision to hand the US the tournament had been mocked. As one Brazilian FIFA delegate put it, "Taking the World Cup to the United States is like taking the World Series to Brazil."
Rothenberg's whole plan rested on one idea: Americans love a big event. He'd seen it at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and he reckoned that if he could convince the public a World Cup was must-see, the attendances and revenue would follow.
Glitz, glamour and a missed Diana Ross penalty
The selling job started six months before the tournament with a World Cup draw in Las Vegas - a far cry from FIFA's usual stuffy affairs. It featured Barry Manilow and Julio Iglesias, and was hosted by Robin Williams, who kept referring to FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter as "Sepp Bladder."
That set the tone. The opening ceremony was introduced by Oprah Winfrey and gave us the infamous moment of Diana Ross "missing" a penalty. It all leaned hard into celebrity, and it worked. Rothenberg says they "basically sold out every match," including group games between teams you'd assume nobody would turn up for.
Proof came early. In just the tournament's second game, more than 90,000 packed into the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to watch unfancied Colombia and Romania. On the pitch, the US beat Colombia for their first World Cup win in 44 years, reached the knockouts, and went out 1-0 to eventual champions Brazil - heroic enough to count as a success.
To this day, 1994 remains the best-attended World Cup in history, with almost 3.6 million tickets sold despite fewer matches than any of the seven tournaments since.
From shootouts to third-most loved sport
The 1994 finals were proof of concept, but the harder job came after. FIFA's bid conditions required the US to launch a top-flight league, and Major League Soccer arrived two years later in 1996. The early years were rocky, and they included some now-cringe Americanisations: penalty-style shootouts to settle draws, and a 45-minute countdown clock in each half.
Those gimmicks alienated existing fans without winning over new ones, and the MLS looked like it might go the way of the old NASL - the league that once hosted Pele, Eusebio and George Best before fading away. What saved it was the national team's shock run to the quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup. Within a year the gimmicks were gone and attendances were climbing.
The numbers tell the rest. More than three decades on, a recent survey by The Economist found football has overtaken baseball for the first time to become the USA's third-most loved sport. Rothenberg lays it all out in his new book, The Big Bounce.
For fans and bettors here, it's worth remembering this backstory as the US, Canada and Mexico gear up to co-host the 2026 World Cup. The market that was once dismissed as a lost cause is now one of the biggest sports and betting audiences on the planet - and a lot of that traces back to a man in a portable cabin with a wild idea.
Sources:
Worth keeping an eye on how this lands - there's an ongoing discussion of US online casinos on the forum.
It's hard to picture now, with the USA co-hosting next summer's World Cup, but there was a time when the idea of Americans falling for football seemed laughable. Back in 1990, Alan Rothenberg had just been elected head of the US Soccer Federation, and he was running things from a portable cabin in Colorado Springs alongside all six of his full-time staff.
The country had a World Cup to host in four years, no top-flight domestic league, and a national side that hadn't won a World Cup match since 1950. FIFA's decision to hand the US the tournament had been mocked. As one Brazilian FIFA delegate put it, "Taking the World Cup to the United States is like taking the World Series to Brazil."
Rothenberg's whole plan rested on one idea: Americans love a big event. He'd seen it at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and he reckoned that if he could convince the public a World Cup was must-see, the attendances and revenue would follow.
Glitz, glamour and a missed Diana Ross penalty
The selling job started six months before the tournament with a World Cup draw in Las Vegas - a far cry from FIFA's usual stuffy affairs. It featured Barry Manilow and Julio Iglesias, and was hosted by Robin Williams, who kept referring to FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter as "Sepp Bladder."
That set the tone. The opening ceremony was introduced by Oprah Winfrey and gave us the infamous moment of Diana Ross "missing" a penalty. It all leaned hard into celebrity, and it worked. Rothenberg says they "basically sold out every match," including group games between teams you'd assume nobody would turn up for.
Proof came early. In just the tournament's second game, more than 90,000 packed into the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to watch unfancied Colombia and Romania. On the pitch, the US beat Colombia for their first World Cup win in 44 years, reached the knockouts, and went out 1-0 to eventual champions Brazil - heroic enough to count as a success.
To this day, 1994 remains the best-attended World Cup in history, with almost 3.6 million tickets sold despite fewer matches than any of the seven tournaments since.
From shootouts to third-most loved sport
The 1994 finals were proof of concept, but the harder job came after. FIFA's bid conditions required the US to launch a top-flight league, and Major League Soccer arrived two years later in 1996. The early years were rocky, and they included some now-cringe Americanisations: penalty-style shootouts to settle draws, and a 45-minute countdown clock in each half.
Those gimmicks alienated existing fans without winning over new ones, and the MLS looked like it might go the way of the old NASL - the league that once hosted Pele, Eusebio and George Best before fading away. What saved it was the national team's shock run to the quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup. Within a year the gimmicks were gone and attendances were climbing.
The numbers tell the rest. More than three decades on, a recent survey by The Economist found football has overtaken baseball for the first time to become the USA's third-most loved sport. Rothenberg lays it all out in his new book, The Big Bounce.
For fans and bettors here, it's worth remembering this backstory as the US, Canada and Mexico gear up to co-host the 2026 World Cup. The market that was once dismissed as a lost cause is now one of the biggest sports and betting audiences on the planet - and a lot of that traces back to a man in a portable cabin with a wild idea.
Sources:
Worth keeping an eye on how this lands - there's an ongoing discussion of US online casinos on the forum.