Global InformationSoccer in the United States information
| Soccer in the United States | |
|---|---|
 The Timbers Army celebrates a goal at Providence Park, home of the Portland Timbers | |
| Country | United States |
| Governing body | U.S. Soccer |
| National team(s) | Men's Women's |
| First played | 1862[1][2] |
| Registered players | 4,186,778[3] |
| Clubs | 9,000[3] |
National competitions | |
U.S. Open Cup (men's) | |
Club competitions | |
List
| |
International competitions | |
List
| |
Audience records | |
| Single match | List
|
| Season | List
|
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) governs most levels of soccer in the United States, including the national teams, professional leagues, and amateur leagues, being the highest soccer authority in the country. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs most colleges; secondary schools are governed by state-level associations, with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) setting the rules at that level.[7] The match regulations are generally the same between the three governing bodies although there are many subtle differences.[7]
As of May 2015[update], over 24.4 million people play soccer in the United States.[8] In 2017, Gallup reported that soccer was the third-most watched team sport in the U.S., behind only basketball and American football.[9] The popularity of the sport in the U.S. has been growing since the late 1960s and received a significant boost when the United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. It is the fourth most popular sport in the United States behind American football, baseball, and basketball.[10]
The highest-level of men's professional soccer in the U.S. is Major League Soccer (MLS). The league's predecessor was the major professional North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984.[11] MLS began to play in 1996 with 10 teams and has grown to 29 teams (26 in the United States and 3 in Canada), with further expansion planned to at least 30 teams. MLS is currently the largest first-division professional soccer league in the world.[clarification needed] The MLS season runs from February to November, with the regular-season winner awarded the Supporters' Shield and the post-season winner awarded the MLS Cup. With an average attendance of over 20,000 per game, MLS has the third-highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S. after the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB),[12] and is the seventh-highest attended professional soccer league worldwide.[13] MLS uses franchised clubs similar to other major U.S. sports leagues, rather than the promotion and relegation model used for club soccer in other countries such as the United Kingdom.
The first women's professional soccer league in the U.S. formed after the success of the 1999 Women's World Cup. The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) ran from 2001 to 2003 and featured many of the World Cup stars, including Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers and Brandi Chastain. Its successor Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) ran from 2009 to 2012.[14] Currently, the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is the top professional league in the country; it was formed in 2012 with play starting in 2013. The NWSL season runs from spring to early fall (typically April – October).
U.S. soccer fans follow the U.S. national teams in international competition. The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final drew a record 26.7 million viewers, greater than final games of the 2014 World Series or the 2015 NBA Finals, and the 2010 Men's World Cup final drew 26.5 million viewers.[15] The women's national team has won four Women's World Cup titles and four gold medals at the Summer Olympics and the men's national team played in every World Cup from 1990 to 2014 and returned to the World Cup in 2022.
- ^ An Historical Sketch of the Oneida Football Club of Boston: 1862–1865 by Winthrop Saltonstall Scudder – The Massachusetts Historical Society (1926) at HathiTrust Digital Library
- ^ "Remembering the first high school football games" on The Boston Globe, November Main player Ayden F2012
- ^ a b "Member Association – USA". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007.
- ^ "Man United win in front of 109,318" on ESPN, August 2, 2014
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
wnt_largest_crowdswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "MLS history! El Tráfico at Rose Bowl sets single-game attendance record | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer.
- ^ a b "2019 SOCCER GUIDE, A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RULES AND LAWS" (PDF). National Federation of High Schools. May 29, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ Johnson, Alex (May 27, 2015). "Soccer by the Numbers: A Look at the Game in the U.S." NBC News. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
- ^ "Football Still Americans' Favorite Sport to Watch". January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Football Still Americans' Favorite Sport to Watch". gallup.com. January 4, 2018.
- ^ "By The Numbers… North American Soccer League vs Major League Soccer". February 11, 2013. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada#Attendance
- ^ MLSsoccer.com, The expansion, refs, Cascadia: MLS Commissioner Don Garber covers it all in annual address, February 27, 2013, http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/02/27/expansion-refs-cascadia-commissioner-garber-covers-it-all-march-soccer-addre Archived March 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Roepken, Corey (October 6, 2016). "Former players encouraged by women's soccer league's progress". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (July 6, 2015). "Women's World Cup Final Was Most-Watched Soccer Game in United States History". The New York Times.