(WWJ) – It’s been a line delivered for the better part of three decades now: soccer is the next big thing in American sports.
That was the sentiment when the U.S., without a real national domestic soccer league at the time, hosted the 1994 World Cup. While Major League soccer launched soon after, many have been waiting for the sport to “blow up” in the states since then.
On a new Daily J podcast, WWJ’s Zach Clark finds out it already has – and the future is even brighter than you might think. Don’t believe it? Just head out to a soccer bar across the state of Michigan to watch the USMNT at the World Cup over the next month, and you’ll see what we mean.
Both in terms of the youthful talent on the field and the passionate fans packing the bars with songs, chants, drums, scarves and raw emotion.
Sure, soccer may not yet be on the same playing field as the NFL, NBA or college football in terms of exposure and popularity – but there certainly is a market for the sport. While the MLS isn’t quite up to snuff with Europe’s top leagues, there’s a wealth of fans who watch the English Premier League, German Bundesliga and others every single week.
Many of those fans will be out in full force, loud and proud over the next month to watch the American team at the World Cup. A team, despite budding young talent, that is still an underdog. You could call soccer the last frontier of American sports “underdogdom.”
And we all know Americans love a good underdog story. Just look at the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
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On this latest Daily J, Clark hears from two popular YouTubers – Pete Douthit of 11 Yanks and Sam Stokes of the Yank Report – who are at the fore of the sports media revolution and how fans consume their favorite teams.
In order for American soccer – particularly the men’s national team – to go toe-to-toe with the NFL or NBA in terms of interest, Douthit says it will probably take the USMNT reaching a World Cup Final, as the counterpart women’s team has done consistently.
While this team has expectations of making noise this fall in Qatar, the hopes and dreams are pointing more towards 2026, when the U.S. will host the tournament, along with neighbors Canada and Mexico. Whether a title will be in play that summer is up for debate, but casual sports fans will be looking to latch onto an iconic moment to launch their fandom.
“I feel like if you talk to most Americans who are fans of the game, their origin story starts with a World Cup,” Douthit said. “With every World Cup, the better you perform, the more you capture the imagination of the general public. Every four years you have an opportunity to convince people that, ‘hey this is exciting, this is worth following.’ To get somebody to really watch it, there has to be an emotional attachment.”
And part of that emotional attachment for American fans comes in the form of stars.
“This team is full of super exciting players, super young, charismatic players that I think the country is unaware of, and once they learn about them, they’re gonna fall in love with them,” Stokes said. “I feel like a lot of people know about Christian Pulisic, but America doesn’t necessarily know about Tyler Adams or Giovanni Reyna or Weston McKennie.”
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From the talented young players to the passionate fans, all of that will be on display at bars across the state in the coming weeks. Sure, your average sports bar will most likely be showing the games, but to get the full story of what being an American soccer fan is all about, you’ll need to hit a true soccer bar.
The Mecca of soccer bars in Detroit is none other than Thomas Magee’s Sporting House in Eastern Market. Open at 8 a.m. daily for every World Cup game, Thomas Magee’s is the home of the American Outlaws supporters group. So it will be jam packed with fans bright and early – if you want in, you’ll want to get there well ahead of kickoff.
Other soccer hotspots in Metro Detroit include McShane’s Irish Pub in Corktown, the Detroit City FC Fieldhouse and Conor O’Neill’s in Ann Arbor.
Out in West Michigan, meanwhile, Eric Albertson of Speak EZ Lounge in Grand Rapids is going next level with his World Cup plans. The bar, which has built up a fervent fanbase over the last decade, will be the only bar in the state opening at 5 a.m. for every group stage game.
And his chef is going all out with a “global glizzy” menu, featuring specialty hot dogs based on the countries in the tournament.
Aside from the early openings and the great food, Speak EZ Lounge will be the closest thing to the actual USMNT game day/tailgate experience.
"Fans that are 'casuals,' come in and they want the game day experience, where we sing songs and beat drums and all the rest of it," Albertson said. "We do all that right inside the bar. You get that communal feel of, 'hey we're all pulling for this team.'"
One thing’s for sure. The USMNT has a bright future. And this year’s World Cup will go a long way in not only creating their pathway, but creating new fans. Now is as good a time as any for you to get out to a soccer bar this month and see what it’s all about.
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