CHARTED: The Rise of the MLS

THE FUTURE OF THE TRUE SOCCER CAPITAL OF AMERICA

After his dazzling world cup performance, Lionel Messi decided to take his talents to the United States in a humongous contract signing, seeing him make about $60 million a year.

Since Messi’s arrival to the country, the growth of Major League Soccer (MLS) has accelerated at a pace never seen before. In two years, interest in the MLS has more than doubled, with local officials hoping that this trend survives until 2026.

Why 2026?

The next edition of the World Cup is guaranteed to be taking place in the United States. The current dilemma, is that the location where the final will take place is still up for grabs.

Los Angeles, Dallas, and the one and only East Rutherford are the cities still in conversation.

The question on everybody’s mind:

Why should the world cup final be hosted in New Jersey?

1. MetLife Stadium has a capacity of 82,500. Larger than both competing stadiums.

2. Directly next to largest media market in the world (New York City)

3. Over 25% of members on the 2022 USMNT were from the tristate, including coach Gregg Berhalter.

4. 2 out of 3 of the most popular teams in the MLS are from the tristate.

5. The greatest bagels in the world.

While these reasons (especially #5) may seem enough to us to host a world cup, convincing FIFA will be the real struggle.

The final decision is expected to come sometime this fall. Until then, post a picture of you kicking a soccer ball around your local park, you never know what FIFA official might see it and get inspired!

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