Has soccer overtaken baseball as America's third-favourite sport?

Martin Macdonald

• 8 Jan 2026 19:00 CST
• 6 min read

Nieuws

Soccer has apparently overtaken baseball as the third most popular sport in the United States.

At one point, soccer/football was the black sheep among pastimes in America but the increasing popularity of Major League Soccer, as well as increased broadcasting of elite European leagues in the country, has seen a major shift in interest in the sport.

MLS was once seen as a retirement league for big European names but over the last five years there has been a switch in focus towards youth and quality.

Yes, older players do arrive in the United States, but MLS currently boasts the presence of the greatest footballer in history, Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami.

According to a survey by Ampere Analysis, as reported by the Economist, American football and basketball are the two favourite sports for Americans.

A huge 36% of fans surveyed said American football was their favourite sport, followed by 17% for basketball.

Then 10% said soccer which just edged out baseball on 9%.

It's a rather dramatic turnaround considering the previous popularity of soccer and the fact that baseball is historically referred to as 'America's pastime'

Major MLS changes coming

Major League Soccer will completely revamp its format, possibly from the 2027 campaign onwards.

Currently, MLS begins with 30 teams contesting over two leagues, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, with 15 teams in each.

The winners of each conference earn a place in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, while the top seven in each conference qualify for round one of the MLS Playoffs.

Thereafter, the MLS Playoffs are contested by 16 teams who aim to reach the final and win the MLS Cup.

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In 2025, the MLS Cup was one by Messi's Inter Miami

The new proposals, as reported by the Athletic, outline five separate divisions that include six teams and they could be labelled geographically.

A new midwest division will include certain teams from the east and west, likely to be D.C. United and the San Jose Earthquakes.

The proposed divisions, which have not yet been confirmed, are:

- Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps, San Jose Earthquakes, Real Salt Lake, Colorado Rapids

- LA Galaxy, LAFC, San Diego FC, Austin FC, Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas

- Chicago Fire, Minnesota United, St. Louis City SC, Sporting Kansas City, FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew

- CF Montreal, Toronto FC, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, NYCFC, Philadelphia Union

- D.C. United, Nashville SC, Atlanta United, Charlotte FC, Inter Miami, Orlando City

Under the new divisional format, teams would play division opponents home and away and would also play every other league opponent once, with home and away responsibilities rotated.

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