These should be among the best of times for American soccer. Though the top-ranked U.S. women’s national team fell short of its pursuit of an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup title, TV ratings for the team’s games have been impressive—especially for a tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand—while broadcast ad revenues are nearly double what they were four years ago. Meantime, the world’s greatest men’s player, Lionel Messi, is working his magic at Major League Soccer’s Miami franchise.
But amid all the exuberance lies a troubling, though often ignored, trend: a sharp decline in the number of American boys and girls playing the game. That slide, which began more than a decade ago, has persisted through several World Cup victories by the U.S. women and growing media exposure of the sport. And soccer is not alone in this respect. Youth sports participation in general has been falling—a testament to powerful larger forces, from the dampening effect of social media to the impact of drastic Covid lockdowns.
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