Football Conquered the United States. Now It Wants to Conquer Global Football: Can the U.S. ambition to conquer football on a global scale and to remake the game in American style be stopped? (George Courmouzis and Stephan Richter, 8/30/26, The Globalist)
The U.S. has done something similar, and arguably better, on the women’s side. It was essentially the key driver of the launch of women’s soccer.
U.S. universities’ varsity teams played a major role in bringing women’s soccer from a total sideshow to a significant sports activity, first nationally and then globally.
Spain may currently hold the World Cup in both the men’s and women’s game, but the U.S. tops the all-time list on the women’s side, with four Women’s World Cups.
And it is the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) that has turned that record into the world’s most valuable platform for the women’s professional game.
Just consider that Denver’s 2026 home opener drew over 63,000 fans, a number few European women’s clubs could dream of.
Whatever else the info of American money may do to football, it has done more than any other market to make the women’s professional game a going financial concern.
The game is only understood because American sabremetrics have been applied to it.