October 7 – For nearly 20 years the fortunes of US Soccer from a commercial and marketing standpoint were tied with SUM (Soccer United Marketing), the MLS-owned agency. That deal officially ended on December 31, 2021, when the US Soccer Federation (USSF) moved their operations in-house, although they did not take full responsibility until the start of 2023.
The financial details from the last year of the SUM deal saw the (USSF) bring in commercial revenue of $32 million. Compare this to the current financial year ending March 31, 2024, where the projection is to bring in $110 million, a staggering 243% increase over the last two years.
The bulk of this revenue comes from existing sponsors including Visa, Nike, Marriott Bonvoy, and Coca-Cola.
Overall, revenue for the federation is expected to hit $200 million with the key takeaway being that sponsor contributions have now become the main revenue stream, taking over from the US national teams’ match revenues.
“We are now at a moment in time for our sport unlike any other we’ve had before,” U.S. Soccer chief commercial officer David Wright told The Athletic. “We just hosted Copa America, we’ve got the Club World Cup in 2025, we’ve got the men’s World Cup in 2026 – which will go down as the largest sporting event ever – and that’s followed by the LA Olympics, where both men’s and women’s soccer will be very prominent. And we’ve been public about saying we’d love to host another women’s World Cup in 2031.” The US pulled out of their bid for 2027.
With these established sponsors in place and more potential partners in the pipeline, US Soccer has been able to splash the cash on two marquee signings in the coaching department and make concrete plans to move Federation headquarters from Chicago to a purpose-built facility on the outskirts of Atlanta.
In April ground was broken on the $250 million National Training Center (NTC), and Headquarters, officially naming the facility the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center. Blank, the co-founder of The Home Depot and owner of Atlanta United wrote a check for $50 million, with the remainder raised by a $200 million bond issue. The facility located at Trilith in Fayette County is expected to open in 2026 prior to the World Cup.
A month later the next domino fell into place when Emma Hayes began her $2 million-a-year tenure as the Head Coach of the USWNT. Hayes quickly repaid that by winning the Gold Medal at the Paris Olympics. Then most recently in September, Argentinian coach Mauricio Pochettino, agreed to coach the men’s national team for the princely sum of $6 million-a-year.
Wright further stated: “We’ve got 122 million fans of US Soccer – we’re projecting that to be well north of 150 million coming out of the 2026 World Cup. Those numbers have everyone who is connected with the game very excited. And now managing our own commercial rights, which we’ve been doing for less than two years, the receptiveness we’ve received in the market place is off the charts. The business is growing exponentially.”
If US Soccer can convert those numbers into paying customers, the decision to strike free and go independently from SUM looks like one of the best financial decisions the Federation has ever made.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1728299769labto1728299769ofdlr1728299769owedi1728299769sni@o1728299769fni1728299769