Latest news with #ChelseaFC
Forbes
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Forbes
The Lesson MLS Desperately Needs To Learn From The FIFA Club World Cup
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - JULY 13: Cole Palmer #10 of Chelsea FC celebrates scoring his team's ... More second goal with team mates Joao Pedro #20 of Chelsea FC and Reece James #24 of Chelsea FC during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Final match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium on July 13, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by) The FIFA Club World Cup had plenty of issues, from dangerous summer conditions to matches played before tens of thousands of empty seats. Even so, in terms of overall sporting spectacle, the competition exceeded most peoples' expectations. All the clubs – even the disgruntled European powers – took the tournament seriously, helped in no small part by a total purse around $1 billion. The competition finished with an average attendance just under 40,000 per game, which puts it on near-equal footing with the top domestic leagues on earth. And thanks in particular to fans from Latin America and North Africa, the atmosphere at most games was every bit as genuine as a big UEFA Champions League or Copa Libertadores fixture. Many blasted the event as a contrived money grab, and they have a point. But the outcome underscored this fundamental truth about pro sports: Money grabs can be successful and even lead to sporting progress if they also satisfy a competive need. And the FIFA World Cup clearly did this, giving the majority of a club football world that is too often overshadowed by Europe a chance to compete with the global powers concentrated in the Big Five leagues. It's a lesson Major League Soccer's front office and ownership had better contemplate as it tries to use the momentum created by Lionel Messi's involvement to move the league forward. And so far, some ideas are far better than others. Even as the league prepares to celebrate its 30th season Wednesday at the 2025 MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas, there are three somwhat consistent criticisms where both MLS fans and American soccer fans who prefer other competitions would like to see improvements: Short-Term Focus Hinders Long-Term Growth There are ways to tackle all three desires in ways that can also be financially beneficial to club owners and the league. But too often, such initiatives are so laser focused on the short-term bottom line that they contradict MLS longer-term interests. One of the best examples is the upcoming Leagues Cup, which for two years pitted every team in MLS and Liga MX against each other, and will pit 18 MLS teams against the entirety of 18-team Liga MX in 2025. The idea is actually one of the best to emerge on the continent in recent years and helps the two leagues combine their strengths: Liga MX far outperforms MLS on U.S. TV, while American clubs lead most of Liga MX in terms of global visbility. And the United States-Mexico rivalry has been a defining force of Concacaf Circle for the better part of four decades, making the appeal for even casual fans obvious. But in both leagues' desire to maximize short-term revenue, every single tournament match is still played on American soil. While this maximizes ticket revenue by targeting MLS fans in local markets, plus Mexican American fans who can't regularly see their Liga MX teams in person, it undermines competitive integrity. The fomat tweak in 2025 should help some Mexican clubs in the league phase of the tournament, but the knockout round still heavily favors MLS clubs. And the result is an event that really doesn't capture much attention in the markets where those Liga MX teams actually play their league matches, and therefore does not achieve the legitimacy of similar tournaments like the UEFA Europa League or Copa Sudamericana won't earn that credibility. Unintended Consequences Domestically, similar instances in MLS abound. For example, reportedly at Apple TV's bequest, MLS expanded both the playoff field and the number of Round One games beginning in 2023, in an effort to boost the number of high-leverage games on the MLS Season Pass streaming service each year. What they actually accomplished was to sabotage previous attempts to make the regular season more meaningful. The format lessens the comparative benefit of finishing first over fourth, as well as fifth over ninth. And it more less assures all but the truly awful teams are in contention until the last month. In the Western Conference, Austin FC has been shut out nine times and sits eighth. In the East, New England has won once since May 7 and is still only eight points out. Promotion/relegation advocates will assert this is a symptom of a closed system, but it's only partly true. Liga MX regular season matches have far more urgency despite a playoff system that sees two-thirds of the league qualify, because the playoff structure is tiered to offer more rewards to top-four finishers, and the split-season format gives every league game more meaning. In other words, there were other ways to give Apple TV more playoff games while perhaps improving the regular season urgency, but MLS instead opted for the model that gave more owners a playoff home game. Then there's the whole debacle of the league's attempt to jilt the U.S. Open Cup, presumably because they were no longer directly connected to the marketing or televising of the event. While MLS isn't alone in lacking imagination around how to leverage the Open Cup, the distinct lack of interest in using the event to grow exposure in markets outside its own was comically negligent from a long-term business perspective. It only takes a brief look at the event's history to reveal how it helped contribute to MLS expansion in places like Cincinnati and Orlando. The FIFA Club World Cup wasn't perfect. Its organizers certainly had questionable motivations and questionable financiers. But they also took real risks that involved balancing the immediate bottom line with competitive concerns while giving an under-represented portion of the world's fans something they had long salivated for. Thirty years after MLS was founded, when soccer is far more in the mainstream in the United States than ever, the league's leadership and financial backers still seems unwilling to take similar risks and show faith in the fanbase it is trying to cultivate. Until that changes, a large chunk will continue to seek their soccer elsewhere.
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- Toronto Sun
New York and New Jersey expect $3.3-billion boost from hosting World Cup
The region will hold eight matches at Metlife Stadium, including the final on July 19, 2026, expecting to bring in over 1.2 million fans Published Jul 21, 2025 • 2 minute read Robert Sanchez #1 of Chelsea FC makes save from Joao Neves #87 of Paris Saint-Germain during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Final match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium on July 13, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by) New York and New Jersey officials are projecting a $3.3 billion economic boost to the region from hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The region will hold eight matches at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, including the final on July 19, 2026, expecting to bring in over 1.2 million fans and tourists, according to an economic impact summary released Monday by the NYNJ Host Committee, the local body responsible for organizing the games. The tournament will generate $1.3 billion in projected total labor income for the regional economy, and $1.7 billion in projected spending within the regional economy by match and non-match attendees, according to the committee's estimates. Next year's games are expected to be the most highly attended in FIFA's history, with roughly six million fans from around the world projected to attend the tournament's 104 matches in the US, Canada and Mexico. Boston, Dallas, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles are among the other 11 host US cities. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's a legacy-defining opportunity to create lasting economic and social impact for New York and New Jersey,' said Alex Lasry, chief executive officer of the NYNJ Host Committee in a statement. 'From record tourism and global visibility to local investment and job creation, this tournament will help shape the future of our region.' President Donald Trump — who refers to FIFA President Gianni Infantino as a friend — has high expectations for next year's turnout even as he continues to roll out tariffs on a swath of countries, including nations that are expected to compete in the World Cup next year. 'Tensions are a good thing,' Trump said during a FIFA task force meeting at the White House earlier this year when asked about how his policies could impact the games. 'It'll make it more exciting.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. More than 26,000 jobs will be generated across both states to support the games, according to the summary. The event will also bring in roughly $432 million in state and local tax revenues. The study was carried out in partnership with Tourism Economics, which is owned by Oxford Economics. The Club World Cup 2025 — a 63-match competition between top club soccer teams from around the world — concluded with a final hosted by the New Jersey-New York region on July 13. The tournament sold close to 1.5 million tickets, according to a statement from FIFA. The games served as a small preview of what's to come in 2026. 'In less than one year from today, more than one billion people around the world will be watching,' said Chair of the NYNJ Host Committee Tammy Murphy in a statement. 'The countdown is on for this once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase our region on the world stage.' Toronto & GTA Uncategorized Football Canada Editorial Cartoons
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Donald Trump's lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch ruptures bond that has shaped the US right
As Rupert Murdoch settled into Donald Trump's luxury box to watch Chelsea's victory in the Club World Cup on Sunday, all appeared well with Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can Donald Trump finally be the one to sell Americans on soccer?
'Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender Alexi Lalas recently claimed. President Trump has rarely looked more out of place — but maybe that was the point. On July 13, the blue-shirted squad of London's Chelsea Football Club stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of MetLife Stadium, still sweaty from the exertions of the Club World Cup final they'd just won. Moments earlier, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the driving force behind the new global competition, presented Chelsea captain Reece James with a gigantic golden trophy. Then Infantino scurried off, as dignitaries are supposed to do in these situations. But Trump lingered. The players seemed perplexed. One of them warned the president they were about to start celebrating for the cameras. The president didn't budge. So James shrugged and hoisted the Blues' new hardware. His teammates roared behind him. Fireworks flashed. Glitter erupted. And Trump, smiling and clapping, stayed right where he was, and right where he always wants to be — front and center. The fact that Trump was front and center for a soccer celebration — with a team of foreigners, no less — didn't appear to bother him one bit. 'Donald Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender (and Trump supporter) Alexi Lalas recently told the Times of London. 'From a cultural, legacy and political perspective, he understands the power of what is coming next summer.' *** What is coming next summer is the classic, quadrennial World Cup, where billions of global fans watch their national teams compete for soccer's biggest prize. Given that the U.S. will also host that tournament (alongside Mexico and Canada), some stateside soccer fans are starting to wonder if Lalas is right — and if Trump, of all people, could be the guy to finally sell long-skeptical Americans on the (rest of the) planet's most popular sport. Needless to say, soccer is not 'America's pastime.' It never has been. That particular honorific belongs, of course, to baseball, which was codified in 1845, professionalized in 1869 and Ken-Burnsified in 1994. It's still the only sport to star in one of his sepia-toned documentaries. America's favorite sport, on the other hand, is clearly football — the NFL kind. According to Gallup, a full 41% of U.S. adults enjoy watching American football more than any other sport; a mere 5% say the same about soccer. This is nothing new. Gridiron has topped Gallup's surveys since 1972. Soccer isn't even the most popular sport to play in the U.S. (as much as it might seem like every kid has kicked a ball in a goal at some point). Instead, basketball dominates the category, with a youth participation rate (15%) roughly twice as high as soccer's (7%). Yet Trump's recent behavior suggests that Lalas is on to something. So far during his second term, the president has spent more time with Infantino than any official head of state. They traveled together to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and sat together at the Club World Cup final. When Infantino opened a new FIFA office in Manhattan earlier this month, he did it — where else? — at Trump Tower. During his first term, Trump pushed hard to secure the 2026 World Cup; after this summer's Club World Cup final, he pocketed a winner's medal as a memento. In fact, Trump is so fond of the elaborate Tiffany & Co. Club World Cup trophy unveiled back in April that he plans to keep the original and let Chelsea lug a replica back to England. "I said, 'When are you going to pick up the trophy?'' the president recalled. '[They said] 'We're never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We're making a new one.' And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting.' Trump even joked before the Club World Cup final that he could pass an executive order to align the U.S. with much of the rest of the world and ensure that Americans refer to soccer as 'football' from now on. 'I think I could do that,' he said with a smile during an interview with host broadcaster DAZN. *** There are other explanations, of course, for Trump's recent focus on soccer. Money is, as usual, one of them. According to Infantino, the Club World Cup raked in $2.1 billion, and next summer's World Cup stands to make far more. Together, FIFA estimates that the two tournaments will add $40.9 billion to America's GDP while creating nearly 300,000 full-time jobs. Power is another factor. As the Washington Post recently explained, 'Infantino helms an institution that is something like a secular Vatican (albeit with far more financial firepower). FIFA's footprint is on every continent, its project has the affection of billions of devotees, and the internal workings of soccer's global governing body are mysterious and shrouded in controversy.' No doubt Trump enjoys being courted and catered to by the Pope of world football. Pageantry and self-promotion undoubtedly play a part as well. Has this particular president ever shied away from spectacle? Has anything gilded ever not caught his eye? Some have even suggested more nefarious aims. 'Sportswashing' is the practice of using athletics to improve the reputation of any entity — a country, a corporation — that has a negative public image because of human rights concerns or other issues. With that dynamic in mind, Trump's critics claim he is using these massive global soccer tournaments, and their implicit message of openness, to paper over all the ways the U.S. is 'moving radically and quickly to close itself off from the rest of the world' via tariffs, travel bans and mass deportation, as the Ringer's Brian Phillips recently put it. But there's also some evidence that Trump simply enjoys the sport. In high school, he played for the New York Military Academy's varsity squad. 'He was just the best, a good athlete, a great athlete,' Ted Levine, a former high-school classmate, told Business Insider in 2015. 'Could he play soccer? He could do anything he wanted.' In 2012, Trump considered buying the Scottish club Rangers FC; a few years later, he did the same with the Colombian side Atlético Nacional. Meanwhile, Trump's youngest son, Barron, 19, is an avowed soccer fan, having played for D.C. United's U12 academy squad and joined his father for White House visits from United's first team and English striker Wayne Rooney. 'He was very knowledgeable about soccer, knew about D.C. United and was interested to know more,' United forward Patrick Mullins said of Barron in 2017. 'Little kid to have a passion for the game and to be knowledgeable and have a conversation with us, it makes me feel good about kids growing up playing the game.' After the Club World Cup final, the president told Cole Palmer, Chelsea's star attacker, that Barron was his 'biggest fan.' Trump was probably mistaken; Barron actually supports Arsenal, Chelsea's main London rival. But the comment shows how the younger Trump may be influencing his father. 'I have a son who does love this sport,' Trump told Piers Morgan in 2018. *** Whatever motivations — pure, pecuniary, political or all of the above — Trump's imprimatur has at least the potential to change the trajectory of the 'beautiful game' in America. Elsewhere, soccer is seen as a populist sport. But in the U.S., the opposite has long been true — especially on the right, among the very people who tend to gravitate toward Trump. 'Liberals … enjoy the experience of soccer precisely because it makes them feel less American,' conservative pundit Michael Medved wrote in 2014. 'They value the beautiful game for the same reason they enjoy singing 'We Are the World,' or stubbornly support the U.N., or automatically assume the artistic superiority of films with subtitles. … Soccer provides a perfect mechanism for transcending old-school nationalism: It's not only a game of global rather than distinctively American appeal, but what's even better is that the mighty United States isn't even particularly good at it.' It's not hard to imagine Trump embracing this view: that soccer is an essentially foreign pursuit, and that any American who likes it is actually anti-American. But he isn't. Instead, he's implying that there's no tradeoff at all, that there's nothing MAGA about rejecting soccer. Trump's supporters have been known in the past to follow his lead. Maybe they will again. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can Donald Trump finally be the one to sell Americans on soccer?
'Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender Alexi Lalas recently claimed. President Trump has rarely looked more out of place — but maybe that was the point. On July 13, the blue-shirted squad of London's Chelsea Football Club stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of MetLife Stadium, still sweaty from the exertions of the Club World Cup final they'd just won. Moments earlier, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the driving force behind the new global competition, presented Chelsea captain Reece James with a gigantic golden trophy. Then Infantino scurried off, as dignitaries are supposed to do in these situations. But Trump lingered. The players seemed perplexed. One of them warned the president they were about to start celebrating for the cameras. The president didn't budge. So James shrugged and hoisted the Blues' new hardware. His teammates roared behind him. Fireworks flashed. Glitter erupted. And Trump, smiling and clapping, stayed right where he was, and right where he always wants to be — front and center. The fact that Trump was front and center for a soccer celebration — with a team of foreigners, no less — didn't appear to bother him one bit. 'Donald Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender (and Trump supporter) Alexi Lalas recently told the Times of London. 'From a cultural, legacy and political perspective, he understands the power of what is coming next summer.' *** What is coming next summer is the classic, quadrennial World Cup, where billions of global fans watch their national teams compete for soccer's biggest prize. Given that the U.S. will also host that tournament (alongside Mexico and Canada), some stateside soccer fans are starting to wonder if Lalas is right — and if Trump, of all people, could be the guy to finally sell long-skeptical Americans on the (rest of the) planet's most popular sport. Needless to say, soccer is not 'America's pastime.' It never has been. That particular honorific belongs, of course, to baseball, which was codified in 1845, professionalized in 1869 and Ken-Burnsified in 1994. It's still the only sport to star in one of his sepia-toned documentaries. America's favorite sport, on the other hand, is clearly football — the NFL kind. According to Gallup, a full 41% of U.S. adults enjoy watching American football more than any other sport; a mere 5% say the same about soccer. This is nothing new. Gridiron has topped Gallup's surveys since 1972. Soccer isn't even the most popular sport to play in the U.S. (as much as it might seem like every kid has kicked a ball in a goal at some point). Instead, basketball dominates the category, with a youth participation rate (15%) roughly twice as high as soccer's (7%). Yet Trump's recent behavior suggests that Lalas is on to something. So far during his second term, the president has spent more time with Infantino than any official head of state. They traveled together to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and sat together at the Club World Cup final. When Infantino opened a new FIFA office in Manhattan earlier this month, he did it — where else? — at Trump Tower. During his first term, Trump pushed hard to secure the 2026 World Cup; after this summer's Club World Cup final, he pocketed a winner's medal as a memento. In fact, Trump is so fond of the elaborate Tiffany & Co. Club World Cup trophy unveiled back in April that he plans to keep the original and let Chelsea lug a replica back to England. "I said, 'When are you going to pick up the trophy?'' the president recalled. '[They said] 'We're never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We're making a new one.' And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting.' Trump even joked before the Club World Cup final that he could pass an executive order to align the U.S. with much of the rest of the world and ensure that Americans refer to soccer as 'football' from now on. 'I think I could do that,' he said with a smile during an interview with host broadcaster DAZN. *** There are other explanations, of course, for Trump's recent focus on soccer. Money is, as usual, one of them. According to Infantino, the Club World Cup raked in $2.1 billion, and next summer's World Cup stands to make far more. Together, FIFA estimates that the two tournaments will add $40.9 billion to America's GDP while creating nearly 300,000 full-time jobs. Power is another factor. As the Washington Post recently explained, 'Infantino helms an institution that is something like a secular Vatican (albeit with far more financial firepower). FIFA's footprint is on every continent, its project has the affection of billions of devotees, and the internal workings of soccer's global governing body are mysterious and shrouded in controversy.' No doubt Trump enjoys being courted and catered to by the Pope of world football. Pageantry and self-promotion undoubtedly play a part as well. Has this particular president ever shied away from spectacle? Has anything gilded ever not caught his eye? Some have even suggested more nefarious aims. 'Sportswashing' is the practice of using athletics to improve the reputation of any entity — a country, a corporation — that has a negative public image because of human rights concerns or other issues. With that dynamic in mind, Trump's critics claim he is using these massive global soccer tournaments, and their implicit message of openness, to paper over all the ways the U.S. is 'moving radically and quickly to close itself off from the rest of the world' via tariffs, travel bans and mass deportation, as the Ringer's Brian Phillips recently put it. But there's also some evidence that Trump simply enjoys the sport. In high school, he played for the New York Military Academy's varsity squad. 'He was just the best, a good athlete, a great athlete,' Ted Levine, a former high-school classmate, told Business Insider in 2015. 'Could he play soccer? He could do anything he wanted.' In 2012, Trump considered buying the Scottish club Rangers FC; a few years later, he did the same with the Colombian side Atlético Nacional. Meanwhile, Trump's youngest son, Barron, 19, is an avowed soccer fan, having played for D.C. United's U12 academy squad and joined his father for White House visits from United's first team and English striker Wayne Rooney. 'He was very knowledgeable about soccer, knew about D.C. United and was interested to know more,' United forward Patrick Mullins said of Barron in 2017. 'Little kid to have a passion for the game and to be knowledgeable and have a conversation with us, it makes me feel good about kids growing up playing the game.' After the Club World Cup final, the president told Cole Palmer, Chelsea's star attacker, that Barron was his 'biggest fan.' Trump was probably mistaken; Barron actually supports Arsenal, Chelsea's main London rival. But the comment shows how the younger Trump may be influencing his father. 'I have a son who does love this sport,' Trump told Piers Morgan in 2018. *** Whatever motivations — pure, pecuniary, political or all of the above — Trump's imprimatur has at least the potential to change the trajectory of the 'beautiful game' in America. Elsewhere, soccer is seen as a populist sport. But in the U.S., the opposite has long been true — especially on the right, among the very people who tend to gravitate toward Trump. 'Liberals … enjoy the experience of soccer precisely because it makes them feel less American,' conservative pundit Michael Medved wrote in 2014. 'They value the beautiful game for the same reason they enjoy singing 'We Are the World,' or stubbornly support the U.N., or automatically assume the artistic superiority of films with subtitles. … Soccer provides a perfect mechanism for transcending old-school nationalism: It's not only a game of global rather than distinctively American appeal, but what's even better is that the mighty United States isn't even particularly good at it.' It's not hard to imagine Trump embracing this view: that soccer is an essentially foreign pursuit, and that any American who likes it is actually anti-American. But he isn't. Instead, he's implying that there's no tradeoff at all, that there's nothing MAGA about rejecting soccer. Trump's supporters have been known in the past to follow his lead. Maybe they will again. Solve the daily Crossword
