Kickin It Outside the US 

The sport of soccer is now part of US culture. With over 7.4% of children between the ages of six and twelve now playing the beautiful game, it seems that everyone wants to bend it like Beckham.

This significant youth engagement generates widespread enthusiasm for the game, while also creating a professional development pipeline. Each year, hundreds of US players head overseas to ply their trade against the world’s best. Sophomore and major soccer fan Luke Silva says, “The US players are really crushing it overseas right now.” 

But why do players leave the United States at all? Now entering its twenty-seventh season, Major League Soccer (MLS) is a growing US league with twenty-nine teams and one Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of boots. With a new Apple TV deal in hand that provides significant advertising revenue and the opportunity for worldwide viewing, shiny new stadiums springing up in major cities across the country, and an average attendance now topping roughly 22,000 a game, doesn’t it make sense to stay home?

Many of the country’s best players have debated that question recently, and a number of them have decided to leave. Christian Pulisic, a twenty-five-year-old captain of the US National Team, left high school to join Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga. Later, he played for Chelsea in the English Premier League and now AC Milan in the Italian Serie A, where he continues to shine on the pitch. His US teammate, midfielder Weston McKennie, is also playing in Italy and is having a breakout season with the renowned club Juventus. But these standout two players represent just the tip of the iceberg of US players playing abroad. In fact, over 70 US players are currently in the German Bundesliga today. Once viewed as a mostly untalented bunch, the US players are now regarded as cheap investments with significant upside potential.  

US players today are forced to make a choice: test themselves against the best players in the world or stay home and help grow an evolving league that is charting a name for itself on the global football map. While MLS has expanded by leaps and bounds from both a soccer and business perspective, it is nonetheless challenged by a salary cap that limits wages below what most players can earn overseas. Additionally, there is the innate desire for many players to prove their true worth against the best of the best in Europe. While Messi is now playing in the US, most of the world’s greats still compete across the Atlantic. 

Although MLS is not currently one of the world’s top leagues, it is steadily growing and should benefit from a major inflection point when the US, Mexico, and Canada jointly host the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup. With billions of eyes glued to this quadrennial event, a successful showing by the US men’s team could go a long way to elevating both US soccer and MLS to new heights. Tenth grader Arturo Mercado thinks that “the US men’s team will play well in the 2026 World Cup.”

Time will tell if that translates into more US players “kickin it” in the MLS moving forward, joined by an influx of the world’s best from abroad. There is no reason that US players can’t bend it like Beckham right here at home.