The previous time the US hosted the FIFA World Cup, the US Soccer Federation built on the financial infusion and the public’s excitement to help launch Major League Soccer two years later.
Much has changed with next year’s World Cup. This time the tournament is hosted by three nations, with the US joined by Mexico and Canada. The financial windfall is to go to FIFA, which is running the tournament for the first time rather than a local organizing committee, such as the one in 1994 that used its US$40 million surplus to fund the US Soccer Foundation.
So what will the World Cup’s legacy be for US soccer’s governing body? The not-for-profit is undertaking ambitious and sprawling projects to boost the game from the youth ranks to the pros.
Photo: AP
US Soccer’s ultimate aim is to spread the sport at the youth level through school and community programs, expand fundraising efforts, and position the US professional leagues and national teams for success.
It is a tall order, US Soccer chief executive officer J.T. Batson said.
“We already have this massive engine that is people who love soccer in this country, and the infrastructure of our professional leagues and clubs, and all the youth soccer across the country,” Batson said. “That’s a really powerful group that if organized and supported, can do some pretty incredible things.”
Soccer Forward, the federation’s legacy project announced last year, has started to roll out. With the motto “Soccer Everywhere for Everyone,” it sells schools on expanded soccer programs, brings mini-fields into communities where soccer does not have a big footprint and supports community-led efforts to grow the game at a grassroots level. It includes everything from best practices for fundraising to securing grants for building soccer fields to tips for youth coaches.
US Soccer says such initiatives are sorely needed: One-in-four schools have no sports programs.
However, it goes beyond just the game, with elements of health and charity. Last month, the Kansas City Current partnered with Soccer Forward for an event at the Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy. More than 100 girls took part in soccer games and programming focused on women’s health.
An emphasis on equity in the sport was aided by a US$25 million donation from Michele Kang, owner of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit, as well as OL Lyonnes and the London City Lionesses in Europe. The money would be used to grow the women’s game through research and innovation projects.
Batson said the goal is to ensure that “everyone who wants to play soccer can play, and that we have the right resources going to the right levels of the game to achieve the right resources.”
That means there is an opportunity not just to benefit the children who want to play recreationally, but to also bring future players into the game who might go on to academies, colleges or professional soccer careers.
“I think one of the big shifts for US Soccer is sort of articulating ourselves as being in service to soccer and we take that very seriously around our role of supporting those who are brining soccer to life in communities all across the country,” Batson said. “This is a huge flipping of how US Soccer sees itself and the role we play with our members and everyone else who loves soccer, and [we] are trying to do things every day to earn the trust of those folks to continue on that journey with us.”
Former Deloitte executive Dan Helfrich, hired as the foundation’s chief operating officer this month, would help oversee In Service to Soccer, the federation’s overarching strategy.
“It is our responsibility to drive lasting legacy from hosting the World Cup,” Helfrich said. “We take that responsibility very seriously and believe that we will have national holistic impact that comes from this World Cup, not just sporadic impact limited to a few communities or cities.”
To achieve the lofty goals, US Soccer needs funding. So the federation has also launched the Behind the Dream campaign, which aims to raise US$250 million — and also hopes to capitalize on the excitement of the World Cup.
In many countries, governments help fund sports federations. For example, the English Football Association gets funding from several government entities, including Sport England. Sports federations in the US are non-profit organizations.
US Soccer has put an emphasis on fundraising in the past two years. In 2023, its expenses exceeded its revenues. That has since flipped.
US Soccer took in US$257.4 million in revenue for the 2025 fiscal year, a 36 percent increase over the previous year, in part because of fundraising and sponsorship deals in anticipation of the World Cup.
“US Soccer is in a fortunate position by virtue of our financial growth to be able to invest in our soccer strategies at unimaginable levels, even five years ago,” Batson said. “And we also have been very intentional about learning from other very successful movements to say: ‘OK, how do we approach this in a way that leads to the outcomes that we care about.’”
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