Soccer Growth

Soccer news just in. The 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States will be accompanied by a fresh approach to domestic soccer coverage that will tell the story of the sport’s growth in 2026 and beyond. One new high-profile media outlet, Kickback Soccer Media, has teamed up with Bluesky and joined a growing group […]

USL League One spreading out West is an essential part of the plan over the next few years (“Manifest Destiny for L1”). Forming a Western Division would cut down on travel costs and make a 3rd tier professional club more affordable to operate. It is cities like Boise that are the perfect fit for joining the USL Western Front. The intrigue for the city as a potential soccer hotbed piqued after two friendlies produced sell-out results in the recent history. There was an Athletic Bilbao vs Liga MX Club Tijuana in 2015 that drew nearly 22k people into Boise State (where the infamous blue turf was covered with grass for the event…). Then there was a very unique event - where a USL Championship regular season league game took place (Portland Timbers II vs Swope Park Rangers) in 2016 at a High School in Boise and sold out the field at 4,350 people. The feeling of it being a good fit for USL is proving to be true as the club have already sold 3,500 season tickets for their USL League One Inaugural year. That is even without the branding in place (which is set to be released on June 27th). There was a brief period where the local Minor League Ownership group (of Boise Hawks) was speaking with USL to get a USL Championship squad. But Covid changed the narrative there. Now the timing is right and an All Star Front Office composed of four individuals - each with a different, unique specialty, are the ones backing this new project. There’s NBA Executive experience, US Soccer Experience, Idaho Youth Soccer, and Real Estate Development experience all coming together to give this project legs. The Stadium project is perhaps one of the best stadium projects in the Country at the moment as well. They are converting an old horse racing track into a 6,000 fan soccer-specific stadium that has an incredible mountain backdrop. Phase 2 of the stadium project, which will hopefully be necessary as USL institutes promotion/relegation, would add an additional 5,000 seats for a capacity of 11,000 people. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to watching how things unfold in Boise, Idaho and I appreciate Bill Taylor for taking the time to speak with me. Here’s a snippet of our conversation. If you want the full videos, visit our YouTube channel here.

The Nashville SC striker is still banging in goals at 33, and he talked about how he's evolved in his training, what it's like to be his own agent, staying thankful, how soon Black America will embrace the sport of soccer, the most annoying centerbacks in the league to play against, and the importance of meditation.

Craig Elsten is joined by the iconic voice of soccer in the United States, JP Dellacamera, who has signed on with Keith Tozer and Shep Messing to create the new leadership trio in the MASL front office. JP shares his thoughts on where the MASL is now and where it could be headed, as well as remembering his times as a young man announcing the MISL in its heyday, and some thoughts on the 1999 Women's World Cup, and the growth of soccer in the USA over the decades.