The 2026 World Cup has only just begun, but plenty of legacy building is already in the works.

Many stakeholders, including sponsors such as Adidas and Coca-Cola, want to use the event to capture the next generation of consumers and soccer fans. For the Philadelphia Union, the plan is to finance the education of soccer in local elementary schools.

The MLS franchise is committing $200,000 in equipment and education resources to seven local school districts for the 2026-2027 scholastic year, with the hope that teaching soccer in physical education classes will give children early access to the sport at no cost. It estimates spending at least 10 times that amount on the program over the next decade.

Tim McDermott, president of the Union, said the idea formed from conversations with the Philadelphia School District about the methodology behind physical education programs for younger grades. He learned that educators have latitude to determine which sports are taught, and there was no requirement for soccer.

“PE teachers may not know the sport,” he said. “Maybe they didn’t play the sport. Maybe they feel a little inhibited teaching a sport that they didn’t play.”

So, McDermott told the school district that the Union could help. “We can get you the equipment, we can train the gym teachers,” he said.

The program, called Soccer in Schools, is targeted at children in third through fifth grade, with the goal of expanding to 64 school districts in the greater Philadelphia area over the next 10 years. McDermott estimates the cost to the Union over that period to be about $2 million, possibly more if participating schools form after-school programs related to soccer.

To be clear, the program is partially self-serving. “When the kids are out there playing, I want to look down the sideline and see the parents wearing blue and gold and Philadelphia Union gear,” McDermott said. “And so we’ve got to figure out a way that we do that.”

The Union isn’t alone among MLS clubs in hoping that this year’s World Cup turbocharges fan interest. The New York Red Bulls are offering complimentary tickets to new fans who can demonstrate they’ve never attended a soccer match.

And while ratings are up for MLS on Apple TV this season, commissioner Don Garber has conceded the league may have moved entirely to streaming too soon. Last year, MLS and Apple revised their original 10-year contract to conclude in 2029, three years earlier than planned.

For the Philadelphia Union, the Soccer in Schools program is also about providing children with a free entry point when youth sports in the U.S. are costlier than ever.

The Aspen Institute reports that the average U.S. family with a child participating in sports has increased their spending on said sport by 46% since before the pandemic. Soccer families who participated in the survey reported spending an average of $910 per year on equipment, registration and other fees in 2025.

MLS has a stake in the commercialization of youth sports: Its youth development program, MLS Next, is pay-to-play.

The Union’s move is a small reversal of a decades-long trend away from scholastic sports as a soccer development tool. In 2012, U.S. Soccer effectively banned top-level youth club players from playing on their high school soccer teams to bring America’s elite development system more in line with Europe, a move that drew criticism. The move accelerated an exodus of top homegrown players away from NCAA soccer, as well, which U.S. Soccer is now trying to reform.

“I do believe that there is a need for at least lowering the cost of soccer,” McDermott said. “And what we’re doing is bringing it into the school system. So obviously there is there’s no cost to any kid or a parent by doing it this way. But it is a little bit different than I’d say joining a [club] team.”

Overall, McDermott says he has high hopes for a World Cup bounce for the broader American soccer industry, given that there are better resources and facilities in place today to capture the buzz than after the last U.S.-hosted tournament in 1994.

“Coming out of the [1994] World Cup, MLS didn’t exist, right?” he said. “The youth soccer ecosystem wasn’t nearly as of built up as it is today. We didn’t have nearly as many facilities.”

But the ultimate factor for generating long-term fútbol fever will be if the U.S. Men’s National Team became a perennial tournament contender. “They need to be seen as a top five team year over year,” McDermott said. “Basically, becoming must-see TV.”

Luke Cyphers contributed reporting.