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After Sunday\u2019s World Cup final<\/a>, the walk out of the Meadowlands passed by deconstructed pieces of the stage<\/a> where Spain lifted the trophy.<\/p>\n Like the quick transformation from Philadelphia Stadium back to Lincoln Financial Field<\/a>, it was a sharp reminder of the end of an unprecedented spectacle.<\/p>\n This World Cup made a huge impact on a country where soccer wasn\u2019t always welcome, but is now. Look no further than the massive television audiences, not just for the U.S and Mexico, but across the tournament.<\/p>\n A stunning 63 of the 104 games drew audiences of more than 10 million viewers across Fox\u2019s English and Telemundo\u2019s Spanish coverage. Thirty-one topped 15 million, 18 topped 20 million, 11 topped 25 million, and five topped 30 million \u2014 capped off by 46.7 million for Mexico-England, 50.1 million for U.S.-Belgium<\/a>, and 66.4 million for the Spain-Argentina title game<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yes, that many people<\/a> watched a game that had just one goal in 140 minutes of game clock, including stoppage time.<\/p>\n But while the World Cup is over, is soccer? Even the critics might finally admit it isn\u2019t. So let\u2019s ask some better questions.<\/p>\n What kind of soccer will Americans now want to watch? Will they treat the sport like track and field at the Olympics<\/a>, only tuning in every four years? Or will they be interested more often, wanting to see the world\u2019s biggest sports tapestry unfold every week?<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: This World Cup served as the ultimate proof of how big global soccer stars have become in America<\/a><\/p>\n If it\u2019s the latter, the line of suitors is already long. The English Premier League, Europe\u2019s UEFA Champions League, and Spain\u2019s La Liga are among the front-runners, along with their respective broadcast partners at NBC, CBS, and ESPN.<\/p>\n They are the most likely to profit from the World Cup\u2019s halo, while showcasing the sport\u2019s biggest stars<\/a>. But they can\u2019t be alone. The pressure is rising fast on America\u2019s domestic men\u2019s game, Major League Soccer above all.<\/p>\n No, it doesn\u2019t have the sport\u2019s biggest names, and for some people that will always be what matters. What about an audience that MLS has long failed to properly pursue: People who want to watch the sport in person, and forge a connection with a local team?<\/p>\n You can\u2019t go to Liverpool, Manchester, London, Madrid, and so on every weekend. Once a season, sure, and a Saturday morning at a soccer bar is a fun time. But whether in Chester or the rest of the country, experiencing soccer in person is still unmatched. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Alejandro Bedoya reflects on his World Cup TV debut, the U.S.\u2019 run, and lessons for Union teammates<\/a><\/p>\n This is not meant to cheerlead for the Union. They have to earn fans\u2019 trust, and there\u2019s a history of that not happening. These pages have long chronicled it, especially when it comes to Subaru Park\u2019s woefully limited public transit access.<\/p>\n But soccer also faces a burden that other American sports don\u2019t. Why be a Flyers fan, with no titles in a half-century? Or a Phillies or Eagles fan during the team\u2019s fallow years of the past? Why bother with the eternal angst the Sixers inflict on a basketball city without equal?<\/p>\n We all know the answer, from Northeast Philly lifers to the thousands of newcomers who\u2019ve made Center City<\/a> a destination. It\u2019s about feeling those teams are yours<\/a>. Through good times and bad, nothing fuels emotions like that sense of deep connection.<\/p>\n Emotion trumps data<\/p>\n For most of its 30-year history, MLS has shied away from doing the work needed to forge those bonds. Instead, it has chased sugar highs from signing big names.<\/p>\n That path has been profitable, to be sure, and the list is long: David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Javier Hern\u00e1ndez, Lionel Messi, Son Heung-Min, and now Antoine Griezmann and Robert Lewandowski.<\/p>\n But the foundations are still missing in too many cities leaguewide, with Philadelphia high up that list. New York, Chicago, Boston, and Houston are also perennially on it.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Philadelphia was the star in its men\u2019s World Cup debut | Marcus Hayes<\/a><\/p>\n This came to a head when commissioner Don Garber met the press at the U.S.-Australia game in Seattle last month. Behind him, a scene unfurled that American soccer fans dreamed of for decades: A thunderous home crowd in a city that not only loves the sport, but loves this country\u2019s game specifically<\/a>.<\/p>\n How can the league build connections like that elsewhere?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cPart of it is time and part of that is tactical; part of it is actually doing the work,\u201d Garber said to start. He referenced how MLS \u201cgot FIFA\u2019s permission to do Fan Fests in every market,\u201d which sounds nice until you realize the need to ask is yet more of FIFA\u2019s greed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to bring everybody together,\u201d Garber said. \u201cBut we want to know, if people are going to support a World Cup match, what can we do to talk to them and give them exciting news and information and connections to become a fan of Sporting Kansas City or the Seattle Sounders? Some of that is just the data and intelligence that we\u2019re going to gather, and be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Want to win a World Cup, America? Start doing better by the kids. And their parents, too. | Kerith Gabriel<\/a><\/p>\n He sounded good until the words data and intelligence. Because the problem here isn\u2019t a rational one, it\u2019s an emotional one.<\/p>\n For many years, the response from fans to MLS has been: I don\u2019t care, because your product isn\u2019t as good as others.<\/p>\n A league now in its fourth decade should be mature enough<\/a> to shoot right back: So what? That isn\u2019t the point.<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing stopping any soccer fan from watching European games on a Saturday morning and their local team on a Saturday night. Nor do some of the English Premier League\u2019s loyalists understand England\u2019s thriving lower leagues, where crowds can be bigger than Europe\u2019s other top flights.<\/p>\n Why would a Londoner pick Charlton over giant Arsenal? Why bother in Bolton when Manchester is a stone\u2019s throw away? It isn\u2019t just because they dream of winning promotion<\/a>. To those fans, the teams are theirs in a way the giants will never be.<\/p>\n MLS, meanwhile, has often been too timid to make the case.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: The joy the World Cup brought to Philadelphia felt like the escape we didn\u2019t know we needed<\/a><\/p>\n This was put to Garber.<\/p>\n \u201cI will say to everybody who has said to me from the day I took this job: If you don\u2019t believe, that\u2019s OK,\u201d he answered. \u201cRight now, soccer is the third most popular sport in our country. We\u2019ve got to make MLS a bigger part of that pie, but the market\u2019s there and it\u2019s up to us to convert it. If we don\u2019t convert it, shame on us.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s more like it. Because though Garber\u2019s legacy is unquestionable ahead of his retirement next year<\/a>, the league missed a big opportunity after the last World Cup. Now it risks another one.<\/p>\n \u2018Not just about\u2019 the stars<\/p>\n The second the 2022 tournament ended, North America\u2019s hosting in 2026 was on the clock. MLS could easily have boasted its players featured this year \u2014 not just for the United States, but many countries. So what if they would be in Europe later? They were in the league now, and worth watching.<\/p>\n This summer, MLS was almost invisible during the tournament. Of course it was right to not have games, but the lack of publicity on TV was shocking. Especially on World Cup broadcaster Fox, which airs MLS games throughout the year.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Where did the money from your exorbitant World Cup tickets going? To FIFA’s $14 billion bank account.<\/a><\/p>\n And where, yet again, was the marketing heft from Apple? The world\u2019s most famous tech brand was also pretty quiet, instead of trumpeting to new soccer fans that it has every MLS game.<\/p>\n If casual newcomers didn\u2019t know what they were missing, devotees were all too aware<\/a>, and rightly angry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rank the domestic leagues of the world by how many players they sent to this World Cup, and MLS had the second-most of any outside Europe\u2019s traditional big five: England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France. Saudi Arabia took No. 6 \u2014 by just two players \u2014 thanks to the exorbitant, oil-and-gas fueled salaries paid by clubs with sovereign wealth backing.<\/p>\n Along with that, this reporter counted a total of 115 players spanning 24 World Cup teams who play or have played in the U.S. or Canada, whether in the pros, college, or high school.<\/p>\n Those are marketable numbers if the league wants. But how many people know about them?<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Why U.S. Soccer\u2019s new national training center will matter long after the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n When MLS hosted the media at its new Manhattan offices last Thursday, Garber was grilled again, and seemed to get it right again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just about those Designated Players, the big names,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about Alex Freeman, who started as a youth player, played in an academy, played in MLS Next Pro, and now is playing overseas after he was a starter for Orlando City.\u201d<\/p>\n As that famous poet Batman might say: Right again, commissioner. <\/p>\n Yes, MLS is absolutely right about Freeman, the U.S. team\u2019s breakout name of this World Cup<\/a> who moved from Orlando to Spain\u2019s Villarreal last winter. But the league has also been too afraid to admit it\u2019s a launchpad to Europe, even though doing so would likely bring more global eyeballs. Tracking future stars in soccer has become as profitable as doing so in basketball and football.<\/p>\n It certainly is in Philadelphia. The Union\u2019s academy can boast alumni in the soccer world just like Roman Catholic High rightly does in the NBA<\/a>, and Penn State does in the NFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Union\u2019s game on Wednesday against Red Bull New York at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) will be a prime example. At least five young candidates for the 2030 U.S. World Cup team will be on the field: the Union\u2019s Cavan Sullivan<\/a>, Frankie Westfield<\/a>, and Malik Jakupovi\u0107<\/a>, and the visitors\u2019 Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti.<\/p>\n Soccer fans know those names are worth watching, but the new World Cup fans in town don\u2019t yet. The burden is on MLS to make the point, and there\u2019s no better time than right now.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: As the Union resume their season, Cavan Sullivan knows the spotlight on him will only grow more<\/a><\/p>\n