Among all the things the FIFA World Cup has brought to New York City — hundreds of watch parties, millions of dollars added to the economy, and visitors from all over the globe, including Norway fans taking over Times Square with their Viking row — there’s one thing that may stay for a long time: interest in playing soccer.
Soccer leagues and academies throughout the city have seen an increase in registrations and interest over the past few weeks, and coaches and executives note the World Cup fever has something to do with it.
“That is 100% connected to World Cup fever and people wanting to feel the sport,” said Tarek Pertew, CEO and co-founder of NYC Footy, the country’s largest adult soccer league. “It was like when the Knicks won; people wanted to just paint themselves orange. Anything to make them feel like they were part of the story.”
NYC Footy has already signed up more than 9,500 New Yorkers across different categories, and organizers expect to accommodate up to 10,000 players by the end of the summer.
Data shows that players who are brand new to soccer and those at the beginner-intermediate level make up 45.4% of total registrations.
Around the same time last year, the league had roughly 8,600 players; in 2024, it had 6,970 across all skill levels, including beginner levels.
Although those numbers reflect the interest that New Yorkers over 18 are showing this summer, kids also share the same enthusiasm for the sport and are being inspired by their favorite World Cup players.
“I anticipate [a high number of registrations] happening at an equal or greater level with youth because we know that, in general, they are the most impressionable when it comes to the excitement of influential sporting events,” said Pertew.
While names like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are often heard when children are training, coaches at soccer academies hear more parents are reaching out to sign up their kids.
“We noticed an increase in registrations about three weeks ago, which, funny enough, coincided with the games and all the buzz around the World Cup,” said Sarah Hill, co-founder of 5 Star Soccer Academy in Queens. “The parents are reaching out and saying, ‘My kid has never played before, but they’re really interested in soccer. Can they do your academy?’”
Sarah and Nahun Romero, who founded the academy in late 2016, expected a 20% increase in registrations for their summer soccer camp. They’re seeing a 70% increase.
On the pitch, Nahun and the rest of the coaches can tell their soccer students are fully living the World Cup experience as they talk about predictions and try to imitate their favorite footballers’ skills.
Kids ages 5 to 7 are the ones showing the most enthusiasm for getting into the sport, the founders note, but parents are also playing an important role by encouraging them and sharing their passion for the international event.
“My husband is an Australian national, and he’s got a lot of pride in his soccer roots, and we’ve been watching [the World Cup], and we thought it’d be exciting for her,” said Madisson Strutton, a mom who dropped off her almost 4-year-old daughter at the soccer academy for her first training session.
Representatives at South Bronx United, a youth development nonprofit offering free and low-cost soccer programs to students ages 4 to 19, say they’ve always seen interest in soccer among young people since the organization’s founding in 2009.
“There’s always been a high interest and demand that we’re able to address. We always have a waitlist for our programs,” said Andrew So, executive director at SBU. “Unfortunately, we’re unable to provide [more programs] because we don’t have the space, the funding or the staff.”
Since the organization already has 2,000 students enrolled, and more than 75% of them have a Latin American background, Andrew said they already have a connection to the sport, leaving little room for beginners.
The lack of access to programs at South Bronx United adds to the limited recreational programs offered in the South Bronx neighborhood, Andrew said.
As the World Cup wraps up on July 19, coaches wonder whether this excitement will last for beginner enthusiasts — and, if so, whether they will be able to accommodate more students during the fall and winter in a soccer desert city.
“There’s not even a single lit field in all of Manhattan on the east side between Harlem and Grand Street,” said Tarek Pertew, co-founder of NYC Footy. “To have all these players playing in the summer and then have availability pretty much cut in half for fall is scary. You basically have to tell a huge chunk of your community, ‘Sorry, we can’t accommodate you.’”