GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - JULY 23: A general view of play during the pre-season friendly match between ... [+]
When FC Bayern Munich opened its United States office 10 years ago, the club had eight fan clubs in America. Today, the German soccer champion has more like 200. And it believes there is more growth to come.
“There are many people (in the U.S.) who are playing football. It’s a big sport. But it is not as well marketed as American football and basketball and hockey and baseball,” Stefan Mennerich, media director of FC Bayern and CEO of FC Bayern Digital and Media Lab, tells me in an exclusive interview.
“If you see the huge amount of people who are playing football and who like football, there’s a very good market for the future.
“We’re in close connection with Real Madrid and Barcelona and Manchester United and Manchester City, and all of these clubs have the same opinion, more or less.”
OneFootball, a soccer platform with shareholders including FC Bayern, Real Madrid and Manchester City, today (Wednesday, March 27) announced a partnership with Yahoo Sports to establish a hub for soccer coverage.
Available in the U.S. and Canada on the Yahoo Sports website and app, the co-branded Yahoo Sports-OneFootball hub will feature coverage from OneFootball’s library of original and partner content. It will also feature Yahoo Sports reporting, as well as video content the companies collaborate on.
Soccer fans will have access to news and analysis from leagues and competitions around the world. OneFootball has a newsroom that operates in six languages and a network of more than 200 content partners and publishers.
The partnership arrives as the U.S. prepares to host the Copa América in June and July and, in the summer of 2025, the first edition of an expanded, 32-team Club World Cup. In 2026, the U.S. will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico.
Patrick Fischer, CEO at OneFootball, tells me the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, and in particular Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. have emerged as “relevant” soccer markets.
As well as the upcoming tournaments in America, he cites Apple entering soccer with its MLS broadcast deal and Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami.
“The potential in the U.S. market specifically is enormous with Copa América and with the FIFA Club World Cup, which is from my understanding completely underestimated how huge that will be — a four-week tournament with 32 clubs coming to the U.S. next summer,” Fischer says.
“Plus, of course, the FIFA World Cup in 2026. So we have a fully packed agenda and calendar for the next 24 months. With Yahoo's unprecedented reach, and with our content library, I think that's a natural fit to bring soccer to the U.S. audience much faster and better than anyone else.”
TOPSHOT - Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi (2nd L) is presented by (from R) owners of Inter Miami ... [+]
Yahoo Sports and OneFootball also say the content hub will offer new advertising and sponsorship opportunities for brands.
“We think we're opening up a really big new category that has an opportunity to distinguish itself to the U.S. market. And therefore, that will attract a lot of users if we do a good job,” says Ryan Spoon, president of Yahoo Sports.
“We have the data that suggests with each passing day, growth (in soccer interest) is happening in the U.S. There are multiple times in a given month where MLS coverage, Messi in particular, and NWSL news, has led Yahoo.com, the third most trafficked page in the U.S.
“That will be heightened by these major global events and hopefully also heightened by some of the work we do together. But that ascension is happening.”
European clubs have been trying for a while to crack America. But soccer still has a way to go to compete with the most popular U.S. sports.
A Gallup poll earlier this year found 41% of Americans named (American) football as their favourite sport to watch, followed by baseball (10%) and basketball (9%). Soccer was next with 5%. But this jumped to 8% among 18-29-year-olds.
For the biggest European soccer clubs though, America remains an appealing market. And now seems like the right moment to build their brands and reach new supporters stateside.
Last year, FC Bayern moved into a new U.S. office in the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Mennerich believes the coming years will help the club grow its U.S. presence further.
“We will shape our summer tour around the 2025 Club World Cup and we will have a big presence there,” he says.
“I hope for four weeks until the final of the Club World Cup. And before and after what we have as activations in the U.S. market is huge for us.”
