What the New FIFA Club World Cup Format Tells Us About CONCACAF Football
When the new incarnation of the FIFA Club World Cup emerged in the first decade of this century, CONMEBOL and UEFA clubs were viewed as similar in terms of relevance, at least in terms of what stage these teams would begin their journey in the controversial competition.
As the years progressed, the gap between UEFA and CONMEBOL widened, and CONCACAF-level football improved a lot.
A few weeks ago, it was announced that the MLS as a business had surpassed the Brazilian Serie A in terms of figures.
While Brazilians may still turn up their noses to North American football, the evolution of the sport as a business and within the lines of the pitch is unquestionable.
The good work of American and Canadian clubs to push the MLS further, as well as the old passion of the Mexicans for football, has changed the narrative in the CONCACAF jurisdiction.
The Boom of Sports Betting in North America
The big boom of sports betting in the US and Canada also increased the interest of the local public in more sports to place a bet. ‘Soccer’ as the sport is known in the region becomes less of ‘an alien sport’ to North American culture, and another option to have fun betting when more traditional American and Canadian sports don’t have fixtures in the telly. Sports betting Canada options as well as American ones have been contributing to a more diverse sports culture in the region.
Discovering a new sport can become easy if one analyses simple data derived from market odds, such as who’s the underdog and who’s the favourite, and many other aspects of football that can be new to these audiences, like the fact that a match draw is a lot more likely than in a game of American Football, for example.
Football Demographics and General North American Demographics
Demographics of the US have also contributed to that, as the American population, and even the Canadian one to some degree gets more and more immigrants that love The Beautiful Game, which is a tendency that should still linger long.
When FIFA announced the new format of the Club World Cup, with the big tournament every four years, and a smaller edition every year, the fact that CONMEBOL will have half the number of clubs than UEFA and just 2 more than CONCACAF and AFC, tells us that something huge has been happening in North America.
The MLS has attracted different talent than in the past. Now many talented South Americans, whose football origins are in the CONMEBOL region play during their prime in their mid-20s in the MLS.
It’s fair to say, therefore, that the popularity of soccer in North America, especially in The US and Canada is increasing as society is also changing in those countries. The love for football has been a bit older in Mexico, which is another great source of talent for the leagues upper North in the continent.
