Football is always overshadowed by traditional American sports with NFL, MLB and NBA who always leads football (football) in terms of popularity in the state. Although Inter Miami signed the best worldwide star in Lionel Messi in 2023, the sport has seen an important obstacle in interest, but it is still far from catching up a giant such as the NFL. An 'impossible mission' is how Marcelo Balboa sees the fight, the 58-year-old is a triple world cup player and has earned more than 100 international caps with the USMNT and has been one of the most important American lawyers in the sport.
Despite the strict task at hand, Balboa believes that football has the opportunity to seriously threat and surpass other major competitions in the North -American country and suggests that the 'worldwide game' can only be arranged under the NFL and possibly the NBA in the US and possibly the NBA in the US can be in the US
“We will never catch up with the NFL, that is a fact. But other sports, other competitions, are worried. We have competition cups, and they do the same, with other tournaments in the middle of the season (the NBA Emirates Cup, which will take place in November). Many sports are delivered because they see the growth of our football.
He also pointed out that the arrivals of figures such as Lionel Messi and Heung Min Son are also factors that bring people to stadiums in the United States.
A gradual growth
Balboa, however, acknowledges that the United States is not focused on that goal and claims that they want to continue to grow in the first place, even if it is in small steps. “The stadiums fill full, you can feel the atmosphere. Because it is 30 years old, this competition grows as it should: slow, calm.”
Even with the great growth that the MLS has enjoyed in recent years, Balboa believes that it is difficult to compare it to the great competitions of the world and Europe.
“We can't compare it with the Bundesliga, we can't compare it with England, Italy, Spain. We know that we first have to get closer to Liga MX and that is what we do,” he concluded.
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