The Rise of ‘Popcorn Soccer’: Spectacle Over Tradition | OneFootball

Soccer is at a crossroads. From La Liga trying to stage competitive matches in the United States to Serie A’s aggressive push for American audiences and the Championship capturing attention abroad, the game is undergoing a transformation. Tradition is yielding to spectacle, and the sport’s deep-rooted passions are being reshaped for global markets.

For decades, soccer thrived on local identity and generational loyalty. Clubs were extensions of their neighborhoods and cities, and fans inherited allegiances like family heirlooms. The mid-1990s to the mid-2010s marked the height of that passion on our TV screens. This golden era saw tournaments, rivalries, and club football carrying a unique intensity that balanced sporting excellence with cultural authenticity in the ever evolving technological world of streaming and social media.

But since the downfall of the old FIFA guard in 2015 and the rise of Gianni Infantino’s leadership, the message has been clear: soccer is no longer primarily a cultural institution — it’s a global entertainment product that needs to be capitalized on, no matter the cost.

This shift explains the bloated 48-team 2026 World Cup and the new Club World Cup. Even when successful on paper, they ask a deeper question: how much football can the game itself withstand before it becomes oversaturated? For administrators and investors, the answer is simple: too much is never enough.

From Devotion to Spectacle

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Unlike American sports, where fan loyalty at times is fluid, soccer fandom is usually a lifelong bond. Once you declare yourself for AC Milan, River Plate, or Athletic Bilbao, you are tied to their triumphs and failures for life. That devotion creates the unique pain and ecstasy of the sport. But it also limits growth. There are only so many Milan fans in Italy to “convert.” Instead, fandom is passed down by family, choice, and geography. After a century, traditional clubs have tapped out their natural markets.

So the only option is to look elsewhere: to markets where sports are consumed as events rather than lived as identities. In the United States, Asia, and Australia, soccer does not dominate cultural life. But that is precisely why executives salivate: here lies a vast reservoir of fans who might choose a club the way they choose a Netflix series. These are the spectators who might ask on social media, “Which team should I support?”

A question horrifies traditionalists, but for marketers, it’s a dream.

Stefan Wojciechowski, founder of Hyperset Group, puts numbers behind this global shift — which has the Premier League sitting atop the throne.

“The Premier League isn’t just the most popular league, it’s ahead by a significant margin,” he said. “In the UK, other domestic leagues only capture 6–7% of the EPL’s audience, and in Spain, EPL interest is three times higher than any other league outside La Liga. That explains why La Liga is feeling the pressure.”

Wojciechowski explains that even the Premier League is considering ways to blur its boundaries.

“There’s also a big opportunity for the EPL in its lower leagues,” he said. “There’s talk of the Premier League acquiring the English Football League — Championship, League One, and League Two according to my sources. For U.S. investors, this is appealing because relegation is less of a risk: teams could drop a division but remain part of the Premier League franchise. It also creates opportunities to develop American players in these lower leagues while maintaining their connection to the Premier League brand.”

This “franchise” logic is far removed from the romance of relegation battles and small-club survival stories. It reflects a shift from sport to packaged entertainment, a Premier League ecosystem where even failure can be monetized and teams are kept under the brand.

“Clubs like Wrexham and Birmingham, backed by high-profile American investments, are generating significant interest in the U.S., which is seen as a key market,” Wojciechowski said. “Another advantage is developing American players. Breaking into the Premier League is difficult, but having multiple tiers — Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two — creates more opportunities for U.S. players to join the broader Premier League franchise.”

In other words, the game itself has the potential to be reorganized not around tradition or competition, but around accessibility and consumer appeal. It’s something that has always in one form or another existed in global soccer, but today is much more widespread. Leagues themselves can maximize profitability and grow in emerging markets through streaming and TV deals in addition to signing certain players from the markets they are looking to tap into.

Serie A and the Potential to Truly Tap In

This isn’t just an English story. Serie A, once the gold standard of world football, is chasing international relevance once again. Its broadcast deals with Paramount+ and DAZN in the United States, in addition to a North American headquarters in New York City, reflect a desire to export Italian heritage as entertainment.

“Serie A used to be the best league in the world,” Wojciechowski said. “People would watch Saturday magazine shows and live Sunday games. It was brilliant in England. Italy has five or six truly powerful teams, unlike most other leagues, and fan bases are deeply passionate. It’s woven into the culture.”

But that culture, rich and authentic, is now being repackaged for foreign consumers who may never set foot in the San Siro or Stadio Olimpico.

“That tradition still exists, and Serie A has huge potential to grow globally,” Wojciechowski said. “Strategically, efforts in the U.S. need to be targeted, focusing on Italian communities or areas with strong existing interest, rather than a broad approach.

“What sets Italy apart is competitiveness: six teams can realistically win the league each year, which makes it exciting for fans worldwide. If leveraged correctly, Serie A could expand its global profile and even surpass other major European leagues.”

Tradition becomes another bullet point in a global sales pitch, but Serie A does have an ace up its sleeve that teams in Spain or even England don’t have: Each of their powerful clubs are very different in nature. AC Milan and Inter are radically different from Roma, Napoli or Juventus. The diversity in fans and customs make Serie A extremely appealing to a broader audience.

There is also the natural flow of American tourists that visit Italy each year, which makes going to see soccer games that much more appealing for foreigners.

MLS and the Entertainment Arms Race

If Europe is learning to think like American sports, MLS is already there. A relatively newer league when compared to those in Europe, MLS has built its rise on spectacle rather than tradition. But there’s still international appeal.

“Unlike the NFL, which relies almost entirely on domestic fans, Inter Miami drives a huge portion of global interest, thanks to stars like Messi and Suárez — something most other U.S. teams simply don’t have,” Wojciechowski said.

“MLS is clearly growing. The NFL still leads in overall volume, followed by MLB, but the gap is closing. Among younger Americans, soccer may even be more popular than baseball. Compared to the NHL, MLS is building strong player and team followings, largely fueled by Inter Miami.”

Here lies both opportunity and danger. If Inter Miami’s Messi experiment proves replicable and if other MLS clubs can mimic that lightning in a bottle, then MLS may genuinely leapfrog baseball and hockey in the American sports hierarchy. If not, it risks becoming a novelty act, fading when the spotlight leaves.

MLS also has another major problem in that it relies too heavily on foreign talents. In an American landscape which needs to consume local stars to grow, the best Americans play in Europe, and too many MLS teams are overrun by foreign imports. Messi, the league’s biggest star, rarely “sells” the game on American television, which at times puts MLS in a sort of existence limbo on the American sporting landscape.

From the Terraces to the Popcorn Bucket

What all of this reveals is a clear blueprint: maximize revenue, open new markets, and treat clubs as entertainment properties rather than cultural institutions. Competitive integrity, local identity, and fan loyalty matter less than packaging the game into consumable, shareable moments.

For the traditionalist, this is disorienting. Imagine Bilbao playing a league match in Miami, or Boca Juniors selling its mystique in Dubai. For investors, it’s a logical next step. For diehards in the terraces, it’s a betrayal.

Competition itself may change shape. Clubs, like players, may prefer the leniency of distant fans over the demands of locals. Victories will still matter, but so too will the softer profits of branding, expansion, and merchandise sales.

Don Garber, the MLS commissioner, once asked, “What’s the global plan of world soccer?”

The answer now seems obvious: expand at all costs, piggyback on legacy, chase the next dollar, even if it means turning the world’s most authentic sport into “popcorn soccer,” something to be consumed casually, digested quickly, and forgotten until the next show.

Soccer is changing. The only question left is whether the soul of the game can survive the spectacle.