Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic’s weekly sports business cheat sheet. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.)
Name-dropped today: David Beckham, Erling Haaland, Craig Kessler, Carli Lloyd, Rich Paul, Dean Blandino, Gianni Infantino, Bill Simmons, Abby Wambach, Monkey D. Luffy and more. Let’s go:
Driving the Conversation
The USMNT’s many realities
As we reflect on the American squad’s impact on fan attention and spending surrounding this World Cup, it’s time to return to a favorite MoneyCall construct: “Two things can be true at once.”
The USMNT’s loss to Belgium was disappointing on many levels. Also true: The team’s weeks of success were a thrill ride that genuinely captivated a huge swath of the country.
The red card on Folarin Balogun was absurd. Also true: The subsequent political contretemps devolved the larger dynamic into something no one really enjoyed.
Upcoming games in this tournament are unlikely to top Monday’s 30 million U.S. TV viewers. Also true: The presence of France (Kylian Mbappe!), Argentina (Lionel Messi!) and Norway’s booming star (more on him below) will keep Americans watching.
This month’s level of widespread excitement around soccer in the U.S. is not sustainable. Also true: MLS must do everything possible to uptick fan conversion.
(Related: MLS suffers from being a second-tier league globally. Also true: NWSL is the best women’s soccer league in the world, with a huge marketing opportunity of its own.)
This month will boost the number of kids who want to sign up for youth soccer. Also true: The billion-dollar youth-soccer industry is fundamentally broken.
All those cheery TV ads featuring Christian Pulisic now feel awkward. Also true: If marketers remove those, there will still be so many David Beckham ads. (More on that below!)
To summarize, the USMNT World Cup ride was going to end sooner/later (take the MoneyPoll below!). Also true: National interest and engagement unquestionably leveled up.
The exact return depends on how the federation and its partners capitalize over the next four years — and, more urgently, for the Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year.
Get Caught Up
Big talkers from the sports business industry:
MLB’s Home Run Derby on Netflix: Among Netflix’s three events within its new MLB TV deal — along with Opening Night back in March and the Field of Dreams game next month — the venerable Home Run Derby is the jewel. Monday, for the first time in more than 30 years, the event won’t air on ESPN.
As with Opening Night, MLB fans without Netflix will have to subscribe for the month for access (cue griping), and football yakker Michael Irvin is somewhat awkwardly involved (he has an interview podcast that airs on Netflix). Here’s hoping the format (20 swings, rather than the all-you-can-swing “pitch clock”) keeps things interesting.
Wimbledon: The fashion competition is almost as fierce as the matches, with players and their brands trying to make the most of Wimbledon’s strict, all-white attire rules. Caoimhe O’Neill dove into the creativity that comes with restrictions.
Related: How New Balance activated inside the World Cup, despite not being an official team kit provider.
IOC lifts ban on Russian Olympic Committee: “What should the Olympics be about? can lead directly to another question that becomes even more pertinent with Tuesday’s announcement: What should the IOC adjudicate? Sport? Yes. Fair play? Yes. Doping regulations and uniformity? Yes. Those issues are plenty to deal with and hard enough to get right. Geopolitics? Probably not.” — Barry Svrluga
Craig Kessler leading the LPGA, one year later: “Kessler has reinvigorated players, secured landmark sponsorship deals and already has pieces in place to revamp the LPGA’s schedule. But the reality is that the rookie commissioner’s progress must also be measured against the organization he inherited.” — Gabby Herzig
Where will LeBron end up? Still TBD, but his agent Rich Paul immediately earned my respect for going straight to the whiteboard to break down the leading contenders on his own podcast with Max Kellerman. More whiteboards on podcasts! 🤔
Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding: Such a big deal last week … and kind of forgotten about by today? As for the most random sports-related attendee of the nuptials, how about Fox NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino? (More power to him for making the cut!)
Other current obsessions: Erling Haaland, living his best life… why DO some soccer players pull up their shorts? … one last farewell to Mexico as an all-time great World Cup host … when will MLB players invest in teams like stars in other sports? … Deion Sanders vs. EA Sports … Gotham FC’s move to Queens …
What I’m Wondering
The ubiquity of Haaland and Beckham
With apologies to Messi and Mbappe, the two biggest stars of the 2026 World Cup have been Norway striker Erling Haaland and the ubiquitous pitchman, Beckham.
How have they gotten so huge? We have deep dives today into the marketing growth of both — Haaland more recently, Beckham more institutionally — and each is worth your time:
🇳🇴 Haaland (via The Athletic’s Sam Lee): “Over the past few days, his camp has been told that social-media algorithms are being geared towards Haaland content, because that is where the demand is among users. They have been told his boom in popularity has been likened to when Kelce began dating Swift and then his Kansas City Chiefs team won that season’s Super Bowl.”
📺 Beckham (via James Horncastle): “At times, it feels like he is the everywhere everyman. Beckham at the USMNT game. Beckham at the England game. Beckham in Miami for Messi and Argentina’s game. Beckham in the TV ads when the game goes to commercial breaks. Beckham, the English face of a (North) American World Cup. Beckham, the World Cup statesman.”
Grab Bag
Data Point: 87 percent
Across The Pulse and our World Cup Daily Briefing newsletters, we surveyed fans on how they felt about Folarin Balogun’s suspended suspension. Only around 13 percent of the thousands of readers who weighed in thought it was the “right call.” The rest? Some combination of both “right call, bad look” and straight-up “bad look.”
Two columns published yesterday about this are worth your time:
• Jerry Brewer: “In America, we spent a few weeks as a soccer nation and a few days as a team everyone else on earth hoped would lose. The beginning was worth it. The ending was unbearable.”
• Adam Crafton: “On (Gianni) Infantino’s planet, the World Cup unites the globe. There have been moments during the past month, as diasporas danced and tourists rejoiced, where this promise appeared close to reality. And then there are the moments when it feels like this sport can tear the world apart.”
Name to Know: Carli Lloyd
“Chasing. Tentative. Scared. Just not confident on the ball.” On a night when U.S. soccer fans — avid and casual — were looking for answers to the 4-1 loss to Belgium, the most accomplished American player of any involved with Fox’s World Cup coverage came through with much-needed candor.
One more: “Monster Energy Big 12 Football.” Between regular-season jersey patches and on-field logos, that’s a surprising level of branding value for what Sports Business Journal reports is around merely $1 million per school in payout.
Collectible Craze: “One Piece”
Last year’s Dodgers giveaway night involving the extraordinarily popular Japanese manga “One Piece” (and its irrepressible main character, Monkey D. Luffy) was big. Last week’s follow-up was massive, with fans in an endless lineup to try to get a special trading card that immediately was worth hundreds on eBay.
Related: Fascinating explainer of why card collectors aren’t chasing “rookie cards” like they/we used to.
One more: The longtime partnership between Michael Jordan and Upper Deck will continue. Here’s what it means.
Trend Watch: Colon cancer screenings
First, my colleague Jacob Robinson led his NFL newsletter last week with a notice. Then there was Bill Simmons missing the Jaylen Brown trade last week because he was under during a colonoscopy. Then, over the past week, there was the World Cup ad in heavy rotation for Cologuard featuring Julie Foudy and Abby Wambach. As someone over 50, I’m here for raising awareness. (And, yes, I’ve gotten one.)
MoneyPoll
You could argue the USMNT basically netted out where we thought they would a month ago: certainly good enough for the final 16, but not nearly elite enough to be quarterfinalists. Kind of … the usual? In the end, U.S. soccer at the World Cup was (a) a real success; (b) a disappointment; (c) kinda what we expected?
(Responding to the poll is limited to email subscribers – it takes two seconds to get on the list, and it conveniently comes to your email inbox on Wednesday morning. Get access here!)
Beat Dan in Connections: Sports Edition
Puzzle No.
Dan’s time: 00:51
Try the game here!
Worth Your Time
Great business-adjacent reads for your downtime or commute:
Cancelled bans, rigged draws and CIA plots: How the World Cup breeds conspiracy theories. (Timely!)
Two more:
The influencer’s World Cup: Pitchside access and the battle for views in an often lonely world.
I’ve been so curious about this: How does a major sports league navigate changing title sponsors? Case study: NASCAR x O’Reilly Auto Parts.
Back next Wednesday! And, as always, give a try to all The Athletic’s other newsletters. (Again: All always free.)
