Roger Bennett’s message to A-Rod is one for the country: Soccer has already overtaken baseball in America

Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers announces a partnership with Home Depot to promote soccer and the World Cup to mainstream American audiences, asserting that soccer has already surpassed baseball as America's favorite sport. The collaboration represents a significant cultural and commercial moment for soccer's continued growth in the U.S. market.

Roger Bennett's declaration that soccer has overtaken baseball in America reflects a fundamental demographic and cultural shift that has been building for decades. The Men in Blazers partnership with Home Depot signals that major American corporations now view soccer as a mainstream commodity worthy of significant retail and marketing investment, moving the sport beyond niche enthusiast audiences. This represents a maturation of soccer's infrastructure in the United States, where the sport was once considered a fringe interest. The Home Depot collaboration is particularly notable because it targets mass-market consumers at a foundational level, suggesting that soccer stakeholders see broad American adoption as achievable. Historically, baseball held cultural primacy as America's pastime, but demographic changes, immigration patterns, global connectivity, and the emergence of MLS as a legitimate professional league have fundamentally altered sports consumption patterns. Younger Americans increasingly consume soccer content, attend matches, and engage with the sport through digital platforms, while baseball viewership skews older. The commercial validation from major retailers indicates that marketers and investors have confidence in soccer's sustained growth trajectory. For the sports industry, this shift drives sponsorship opportunities, broadcast rights expansion, and talent recruitment. The success of this Home Depot partnership will likely influence other corporations' sports marketing strategies and potentially accelerate investment in soccer infrastructure, youth development, and professional league expansion. Bennett's assertion challenges the traditional sports establishment while reflecting quantifiable trends in attendance, viewership, and youth participation that suggest American soccer culture has indeed reached an inflection point.

• →Men in Blazers' Home Depot partnership indicates major retailers view soccer as mainstream American entertainment.
• →Soccer has demonstrably surpassed baseball among younger demographics and in overall cultural relevance.
• →Corporate investment in World Cup promotion reflects confidence in soccer's sustainable growth in the U.S.
• →The sport's infrastructure and professional legitimacy have evolved significantly from its niche-market origins.
• →Demographic trends, international connectivity, and MLS development have fundamentally shifted American sports preferences.