The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) ran from 2001 to 2003 and featured many of the World Cup stars, including Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers and Brandi Chastain.

However, 2013 research has shown that soccer entered America through the port of New Orleans, as Irish, English, Scottish, Italian and German immigrants brought the game with them.

[19] According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the club is often credited with inventing the "Boston Game", which allowed players to both kick a round ball along the ground, and to pick it up and run with it.

[22][23] Nevertheless, the earliest known game of organized soccer in the United States was played on October 11, 1866 in Waukesha, Wisconsin[24] under the 1863 London Football Association laws.

A men's match between Saint Louis University and local rival SIU Edwardsville drew a college record 22,512 fans to Busch Stadium on October 30, 1980.

[50] That record was subsequently broken on July 4, 2023 when a crowd of 82,110 attended an El Trafico derby between LA Galaxy and Los Angeles Football Club at the Rose Bowl.

In bigger states and cities (especially the Northeast and California), the international club game is far more popular than MLS or USL, both in terms of crowds and TV ratings.

[citation needed] The WUSA had previously announced plans to begin to play in 2001 in eight cities across the country, including: Atlanta, the Bay Area, Boston, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington, D.C.

The WUSA suspended operations, however, on September 15, 2003, shortly after the conclusion of the third season, due to financial problems and lack of public interest in the sport.

The Washington Freedom was the only WUSA team to continue operations after the league dissolved (although new versions of the Atlanta Beat and Boston Breakers formed in 2009) and eventually became a part of the W-League in 2006.

[62] In December 2006, WSII announced that it reached an agreement with six owner-operators for teams based in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and a then-unnamed city.

[63] In September 2007, the launch was pushed back from Spring of 2008 to 2009 to avoid clashing with 2007 Women's World Cup and the 2008 Olympic Games and to ensure that all of the teams were fully prepared for long-term operations.

However, several internal organization struggles, including an ongoing legal battle with magicJack-owner Dan Borislow, and lack of resources invested in the league led to the suspension of 2012, announced in January 2012.

Four of the league's charter teams had WPS ties—the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, a revival of the New Jersey–based Sky Blue FC, and the Western New York Flash.

Kansas City's place in the NWSL was immediately filled by a new franchise operated by another MLS club, Real Salt Lake;[75] the new team was unveiled shortly thereafter as Utah Royals FC.

[85][86] Originally called the United States Interregional Women's League, the W-League was formed in 1995 to provide a professional outlet for many of the top female soccer players in the country.

Of the 18 teams that competed in the final season of the W-League, seven joined the WPSL, and eight formed a new second-level league, United Women's Soccer (UWS).

[87] The establishment of the Designated Player Rule in 2007 has led to the signings of international superstars such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry, and Lionel Messi.

The league's 2007 and 2009 expansion to Toronto and Seattle, respectively, have proven highly successful, with league-leading ticket and merchandise sales, capped by sold-out attendances for friendlies against Real Madrid of Spain and Chelsea of England.

In November 2013, Forbes published a report that revealed that ten of the league's nineteen teams earned an operating profit in 2012, while two broke even and seven had a loss.

Due to the ongoing litigation, the NASL canceled its 2018 spring season, though choosing to frame it as a change to a fall-to-spring schedule spanning two calendar years.

[119] After a federal court denied an injunction that would have maintained the NASL's second-division status, the league announced that it would also not play a 2018 fall season.

Seven MLS teams—the Montreal Impact, New York Red Bulls, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders, Toronto FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps—began fielding team-operated reserve sides in the USL.

In addition to the East Bay team, Queensboro FC, based in the New York City borough of Queens, originally planned to start USLC play in 2021, but this was pushed back to 2023.

[129] Until 2007, the front of teams' shirts in MLS and USL leagues did not bear advertisements, as commercial uniform sponsorship is uncommon in American sports.

[135]Additionally, in the years following Title IX, American high schools and colleges have been steadily embracing girls' and women's soccer.

Due to the rising number of youths playing, the term "soccer mom" is used in American social and political discourse to describe middle- or upper-middle-class suburban women with school-age children.

[145] The network returned to regular soccer broadcasts after it acquired the rights to UEFA club competitions in 2019 following the withdrawal of Turner Sports.

[152] Major League Soccer has received broadcast fees from ESPN since 2008, and MLS signed a three-year deal in 2011 with NBC Sports to nationally televise 40 matches per year from 2012 to 2014.

[177][139] Landon Donovan's dramatic game-winning goal against Algeria that advanced the U.S. team to the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup resulted in jubilant celebrations across the United States.