Private practice attorney Heidi Scott has served as an attorney and certified public accountant with Schuyler Brown Land Title in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, since 2008. Between 1999 and 2014, she worked as a tax attorney with the Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield. Heidi Scott helped Mt. Sterling develop its first co-ed soccer league and has experience coaching indoor soccer at Quincy’s K&L Arena. She enjoys watching her children play the sport as it continues to grow in the United States.
In 1990, the United States qualified for the World Cup for the first time in four decades. Four years later, the nation hosted the event. Since that time, soccer’s presence in the United States has evolved from that of a niche sport to one of the country’s most rapidly growing fandoms. About three million American children played in youth soccer leagues in 2014, an 89 percent increase since 1990. As of 2015, nearly 24.5 million Americans played some level of soccer, from recreational leagues to the professional ranks. As a nation, this figure is second only to China.
A nearly identical number of Americans watched the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, despite the contest featuring teams from Spain and the Netherlands, and the 2015 Women’s World Cup final between the United States and Japan. Not only do these ratings compare favorably to popular sporting events such as the Rose Bowl and the NCAA men’s college basketball championship, but the women’s final viewership of 24.5 million was double that of the 2011 final, a testament to the sport’s growth.
There are a number of additional viewership and participation figures suggesting soccer’s continued growth in America. In 2015, soccer ranked as the fourth most watched sport on television, more than ice hockey, golf, and tennis. The 2014 World Cup meeting between the United States and Portugal was the fifth most watched sporting event of the year, trailing only the National Football League’s three biggest games, including the Super Bowl, and the college football championship game.
