Episode 2

By the late 1970s, soccer was booming and the NASL had brought showbiz swagger to the American game. Players became celebrity superstars, flying to matches in private jets and partying in nightclubs. Former Tampa Bay Rowdies midfielder Rodney Marsh recalls arriving in America with long hair just as pop star Peter Frampton invested in the Philadelphia Fury.

American fans struggled to understand offside and were baffled by scoreless draws, so matches were settled by dramatic shoot-outs. The NASL’s radical ideas alarmed FIFA, which threatened to ban players from international football. American soccer was a marketeer’s dream, with clubs like Dallas Tornado using extravagant gimmicks to excite fans. The NASL also led the way on live TV coverage.

But the boom could not last, and by 1984, the NASL was bust. Yet across America, the game had taken root. The college system helped fuel the rise of the US women’s national team, whose World Cup and Olympic triumphs transformed women’s football globally.

David Beckham’s arrival in MLS in 2007 reignited the men’s game before Lionel Messi took Inter Miami and MLS to new heights in 2023. Soccer in the USA has always been driven by entertainment - and that appetite for spectacle continues to shape the future of the game.