The flags are out, the bars are packed and the casual fans are in.This is what American soccer has wanted forever, right?UNITED STATES SHATTERS WORLD CUP VIEWERSHIP RECORD IN FIRST MATCH VS PARAGUAY IN LOS ANGELESUnited States fans cheer after a goal against Turkiye during the FIFA World Cup 2026 match at Los Angeles Stadium.(Keith Birmingham/Pasadena Star-News)It begged for more people treating a USMNT game like a national event instead of something only for soccer diehards who have spent years insisting everyone else just doesn't understand "the beautiful game."Well, congratulations.America cares.And some of American soccer's gatekeepers don't seem very happy about it.Sound familiar?It should, because the WNBA is going through the same thing with Caitlin Clark.For years, the WNBA asked the country for more attention, more coverage, more respect and more casual sports fans.
Then Clark showed up and delivered all of it almost overnight.She brought Iowa fans, men, women, families and gamblers.She made the WNBA a topic on sports debate shows and news programs.
She helped convince people who had never watched a WNBA regular-season game in their entire lives to give the league a chance.Essentially, she brought the mainstream.And a lot of people started acting like someone had opened the wrong door.That included players in the league, team owners, coaches and media members.Hell, just this week talking head Emmanuel Acho actually said out loud that the WNBA "would be better off without Caitlin Clark." There have been a lot of terrible takes about Clark's impact on the league.
That one was, without question, the worst.Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever signs autographs for fans before a game against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center in New York City.(Michelle Farsi/Getty Images)But Acho's comments sound a lot like what we're hearing from some members of the soccer media.It's not that the WNBA and the USMNT are the same.
Obviously, they aren't.However, both expose...