"It's a football mad country." That's Herculez Gomez, and he's not interested in hearing otherwise from Olivier Giroud.
The former USMNT striker hit back hard on Duel Nats after Giroud — who left LAFC for Lille last summer after a single MLS season — suggested the United States simply isn't a football country. Gomez's counter-argument: Giroud mistook the league for the market.
"Where he is confused is this is not an MLS country. It's not a U.S. men's national team country. That's why he didn't feel that," Gomez said. "But it is a footballing country, a proper footballing country, a market that many see and want to take advantage of."
The attendance numbers are hard to argue with
Gomez leaned on the figures, and they're not soft ones. The 2026 World Cup drew nearly 7 million spectators across 104 matches — though that includes Canada and Mexico as co-hosts, so the US-only slice is smaller than that headline number suggests. Still, near-full stadiums across the board.
Then there's this: Chivas vs. Club América selling out 90,000 seats in Pasadena on a Wednesday night. Manchester United vs. Liverpool drawing 120,000 at the Big House in Michigan. The Premier League pulling serious TV numbers. The Club World Cup landing on US soil to strong reception.
Those aren't flukes. That's a country that watches football. A lot of it. Just not necessarily MLS.
MLS's real problem hiding in plain sight
That's the uncomfortable truth sitting at the centre of this debate. A 2024 YouGov survey found that 17% of the general US population showed interest in MLS — almost identical to the Premier League's 16% and La Liga's 14%. And at least 60% of MLS fans also follow one of those two European leagues. American football fans aren't loyal to one product. They shop around.
The league's own 2025 numbers reflect the tension. MLS averaged 21,988 fans per match during the regular season — a 5% drop from 2024. Still over 11 million total attendees, which is nothing to dismiss, but the trajectory matters when you're trying to convince investors, broadcasters, and players that the league is growing.
Giroud experienced one version of American football — an MLS locker room, LAFC's results, the day-to-day domestic grind — and drew broad conclusions from it. That's a reasonable mistake for someone who spent the bulk of his career in environments where the club is the culture. In Los Angeles, the club is one option among many.
Gomez's real point is this: the US football problem isn't apathy. It's that MLS and the national team haven't yet figured out how to claim the fans who are clearly already there. Those 90,000 at the Chivas game aren't watching MLS the following weekend. Converting that passion into domestic league loyalty is the actual challenge — and no one's cracked it yet.
