How the American takeover of world football failed.

A look into Major League Soccer supporter clubs

Supporter clubs are legion in Europe and South America, where soccer is an obsession. The sport is not nearly as popular in the United States, but that does seem to be changing, due in no small part to the slow success of Major League Soccer and its dedicated fan bases. This brief documentary examines a handful of American supporter clubs who sing songs, cheer wildly, and commit themselves and their families to their hometown clubs.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the game that led to the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who had accidentally scored on his own net.

Rivalry between the AFL and NFL led to a merger—and the creation of the Super Bowl

Competition between the American Football League and the National Football League led to a 1966 merger agreement, with the Super Bowl created as a championship game to determine league supremacy before the two leagues were fully integrated.

The 2010 announcement that Russia and Qatar would host back-to-back men's World Cups eventually led to the resignation of FIFA's president.

Hear how the Super Bowl went from a risky experiment to America's unofficial holiday

In this podcast episode, former Emmy award-winning ESPN producer Dennis Deninger traces the Super Bowl's unlikely rise from the AFL-NFL merger era to a national spectacle, explaining how it reshaped advertising, gambling, television, and American culture.

In 2015, FIFA's decades-old bribery network was exposed

In 2015, the US Department of Justice exposed a 24-year bribery network influencing broadcast rights and votes on World Cup host cities. Over 40 officials were indicted for accepting bribes. FIFA implemented several reforms, including term limits for presidents and council members and salary disclosures in 2016.

The biggest controversies of the NFL

Some of the biggest controversies in NFL history didn’t just spark debate—they changed the game. From Spygate and Deflategate to concussion research and the league's ambivalent stance on it, these moments led to new rules, safety measures, and major policy shifts. Explore how each scandal shaped the league and its future.

1440: The National Football League

Explore the best resources we found on the NFL

Understanding the basics of football

While American football may be entertaining, for fans who never played the game it can be confusing. Why do teams choose to run, pass, line up in certain defenses, run people in motion, call audibles at the line—or do any of the many other things that happen on the field?

100 years of NFL history in under four minutes

Founded in 1920 in Canton, Ohio, professional football has grown into the premiere sport in the US. Generating more than $20B annually, the NFL gained significant popularity after merging with the American Football League in 1970, a move which among other things established the Super Bowl.

A 2024 cheating scandal cast doubt on the industry

In 2024, National Fantasy Football Championship, a fantasy league with big payouts, fired one of its employees for manipulating data. The episode cast doubt on the relatively unregulated industry, despite the league coming down hard on the nefarious worker.

Pete Rozelle made football an American obsession

There have been eight NFL commissioners in the league’s 100-plus year history, but none of them changed the league quite like Pete Rozelle. This 1984 New York Times Magazine profile looks back at the substantial changes Rozelle brought to the league since he took the job in 1960, as well as the challenges he faced while in office.

Fantasy football is now a $10B industry

Curious about how fantasy football grew into a global empire? This video breaks down how a losing Oakland Raiders team led to the first form of fantasy football, long before the internet and smartphones made it a worldwide phenomenon.

The story behind the PGA's civil war

In the 1960s, there was a war brewing within the PGA between the golf pros and the touring pros. Eventually, tensions boiled over into courtrooms, leading to the creation of a new league. This Golf.com article provides a deep history of the war, with in-depth interviews with key players in the negotiations.

The NFL is so successful because it is perfectly suited for television

The predictable weekly cadence of football games ritualizes the experience of watching together, and their relative scarcity makes every game meaningful. With the stop-and-go play of the sport, there are predictable, repeating stoppages to allow broadcasters to sell lots of advertising inventory. The league sits in the sweet spot compared to MLB (many games) and NBA and soccer (continuous play with fewer ads). This Acquired episode distills fascinating insights into the NFL's business and history.

A Netflix docuseries turned the sport into a national obsession

Throughout much of its history, Formula 1 racing was a European sport that failed to ever find a major audience in the US. That changed with "Drive to Survive," the Netflix docuseries that premiered in 2019. This analysis from two communications professors unpacks how the series has successfully presented the sport for an American audience and cultivated a dedicated fanbase in the process.

The 20th-century rise of fascism affected the World Cup

Spain, in the midst of a civil war, did not participate, and Japan, after invading China, pulled out of the competition. An additional six Central and North American teams scratched by the time that year's World Cup began.

NFL explained

The NFL is the premier professional American football league, founded in 1920 in Canton, Ohio. It consists of 32 teams playing an 18-week regular season from September to January, culminating in the Super Bowl championship in February. The NFL has grown into the world's most valuable sports league, generating nearly $20B in revenue in 2023, and with teams valued at $163B combined. Learn its history here.

Explaining the rise in adult sports leagues

Community sports leagues shifted from publicly supported entities to privatized ones in the 1990s, as tech advances streamlined registration processes. Millennial interest drove significant growth in social sports leagues for adults, growing much faster than other kinds of sports. A few industry leaders have benefited from this shift.

Revisit 10 iconic moments from the Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup was inaugurated over 60 years after the men's, but it has kept pace with its production of iconic moments. Revisit the player revolts, sports bras, shocking referee decisions, and more that comprise the top moments in Women’s...

A timeline of sports-betting scandals

This timeline examines memorable moments from three decades of sports-betting history. It breaks down key political moments, as well as some historical moments such as when the internet pushed underground bookmaking online. There are also multiple descriptions of betting scandals from 1989 on.

The first Super Bowl didn't sell out—and the Packers won in a rout

Played on January 15, 1967, as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, Super Bowl I failed to sell out the Los Angeles Coliseum as Vince Lombardi's Green Bay defeated Kansas City 35-10.

The Super Bowl is the National Football League’s championship game

Played annually in early February between the league’s two conference champions, the game was created as part of the 1966 merger between the American Football League and the National Football League. It has become the most-watched sporting event in the US each year.

Major League Baseball, explained

Major League Baseball is America’s oldest professional sports league. Alongside triumphs, the league has faced scandals, including drug abuse and steroid use, shaping its path over the decades. Today, MLB embraces new rules, international talent, and a growing connection to legalized sports betting.

Watch 5 unforgettable World Cup moments from the last twenty years of World Cup soccer, including Cristiano Ronaldo's dominant performance against Spain and Zinedine Zidane's notorious headbutt.

Teddy Roosevelt’s intervention helped save a brutal early version of football

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt pressured college leaders to reform football amid public outrage over 18 player deaths. His push led to rule changes—like the forward pass—that reduced violence and ensured the sport’s survival.

10 controversial World Cup moments

If you're expecting a staid back-and-forth, then you'll be surprised by the World Cup, which is often filled with high drama and even higher tensions. This list highlights how controversy has been a constant on soccer's biggest stage, influencing outcomes, sparking debates, and sometimes leading to rule changes.

The League of Nations was the predecessor to the UN—and the US never joined

The League of Nations—established in 1920 after World War I—was the first global organization aimed at maintaining world peace. Although US President Woodrow Wilson championed its creation, the United States never joined.

An interactive dive into the history of international women's soccer

Despite evidence it has been around just as long as men's, international support and recognition for women's soccer was long delayed for various reasons. The National Football Museum collects artifacts and oral histories on the history of soccer...

In 2024, the league signed a 11-year deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBC Universal

The $2.2B deal was widely applauded in the media, but the Players Association questioned how the NBA arrived at the valuation and why the deal gives players less than 10% of total revenue compared to the NBA’s 50%.

The NBA, explained

From humble beginnings in 1891, basketball transformed into the global juggernaut we know today. The NBA, established in 1949 and later revitalized by Commissioner David Stern in the 1980s, became a model for sports branding, player marketing, and international expansion.

A children's toy inspired the name ‘Super Bowl’

The name “Super Bowl” was coined by AFL founder Lamar Hunt, who casually suggested it in 1966—riffing on his child’s Super Ball toy—after alternatives such as “The Big One” and “AFL-NFL World Championship Game” proved clunky and forgettable. The name was officially adopted for the third championship.

Pepsi dominates the list of the highest-rated Super Bowl commercials in history

The Super Bowl features the two best NFL teams, playing American football at the highest level. While the games may be forgotten by fans whose team didn’t make it, no one forgets the commercials.

Hosting the World Cup requires massive investments in infrastructure

Since the 1990s, those costs have crept into the billions. Cities are able to sell the high price tag with promises of jobs and tourism dollars, but long-term studies showed the promises were often overstated.

Cricket used to be America's pastime

Before baseball, American football, basketball, or hockey ever organized in the US, there was one sport which could be found up and down the East Coast: cricket. The second-most popular sport in the world, cricket is mostly ignored by Americans, despite its prevalence in early American history. Learn more about the forgotten role cricket played in the US with this article.

Watch a comprehensive history of the Super Bowl

This video traces the Super Bowl's history from its origins through major games, ads, and cultural moments, offering a comprehensive overview of how the event evolved. Note that the video covers through the 2020 season.

The decline in value of the NFL running back

Running backs long held the role of superstar on NFL teams, carrying their team down by down to the endzone. Their salaries reflected that importance as well. But in the last 30 years, front offices and fans have taken more to the quarterback instead, who receives much higher salaries. This podcast episode breaks down the economics of the turn in the game's focus from rushing to passing.

See the evolution of Super Bowl logos and how the NFL refined its visual identity over time

Tracing Super Bowl logos from early, varied designs to today’s standardized look shows how the NFL adapted to shifting design trends, television demands, and brand strategy.

Sports leagues have attempted to prevent athletes from betting

As pro and collegiate sports embrace betting (and the revenue that comes with it), each league works diligently to ensure the integrity of the games by hiring private firms to analyze irregular bets. These companies have flagged bets that led to the firing of Alabama’s baseball coach, the suspension of multiple athletes at Iowa and Iowa State, and, most recently, a lifetime ban on former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter by the NBA in April 2024.

A timeline of LIV Golf, the PGA Tour's primary rival

In 2021, the rival professional league LIV Golf Investments was unveiled. It was a move that reshaped men's professional golf. This Sports Illustrated Timeline dives into the twists and turns occurring since the announcement. Learn what star players left the PGA for LIV. Also, get details about the mutual agreement outlined in 2023, which has yet to come to fruition.

Television transformed college football into a national spectacle

The rise of televised games in the mid-20th century expanded college football’s reach far beyond campus stadiums—turning regional rivalries into national events, boosting revenue, and cementing the sport as a Saturday tradition across the country.

FIFA was formed in 1904 and held its first tournament in 1930

In 1930, the first World Cup was held in Uruguay after the Olympics refused to allow professional soccer players to play in the 1932 games. The host country made it to the final of the 13-team event, playing against Argentina. Watch this remastered film of the 1930 match with Uruguay defeating Argentina 4-2 in front of 68,000 screaming fans at the newly opened Estadio Centenario.

The impact of FC Barcelona on Catalan pride

FC Barcelona is one of the most decorated soccer clubs in the world and has also become a source of Catalan pride. It all started in 1899 with a Swiss-German accountant and journalist, a newspaper advertisement, and 11 talented soccer players. Read this article to learn about the team’s humble beginnings and how its history overlaps with the Catalan resistance to Spanish rule.

​​Some allege the NFL has shifted gameplay toward fantasy

Recent rule changes in the league have increased passing and point-scoring, which critics argue is motivated by a desire to appeal to fantasy-loving viewers who might be frustrated by slower, lower-scoring games.

Hear the story behind 11 iconic Super Bowl photos, told by the photographer who shot them

Sports Illustrated legend Walter Iooss Jr. revisits 11 unforgettable Super Bowl images—including Namath, Montana, and Taylor—explaining how light, access, and timing captured moments that defined the game’s visual history.

Greg Norman, before LIV Golf

In 1994, Greg Norman was enjoying success as a pro golfer. But the Australian wanted to see more opportunities for global players like himself, leading him to found the World Golf Tour. Read this Sports Illustrated deep dive on Norman's failed golf league and the lesson he learned that would help him launch and become CEO of LIV Golf in 2021.

The general public cannot buy Super Bowl tickets at face value

The NFL controls every Super Bowl ticket, distributing none through a general public sale; after allotments to teams, players, sponsors, and the league, only about 11,600 tickets—roughly 16%—are available to fans at face value, mostly via team lotteries.

The 300 best fantasy football players ever

Fantasy leagues (and their corresponding group chats) are no strangers to arguments, and this list will likely inspire a few spirited ones. Ten ESPN writers were asked to pick 30 of the undisputed greats of fantasy football, making for a fascinating look back at the all-stars of the digital gridiron

The history of the Women's World Cup

The tournament began in 1991 with the US team winning. Since then, it's gradually become an international phenomenon. This resource from the National Women's History Museum traces how it evolved.

Walter Camp revolutionized American Football

When Walter Camp was introduced to the game of football in the late 1800s, the rules weren’t set, the field wasn’t uniform, and the game was brutal. Camp joined early rules committees and was instrumental in shaping the modern game. Read this deep dive into Camp’s early life and influences, and find out how he established the line of scrimmage and the series of downs.