DFW Metroplex is new the heartbeat of American soccer

Why the 2026 World Cup Final is in New Jersey defies logic

FIFA made a decision, perhaps due to elite pressure and politics to have the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final in New Jersey instead of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It was a choice that reinforced to me that FIFA is completely out of step with the grassroots of the sport they claim to be advancing. In the United States, the NY/NJ area is not a soccer hotbed beyond the fact its has more people than other metro areas. Sure New Jersey has produced great players like John Harkes, Carli Lloyd, Tony Meola, Tab Ramos and Heather O’Reilly (the later two went to college in North Carolina btw, not NJ) but so has just about every other large metro area in the country.

Per capita, the domestic soccer fandom and professional players developed from the region aren’t anywhere near where they should be. That’s not to say it’s a soccer wasteland, but it isn’t Texas and it certainly isn’t the DFW Metroplex.

The domestic scene whether it be professional men’s and women’s soccer, elite girls and boys academies or high-level, well-supported Adult-Amateur soccer thrives in the DFW area more than any other large US metro (Atlanta I’d argue comes in a distant second).

Yesterday, The League for Clubs (TLFC) announced a partnership with the Metroplex Premier League (MPL) beginning next year. It represents another leap forward in TLFC innovative approach to building men’s lower division soccer.

The League for Clubs is excited to announce a partnership with the Metroplex Premier League (MPL), beginning in 2025.

As we look to continue to grow The League for Clubs nationwide, we have expressed our desire to work with well-run regional leagues. The Metroplex Premier League is undoubtedly one of those leagues. There is no better way to show our respect for what the MPL has built than to work alongside them as they continue to grow the game in one of the great soccer hotbeds in America, the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. We are also excited to learn from The Metroplex Premier League, as we are immensely impressed with their impact on their communities, their quality product, and their bold vision for the future.

Both The League and MPL are building a more sustainable and collaborative product — one that is member-driven and set up for clubs, players and fans to have the best experiences possible, both on the pitch and in their communities. Like the MPL, we at The League also share a desire to see regions show enough sustainable growth to implement promotion and relegation, allowing teams to be rewarded based on sporting merit.

The success of the semipro Metroplex Premier League has happened alongside a huge boom in non-MLS soccer in the DFW region. This boom has been largely uncovered by the national soccer press, but has been one of THE stories of the last ten years in the domestic scene around the sport.

Michael Hitchcock, the former FC Dallas President has been at forefront of this movement in developing and nurturing several ventures in the region. Founding the Fort Worth Vaqueros and Denton Diablos both of whom have played in NPSL for several seasons, “Hitch” demonstrated how adult-amateur clubs could develop their own fan bases and marketing infrastructure in an MLS market.

Then came the PRO/REL soccer shop in McKinney, Hitch’s startup which has been a smashing success and a hallmark of the independent soccer movement. It’s not just a store that ships cool soccer swag to people who buy online but an actual retail shop which has become a gathering place for local fans of the sport to grab a pint and watch a game while shopping.

Next year, Hitchcock will launch the McKinney Chupacabras that will play in USL League Two.

Meanwhile, USL has made moves in the region, launching the Dallas Trinity FC in the USL Super League as well as a Garland-based men’s team that will debut in the USL Championship in 2027.

The DFW Metroplex area is arguably the most sprawling area in the country - and the idea that one professional team no matter how well-run can serve all the metropolitan areas soccer needs from entertainment to player development is a flawed concept.

What we see in the DFW Metroplex is the sort of active soccer community at all levels both on the men’s and women’s side that create the long-term infrastructure and support system to make soccer truly a unique game in the US sporting landscape.