US looks at eliminating pay-to-play after World Cup that ‘fundamentally changed’ its soccer outlook

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — U.S. Soccer’s answer to the problems of the pay-to-play system is not to reform it, but to tear it down entirely.

“We are not seeking to make the current system more affordable,” federation COO Dan Helfrich said Thursday. “We’re trying to create a new system that then we make highly affordable. It’s a really important distinction.”

Functionally, such a thing would be a massive undertaking and would meet significant opposition from stakeholders who benefit financially from the current system (and who would certainly note that U.S. Soccer would stand to benefit financially from a new system).

Pay-to-play, which refers to massive club fees and travel costs associated with youth soccer in the United States — features that don’t exist in most other countries, where the sport is subsidized, largely by the government — has come into the spotlight since the U.S. men’s national team was eliminated in the World Cup as one of the main reasons why the country’s talent development is not at the level it should be.

The system exists, in varying forms, with all youth sports, but with soccer it seems to exacerbate issues that are already there because the talent pipeline is generally not as robust as, for example, basketball.

JT Batson is pictured June 26. Anadolu via Getty Images

“From outside, I felt that people from a poor background had no access to the game,” said Arsène Wenger, the former Arsenal manager who now works as FIFA’s chief of global football development. “That is quite a bit part of the population that usually in Europe, the best football players come from poor backgrounds. We want maybe a job to do as well to make it possible and available for everybody and after to be consistent because it’s not a short-term fix.”

Helfrich and Wenger, as well as USSF CEO JT Batson, spoke Thursday to a small group of reporters that included The Post at U.S. Soccer’s headquarters outside of Atlanta.

The conversation focused largely on how the federation can continue growing the sport after what Batson called an “incredibly successful” World Cup that “has fundamentally changed the trajectory of the sport in the United States.”

Investment, Batson said, has to come from a combination of government funding, sponsorships and private philanthropy.

The federation’s goal is not just to expand access to the sport but to have alignment at all levels of the sport and to educate more coaches.

“We know, by analyzing the whole world, it’s only down to education,” Wenger said. “And in the States, there’s no tradition of sports that use their feet. All the sports, you don’t need the skill with your feet. … Unfortunately, to develop skill with your feet, you need to start very early. You cannot start at 14 years of age and become an international player.”

The USMNT celebrates a goal during its June 19 match. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters

Consistently identifying talent at a young age requires developing infrastructure that the U.S. simply does not have yet.

Wenger used the example of his home country of France, which opened its first academy in 1973 and won its first European title in 1984.

For all the expectations attached to the generation of players that competed at this summer’s World Cup, the generation of Americans that can truly compete for the trophy has yet to come through the system.

“We feel like we’re one month into the next five-year period of this summer, LA ’28 and the women’s World Cup in 2031 to ensure that the U.S. is one of the world’s great soccer countries,” Batson said.

Though the growth of U.S. Soccer over the past two decades is undeniable — as is the new interest in the sport driven by the World Cup — that all represents a massive undertaking rife with potential obstacles.

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“Ultimately, it requires resources, and essentially, someone is paying,” Batson said. “So governments need to step up. Professional clubs will continue to need to scale their investment. Of course, our corporate partners and media partners will step up in ways that allow us to continue to do this.

“And then, of course, we, as U.S. Soccer and working with FIFA, need to set the right standards so that the money is being spent most effectively. There’s a comprehensive body of work that’s well underway around how you address that. But ultimately, free is paid by someone, and we need to make sure that we’re aligning those someones together in a way that has the biggest impact.”