Can The U.S. Spend Its Way To Soccer Success?

BusinessSportsMoneyCan The U.S. Spend Its Way To Soccer Success?ByBeau Dure,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Beau Dure is a sports journalist and author of several soccer books.Follow AuthorJun 03, 2026, 04:27pm EDTThe Arthur M. Blank National Training Center had its ribbon-cutting on May 7.Getty ImagesJust in time for the World Cup, U.S. Soccer has unveiled a sprawling, state-of-the-art complex in the Atlanta suburbs that shows just how much the nation’s soccer community is willing to spend on soccer. The most commonly cited cost estimate of The Arthur C. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center is $250 million, though some reports put the number a little lower. Most of the funding comes from the U.S. Soccer Federation, which floated $200 million in bonds via Fayette County’s development authority.But donors and sponsors have been quick to open their checkbooks. “Founding partners” include AT&T, Bank of America, Chobani, Emory Healthcare, Nike, ŌURA and Atlanta’s own Coca-Cola. The namesake donor, Home Depot co-founder and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, contributed $50 million on top of his other massive investments in soccer — paying MLS a $70 million expansion fee to launch Atlanta United in 2014, investing $90 million for Atlanta United’s training facilities, and investing $350 million to bring an NWSL team in the NWSL. Chick-Fil-A chairman and former CEO Dan Cathy donated land, and Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang has contributed as part of her $55 million pledge to the federation.And the Atlanta facility — which includes the federation’s headquarters, relocated from Chicago — isn’t even the federation’s only training facility. It still has agreements in place for facilities near Los Angeles and Kansas City.U.S. Soccer is fortunate to have such big-moneyed backers, because the federation’s spending on its national teams — including not just the men’s and women’s teams frequently seen on TV but also...