The Great Game

This book offers a captivating exploration of how America’s complicated and ever-evolving relationship with the world can be seen through the two footballs of the world—American football and soccer—and the interaction between them.

The United States is the only major nation unable to compete internationally in its favorite spectator sport because no one else plays it. But as the world’s game of football grows in popularity in the U.S., and the nation prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the two footballing worlds are converging.

In The Great Game: A Tale of Two Footballs and America’s Quest to Conquer Global Sport, Andrés Martinez examines how sporting billionaires, tech and media conglomerates, women players propelled by Title IX, gamers, and immigrants have sought to end America’s sports isolationism—not by expanding the reach of “their” own games, but by turning the country into an unexpected power in the other, international, football. The book traces the shifting demographics, cultural change, and evolving business philosophies.

Join the Future Tense and the New America Fellows Program for a conversation about The Great Game.