ND: It’s been a difficult and strange couple years for global football and the world at large. The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, of course, but does World Cup Qatar feel like a bit of reset or relaunch moment? And what quantifies success for the U.S. men’s team at the tournament?

CPC: I think the World Cup 2022 is kind of everything-is-back. Twenty-twenty, 2021, and even a little bit of ’22 has been hampered by COVID-19. Hopefully, by the time November rolls around, we will continue to see full stadiums at the World Cup. Our men’s team can do as they’ve shown in the past: playing well, being dynamic, and, really progressing as the tournament evolves. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of a World Cup championship team, and I know that you have to be good. And our team is. But you also have to be lucky, and you have to be healthy. I’m hoping that we get a little bit of luck, and that our players stay healthy and at the top of their game.

I have really enjoyed the evolution of our men’s team and the infusion of youth, and they just keep getting better and better. They’re exciting, they’re dynamic, they’re passionate. And having been able to spend time with a few of the players, they’re just great people, too. As individuals and as a team, it has been fun to watch. I think they’ve captured the imagination of the fans as well. Some of those environments, especially the World Cup qualifiers, were some of the best sporting environments I’ve ever been in. The men’s team has a lot going for it. Qualifying for the World Cup in ’22 was a great achievement, and I’m looking forward to it.

Where do you see America’s place in global football, and how is it changing? The women’s team remains number one in the world and the NWSL continues to grow but we’re also seeing huge success abroad as European clubs invest in their women’s programs. On the men’s side, MLS and USL are creating a robust professional landscape with dozens of Americans on teams in Europe.

Right now is probably one of the most exciting times in our history to be involved in soccer—or football, depending on where you’re from. You’re seeing it both on the women’s side of the game and the men’s side. Interest is at an all-time high, both watching it—whether on TV or in person—as well as the investment. You’re seeing it grow, especially on the women’s side, which has been really exciting for me, personally. People, companies, and organizations are now seeing that investing in women’s sports, and women’s soccer specifically, is not only the right thing to do, it’s smart business-wise. It’s a good investment. Our women’s team is the best in the world, and, obviously, we’re hoping to remain the best in the world. But we also have really high expectations for our men’s team: to be one of the top eight teams in the world consistently. You’re seeing the evolution of the men. We have the biggest pool of players we’ve ever had with our men’s team. And it’s a very young roster. Things are moving in the right direction.

The intertwining of sport and geopolitics is in the spotlight like never before. Human rights is a particular flashpoint—supporters, athletes, and corporate sponsors alike actively taking political stances and often exerting pressure on governing bodies. How, if at all, is the Federation thinking through and approaching things differently? How have you changed how you work with your various stakeholders in this respect? Are the conversations you’re having different than they were a few years ago?

Human rights and social justice are things we take very seriously. U.S. Soccer, with our men’s team and our women’s team, and the U.S. in general, are comfortable taking a leading role. We expect to be in a leadership role in advocating for human rights and social justice. One of the opportunities coming up is Qatar 2022. We’re working with a lot of international organizations, as well as with Qatar, to advocate for human rights, but doing it in a respectful manner. We don’t want to only implement change during the World Cup. Boycotting or something like that doesn’t really help change, so we’re working with a lot of different international organizations to see how to go about this in an effective way.

I don’t know that the conversations have changed from a few years ago. For me, personally, and now as president of U.S. Soccer, these things have always been important to us. Coming from the women’s national team and our current women’s national team, you can see the forceful advocacy on these topics. It’s natural for it to be something that I, personally, want to be a leader on, but also I know that I have the full support of U.S. Soccer and that our teams to want to be a force for change.

Put the Turner/HBO Max deal in context for us: What does it mean to the Federation? How does a streamer of stature like HBO Max fit the Federation’s agenda, and what made you think Turner would be a good fit?

I am so excited about this partnership with Turner. Obviously, the number was important because that’s important in every business deal, but something that ranks right up there with the number is the vision and the values of the organization. If we’re going to talk the talk, we have to walk the walk. We want to make sure that the businesses and organizations that we partner with share similar vision and values. In our first meeting, I could see immediately that we aligned on our vision and our values, not to mention that how innovative they are. This is going to be a great platform for U.S. Soccer and for our fans.

With values, one of the most important things was diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Turner was fully on board and have their own initiatives that they’re they’re doing. Another thing is to do it together. We win together, very much making it a partnership. It’s really important, especially in today’s world with how the commercial and television landscape is changing, to have a television partnership that’s collaborative. We have really high expectations for ourselves. But we know we can’t do it alone. We need our partners, both on the television side and on the sponsorship side, to help us reach the levels that we’re trying to reach both on and off the field.

In a conversation with The Athletic, you prioritized ‘growing revenue with new and current partners.’ Where do you see those growth opportunities? Could it be a direct-to-consumer play like  FIFA+?

There are a lot of different revenue areas where we’re exploring. One of them is in our sponsorships. There are many categories that are still open, so working in expanding those areas is a focus. Also, we have some fantastic, unbelievable donors who are not only helping to raise money for U.S. Soccer but who are bringing a lot of expertise in different areas and are willing to jump in—on the direct-to-consumer side as well as working in partnership with Nike and others. This is one of the best times I can remember to be engaged in soccer because the demand is so high. Just the look at what’s ahead. We have the ’22 men’s World Cup. We have the 2023 women’s World Cup and 2024 Olympics. Then, the ’26 World Cup will be here an in Mexico and Canada. It’s yet to be determined where the ’27 women’s World Cup will be but I think we’ll bid for that or for ’31. The roadmap is pretty unprecedented.

You’ve mentioned needing to make sure World Cup 2026 is as much an event for all 50 states as it is the host cities. What might that look like in practice?

At the ’94 World Cup, I was just a kid in Memphis, but I remember watching all the games, recording them on my VHS, and rewatching them all the time. And I remember the excitement that I had in Memphis, which wasn’t a host city. Obviously, then I experienced it on a very personal level at the ’99 World Cup. There was an excitement as the U.S. team came through the different host cities. The key will be working with our members across the country to make sure that the 2026 World Cup has that level of excitement in every state, that it is truly a World Cup hosted by every state in the United States.

Are we going to look back and consider the 2020s the Decade of American Soccer?

I think it’s similar to what we experienced in 1994 and 1999. Many people in this country at that time didn’t know much about soccer. It was kind of the launching of soccer in our country and the launching of women’s sports in general. I think with the ’26 World Cup and then hopefully for ’27 or ’31 we’re going to see exponential growth and the explosion of soccer in this country.

This article is part of a “Beltway Focus” focus tied to the 2022 Congressional Soccer Match.

U.S. Soccer Federation is Presenting Sponsor of the 2022 Congressional Soccer Match, Washington, D.C., on April 27—a first-time partnership. The annual event, supporting U.S. Soccer Foundation’s social-impact mission and programming, is hosted jointly by the Foundation and Soccer Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives.