"The U.S. men's and women's senior national teams will play 25 home friendly matches combined in 2025, and each game requires two simple ingredients: an opponent and a host venue."
""The relationship side of it is so important," King told ESPN. "In some ways, it can be almost a sales job where you've got a chance of getting an opponent, and you just chase that down like the last bus at night until you get 'em closed.""
""To the extent possible, we want to get our team to different parts of the country," Terry told ESPN. One of his guiding questions is: "How do we spread our national team and get as many people watching as poss"
Two U.S. Soccer executives share responsibility for scheduling opponents and securing host venues for senior national team friendlies. Opponents and venues must be finalized together, requiring simultaneous negotiations across multiple potential matches. Relationship-building and persistent outreach drive successful agreements, sometimes requiring calls across time zones. The process covers men’s, women’s and youth national teams and aims to secure high-quality opponents while distributing games across the United States. Venue selection is guided by questions of geographic spread and maximizing attendance and viewership, but logistical and organizational hurdles complicate that objective.
Read at ESPN.com
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