Hosted here in part, maybe a cause

Interest in soccer seems to be loosely correlated to poverty. More Americans becoming poor would be my guess.

Propaganda. Most people simply repeat TV messages. It's good for marketing. Every big event is a chance to sell ads and sell products. Which makes it good for media in general. It’s also good for politicians since they can simply slide into a likeable event and rub off the positivity, which gets them favorability points. These events are also used to divert the public’s attention from negative topics. Basically it's a win for all but truth seekers.