U.S. soccer fans might feel the need to pinch themselves twice whenever they think about Emma Hayes and Mauricio Pochettino. Signing two world-class managers to lead their women’s and men’s national teams is undoubtedly a dream come true. While special thanks go to the people behind the scenes who managed to bring the former Chelsea bosses to the States, one wonders how the USSF was able to strike the deal so effortlessly. Well, there’s a secret ingredient—with an extra pinch of $200 million in profit.

“We are now at a moment in time for our sport unlike any other we’ve had before,” proudly admits David Wright to The Athletic, U.S. Soccer chief commercial officer—also, the revealer of the secret spice used for luring Emma and Poch. Believe it or not, the kind of growth that America has witnessed over the years has been phenomenal. Having hosted this year’s Copa America, the US will now be hosting the 2025 Club World Cup, and 2026 World Cup, followed by the 2028 LA Olympics.

Wright couldn’t have been more vocal in expressing America’s desire to host another women’s World Cup in 2031. However, all such things require the biggest asset of all: capital. That only saw the USSF reclaim its commercial rights from Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the MLS-owned agency that had been handling them on the federation’s behalf for nearly two decades.

Now looking at the previous year’s SUM deal, the USSF pocketed a commercial revenue of $32 million. However, for the current financial year ending on March 31, it’s projected to bring in $110 million ($83 million), marking a 243% increase over two years. The majority of thanks goes to revenue earned from their existing sponsors including Coca-Cola, Marriott Bonvoy, Nike, and Visa. In fact, three additional global brands are also expected to strike a deal with the USSF.

The rest includes income generated by matches played by over 27 teams of USSF. (Don’t be surprised; there’s much more beyond the MNT and WNT that includes youth setups and futsal teams.) So in total, the federation’s overall revenue is set to rise $200 million! For a nonprofit organization, this sum is quite substantial. No wonder the USSF was able to take the bold step of signing names like Pochettino and Hayes!

More details on Emma Hayes and Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival

$2 million per year for Emma Hayes to make her the highest-paid women’s coach and a fancy $6 million p.a deal for the mighty Mauricio Pochettino—that explains all the revenues. However, it’s something that they have worked really hard to get this big swing. “It takes resources to be able to take swings that big,” says Wright. “If the business isn’t humming, those decisions become more difficult”

Turns out the business continued to hum so brilliantly that the USSF decided to splurge $250 million on the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, a high-performance facility spanning 200 acres near Atlanta. Of the total amount, $200 million was raised through a bond issue that generated $3.2 billion in interest and sold out in just nine minutes, while the remaining $50 million came courtesy of Arthur M. Blank.

Blank, co-founder of The Home Depot and owner of MLS club Atlanta United and NFL team the Atlanta Falcons, generously contributed to help the USSF get the project underway. This is reminiscent of billionaire Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, who financed the hiring of Mauricio Pochettino for the USMNT.

While hearing about all of these investments was remarkable, it remains to be seen how they pay back the USSF.