I’m really excited to see a soccer game this spring. I’m sorry. I meant: I’m really excited to see a soccer “match” this spring. I have tickets. I bought them in the fall of 2024 because I was worried they’d sell out, I would see it on Instagram, and I’d be jealous of everyone there.
Will the game be good? Will it be fun? Who knows? I’ve always loved soccer but this particular soccer team has actually never played a real match. They didn’t even have players when I bought the tickets. One could argue that it makes no sense. But did I also buy the jersey? Yes. Yes I did.
I’m talking about Maine’s super-buzzy, first-ever pro soccer team, Portland Hearts the Pine. Their USL (United Soccer League) home opener in May at the renovated Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland is likely to be a sold-out frenzied event. The stands will be decorated with sweatshirts, scarves, jerseys, and hats for a team that literally didn’t exist when the merchandise was sold. It will be loud and probably emotional. But why?
Why does anybody care about a team that hasn’t played a game? Since when do people in Maine care about soccer? What is it about this team?
Maine has had minor league sports teams before, obviously. Yet, the level of enthusiasm, sheer merch sales, and advanced ticket sales is unprecedented. Why isn’t it like this with the Portland Sea Dogs? Why is it almost never sold out at the Maine Mariners game?
The real answer involves psychology, history, and other topics far above my pay grade, as local rapper and weed dealer. Although, I think I kinda get it.
Traditionally, soccer has not been one of the four horsemen of American pro sports. Major League Soccer (MLS) still sits at the table adjacent to the cool kids table where MLB and the NHL hang, where the NBA and NFL eat money for lunch. The New England Revolution plays to a usually-half-empty Gillette Stadium. Comparatively, Patriots games are packed.
However, the tide could be about to turn for soccer in the United States. American enthusiasm about soccer has never been higher. The U.S. women’s team has risen to world domination over the previous two decades. One of Earth’s most famous people, Lionel Messi, recently joined our MLS. The Philadelphia Eagles stadium last summer was packed to the last row in the sky, full of Americans, who came to see English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Liverpool play a meaningless friendly match up close. American stars have invested in European soccer (Lebron at Liverpool, Tom Brady at Birmingham, Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham, etc.). There’s even a hit TV show (Ted Lasso) about a soccer coach of a made-up Premier League Club.
To top it all off, the World Cup, soccer’s biggest stage, arrives in North America in 2026. Venues across the continent, including Gillette Stadium, will host sold out matches of the best men’s teams in the world. Though the U.S. men’s team has traditionally sucked, hosting the World Cup in NFL stadiums across the country will showcase the massive enthusiasm Americans have for soccer.
The truth is, many of us grew up playing soccer. There have always been soccer pitches at every high school in America, even if we call them “fields.” My life as a boy and a teenager involved a horrifically smelly Nike duffel bag with shin guards, cleats, and grassy socks in it. I wasn’t good but I loved to play. And, like me, most Mainers who grew up after a childhood of soccer have had no outlet to express that history.
In recent years, there have been signs. A bar opened in Portland called the Portland Zoo that advertises beer and soccer on TV. The previous World Cup drew hundreds to watch a big TV in Monument Square in the winter. But we’ve never had our own team. We’ve had to defer our fandom to the New England Revolution or Liverpool or, in my case, Watford (who I’ve learned are basically the New York Jets of English football). Until now. Everything changed with Portland Hearts of Pine.
Team owner Gabe Hoffman-Johnson and his associates have done a masterful, authentic job branding a “club” for all Mainers to join. If you’ve followed their journey on Instagram or elsewhere, the brand has expressed an emotional story about Maine’s love for authenticity and un-satiated love for soccer. And somehow they got me buying tickets for something to be proud of before the team even scored its first goal.
