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Winning isn’t everything: U.S. Soccer Foundation files lawsuit against U.S. Soccer Federation

By Gregory Tears

FIFA president Gianni Infantino (R) congratulates the United 2026 bid (Canada-Mexico-US) officials Carlos Cordeiro (C), president of the United States Football Association, president of the Mexican Football Association Decio de Maria Serrano (L) and Steve Reed (2nd L), president of the Canadian Soccer Association, following the announcement of the 2026 World Cup host during the 68th FIFA Congress at the Expocentre in Moscow on June 13, 2018. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images)
FIFA president Gianni Infantino (R) congratulates the United 2026 bid (Canada-Mexico-US) officials Carlos Cordeiro (C), president of the United States Football Association, president of the Mexican Football Association Decio de Maria Serrano (L) and Steve Reed (2nd L), president of the Canadian Soccer Association, following the announcement of the 2026 World Cup host during the 68th FIFA Congress at the Expocentre in Moscow on June 13, 2018. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images) /
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The U.S. Soccer Foundation filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation on Thursday about intellectual property rights. And soccer in the United States is the biggest loser.

Another day, another dollar and another mess for the U.S. Soccer Federation. In the same week that the USSF proudly and publicly patted itself on the back for its questionable hiring of Gregg Berhalter to the post of U.S. men’s national team head coach after fourteen long months, the USSF is now facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the very foundation that was set up by the USSF in 1991 and funded with proceeds from the 1994 World Cup held in the United States.

The lawsuit filed by the Foundation is essentially asking the court to rule that the Foundation owns the rights to certain trademarks, including logos, that the Foundation has been using in the course of its business since 1996. The lawsuit notes that many of the marks in question are actually registered to the USSF but alleges that the USSF has not made an effort “to control or otherwise interfere with the Foundation’s use of the [m]arks.”

According to the lawsuit, the USSF represented to the Foundation in two meetings, one in September 2018 and another in November 2018, that the USSF owned the name and trademarks of the Foundation and had future interest in using the Foundation’s name for the USSF’s own use.

The lawsuit also alleges that the USSF expected that the Foundation would cease calling itself the U.S. Soccer Foundation and, if it did not do so, the USSF would file a lawsuit against the Foundation. The lawsuit alleges that the USSF is seeking to control the Foundation’s trademarks in advance of the 2026 World Cup because of the significant sponsorship and fundraising opportunities that such an event brings to the table.

But why would the Foundation feel the need to file suit against the USSF? It could be that this is simply an intellectual property dispute between two organizations. But given the stakes and potential dollars involved, it may be more about money, power and control.

The 1994 World Cup held in the United States had overall profits of $1.45 billion and brought in $620 million to the City of Los Angeles, the site of the World Cup final. These were numbers from 24 years ago. The 2026 World Cup is estimated to have profits exceeding $10 billion and is expected to be the most well-attended World Cup ever.

The USSF and the Foundation are clearly close to one another. Carlos Cordeiro, the current President of the USSF and a former Goldman, Sachs & Co. partner, and former USSF President Sunil Gulati, both currently sit on the Board of Directors of the Foundation. This fact alone raises several important and troubling questions.

Did Cordeiro’s position as a Foundation Board member give him intimate knowledge of the appreciating value of the Foundation’s trademarks and logos given the vast fundraising and sponsorship opportunities linked with the most lucrative World Cup in history coming to the United States in 2026?

Is the potential increase in value of the Foundation’s intellectual property what prompted the tone of the messages to the Foundation in September and November?

Did the USSF see dollar signs and begin to internally question why the Foundation should be the organization to control the piles of money that will be flowing into the coffers of the Foundation over the next eight years?

Maybe the Foundation will win its lawsuit against the USSF in this case, but at what cost? The Foundation will likely be tied up in a costly litigation that will slowly move along, spending resources and time that could have been used to advance soccer in the United States. Every dollar spent on this litigation is a dollar that is not spent on the advancement of soccer in the United States.

And how will the USSF look in the eyes of the corporate community given that it is threatening the very existence of the Foundation, whose mission it is to “enhance, assist and grow the sport in the United States, with a special emphasis on children in underserved communities?”

In a sport that already has tremendous problems recruiting players from underprivileged backgrounds, a dispute with the Foundation can’t be good for the USSF’s image. It seems that, ultimately, the USSF wants to be the organization that controls how and where the large amounts of money will be spent that will be available through corporate sponsorships and partnerships coinciding with the 2026 World Cup.

At a time when the Foundation and the USSF should be working together to advance soccer in the United States, both at the grassroots level and on the field at the national team level, the Foundation and the USSF have essentially taken a family dispute and have chosen to fight in the public domain about the ultimate control of untold amounts of tax-free contributions.

When the very institutions that are tasked with growing the sport in the United States are fighting each other over the right to control sponsorship and charitable dollars that will flow from the hosting of the 2026 World Cup, it is clear that winning a World Cup on the field is not as important as creating a financial victory for the stakeholders of these organizations.

The Foundation currently lists the USSF as one of its “Club and League Partners” on its website. After today, how long will that continue to be the case?

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