Borussia Dortmund count on using their FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ participation as a springboard to further increase their popularity in the United States after the German club’s profile received a significant boost during the groundbreaking tournament. Dortmund’s gripping 3-2 quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid C. F. brought 76,611 fans to the MetLife Stadium, New York New Jersey, which was the third-highest attendance of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 ahead of Sunday’s final. The huge crowd is an indicator of their – and Madrid’s – impressive global fanbase, which has been cultivated in the US in previous years through three pre-season tours and the opening of a New York City office in March 2024. There are also now 45 supporters’ clubs across the country and BVB’s football academy programme boasts 25 dedicated locations nationwide in addition to other grassroots initiatives that keep Dortmund highly visible on the US football scene.

“The interest in our club in the US is increasing and it’s amazing what happened [in] the last 10 years. When we started our internationalisation (process) with reaching the (UEFA) Champions League final in 2013 against (FC) Bayern Munich, to be honest, I didn’t expect that we would welcome so many Black-and-Yellow supporters,” said Carsten Cramer, Dortmund’s managing director, whose club played in Atlanta as well as Cincinnati and New York New Jersey. Participation in the inaugural 32-team FIFA Club World Cup has super-charged Dortmund’s profile both in the US and beyond, adding over two million followers to their social media accounts and bringing more than 10,000 supporters to their “BVB Embassy” fan zones in New York City and Cincinnati.

“It’s now the fourth time that we are in the US after three summer tours and this official tournament,” Cramer continued. “I have the feeling that the amount is increasing. So, it’s something which is really working and, whenever we make a first and second step into a market, we promise the people a third and fourth will follow. So, it’s a long-term commitment and I’m very sure that the journey of our club doesn’t end today.” Patrick Owomoyela, a former BVB player and club ambassador, added: “It’s always great to have a competition against the best teams in the world, to do that overseas is even more special, to bring our club overseas and tell our story, to represent our club and culture.”

Dortmund have enjoyed a strong connection to the US stretching back more than two decades. A steady stream of US-nationals have pulled on their fabled yellow-and-black shirt, such as USMNT captain Christian Pulisic, now of AC Milan. The next generation of US players in the BVB squad – Gio Reyna, Cole Campbell and Mathis Albert – feature in a documentary the club has launched celebrating its US heritage. With more than 30 on-site activations during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, Dortmund are hopeful their efforts allied to the tournament’s impact and football’s increasing popularity among American children will mean a continued upward growth for both the club and the competition.

“It is amazing what the US is offering to us from Europe,” added Cramer. “The interest in sport is exciting; maybe it’s not a wrong focus, but still a different one, because the other established American sports are more famous, but I’m very sure that soccer is able to grow. More and more girls are playing, and the more the active community is growing, the more the interest will increase. “The first edition (of the tournament), from our perspective, is a success and I’m very sure that FIFA and the football community will invest more and more efforts to make the second one [in 2029] even bigger.”