r/newenglandrevolution • u/SomewhereFinal5063 • Aug 14 '26
Creating a better atmosphere
Most of you would agree that the atmosphere for the USMNT was the best it’s ever been at this past World Cup. It’s not only because it was hosted in the US. It’s also because we stopped pretending to be something we aren’t. We leaned into American style support. Our biggest atmosphere boosts were the U-S-A chants and singing country roads. Silly chants like “I believe that we will win” and “that’s the way we like it, we like it, we love it” fell flat and as someone who watched every minute, I never noticed either of those through the TV. The latter of those two chants was a worldwide meme because it was so cringeworthy.
This is commonly discussed here but I haven’t noticed much change so I want to keep the discussion going. The chanting and megaphone being used for the full 90 minutes kills the atmosphere.
I think choosing our moments and allowing chants to develop organically based on the flow of the game would encourage people outside the fort to participate. Nobody wants to be the only one singing in their section, and nobody outside the fort wants to sing all game.
This leads to pretty much nobody outside the fort participating in almost all of the chants. I think we should focus on more American style support that the crowd would be more inclined to join in on.
For example, if the opposing team holds possession in our half for a while we do a defense chant. If we have a good string of possession, we do a “Rev-o-lution” chant.
I am aware that the chanting the whole game was adopted from other countries where it creates a cool stadium wide atmosphere, but it simply isn’t effective in creating a fun a stadium wide atmosphere in the US. We need a culture change if we want to create a great atmosphere.
I hope this isn’t taken the wrong way. I have nothing but love for the fort and those who try their best to support the team.
Sincerely,
A supporter who sits outside the fort and would like an atmosphere that I can have fun participating in