Soccer in America: A Story of Marginalization Andrei S. Markovits & Steven L. Hellerman(101) Just as Sombart noted the absence of what he called “socialism” in the United States, so too can we observe a basic absence of soccer from the firmament of Am erican sports culture. The common denominator for both “exceptionalisms” is th e quintessentially bourgeois nature of Americas objective development and subj ective selflegitimation. This survey, conducted in 1997, includes a brief acco unt of how two American sports (baseball and football) preempted soccers eme rgence, and a more detailed sketch of soccers marginalized presence in the U.S . throughout most of the twentieth century. It concludes with World Cup USA 9 4 and the first season of Major League Soccer（MLS），perhaps the games best a nd last chance to enter the American “sports space.” More detailed study and a nalysis, including an examination of important recent developments and events - such as the 1998 World Cup in France and the 1999 Womens World Cup in the Unit ed States (and its potential legacy) - will be found in the authors forthcomin g book, Offside: Soccer and American Execeptionalism (Princeton University Press, 2001).