​What can American sports television steal from the World Cup? The answer is: quite a bit. This wasn’t just a win for soccer. It was a masterclass in sports television.FOX’s English-language coverage averaged more than five million viewers during the group stage. It nearly doubled its audience from the 2022 tournament. The United States’ Round-of-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina drew roughly 24.4 million viewers before more than 33 million tuned in for the Americans’ loss to Belgium. Those aren’t niche numbers.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPeople weren’t watching because FOX invented a new camera angle or convinced Lionel Messi to wear a microphone. They watched because the event felt important. That’s Lesson No. 1: Trust the event.Somewhere along the way, American sports television decided every second needed explaining. Every replay requires narration and controversial call needs a rules analyst. Every timeout needs another opinion or game requires someone updating your same-game parlay.American broadcasts have become a group project. The play-by-play announcer tells you what happened. An analyst tells you why. The rules analyst tells you whether it counted and the betting analyst tells you your weekend is ruined. Somewhere in there, an insurance company sponsors the replay.The World Cup reminded broadcasters that sometimes the game is enough. Then there’s something American television fears more than bad ratings. Silence.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAfter a dramatic goal, soccer broadcasters stop talking. They let the crowd take over. The stadium becomes the soundtrack. Imagine that. There’s no race to be the first person speaking over the biggest moment.Dead air isn’t dead. It’s atmosphere.Baseball could use a little of that in October. After a walk-off home run, I don’t immediately need Statcast, launch angle, exit velocity, and a dissertation on whether the hitter shortened his swing with two strikes. Let me hear 45,000 people losing their minds. The numbers will still be there 10 seconds later.Another thing the World Cup got right? The fans. Not celebrities. Real fans.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe television cameras constantly searched for emotion instead of publicity. Nervous faces. Families. Kids wrapped in flags. Grown adults crying because their country just scored the biggest goal of their lifetime. Meanwhile, American broadcasts too often turn into an episode of Guess Who’s Sitting Courtside?Nothing says “winner-take-all playoff game” quite like cutting to an actor promoting a streaming series that debuts next Thursday.Show me the guy who emptied his savings account to bring his son to America for the games. Show me the grandmother wearing the same lucky jersey she’s owned since the Reagan administration. Those people are part of the broadcast.Another lesson? Stop trying so hard to make everything cinematic.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSoccer’s wider camera