Major League Soccer has spent thirty years asking America to pay attention, and for one month America finally did, mostly by accident. The World Cup filled the country’s stadiums, its bars, and its group chats. Now the league everyone will actually be able to watch next month has one job: catch the falling attention before it hits the ground.

Here is the four-part bet I would make if I ran the league, ranked from easiest to hardest.

One: put the games where the new fans are

The new fan does not have your streaming subscription. The new fan has a phone and a bar. Free windows, simulcasts, highlight rights loose enough that the internet can do your marketing for you. Every playoff race game in August should be the easiest thing in America to watch.

Two: sell the rivalry, not the roster

New fans do not know the players yet, and rosters churn anyway. What they learned this summer is that soccer is about caring unreasonably in a crowd of people who care unreasonably. That is a rivalry product. Market the hate, respectfully.

Three: let the supporters sections be the ad

Every camera angle should make a person at home think: those people are having more fun than me. The league has spent years pointing cameras away from its own best asset.

Four: stop apologizing

This is the hard one. MLS carries itself like a league that expects to be compared unfavorably to Europe, and new fans can smell it. The single best thing this league can do in the next three weeks is act like it belongs. Confidence is a growth strategy.

The window is real, it is short, and it will not come back for a generation. Clock is running.

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