United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said the old question was whether the sport would make it in America.

"If you'd said to me 20 years ago to bet your kids' college tuition on the growth of the game, on professional soccer, I wouldn't have said yes," Gulati said.

Those days, he told an audience of nearly 360 people, are over.

"Now, most of you in the room have kids who played, or kids who still play, or you played the game when you were a child," he said.

Gulati discussed topics ranging from the growth of the game in America to women's soccer salaries during a Jacksonville Sports Council Speaker Series luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront on Wednesday afternoon.

The third-term U.S. Soccer president also fielded questions from the audience that touched on several hot topics in American soccer.

� Of approximately 60 men's professional teams in the U.S., he said the number of teams that are "cash positive" can be counted on "maybe two hands and one foot."

� He said that "demand is insufficient" for women's professional soccer salaries to increase without more fan support.

� Though encouraging would-be NFL or NBA stars to pursue soccer at an early age could help the U.S. team, Gulati said effects may be limited because of the increased athleticism among today's elite foreign players: "They're cornerbacks, but with skill at their feet."

� He expressed some skepticism about proposals to implement European-style promotion and relegation, saying the ensuing legal battles "would eventually end up with nine people in robes in Washington."

Though soccer hasn't reached the NFL or Major League Baseball level in the United States, Gulati said it's making an impact.

"In a country with 320 million people, you don't have to be the NFL to be relevant," he said.

Gulati formerly worked as deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer. He also serves as a senior lecturer in the Columbia University economics department.

His speech marked one highlight in a busy 10-day span for Jacksonville soccer.

Also Wednesday, the United States men's national team departed training camp in Jacksonville for a complex journey to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where they will play a Friday World Cup qualifier in the capital of Kingstown.

The team is set to return Saturday, then train for two more days before Tuesday's match against Trinidad and Tobago at EverBank Field.

Gulati expressed some concern with the estimated ticket sales of 16,000 thus far, well below the regional record crowds in the city for games in 2012 and 2014.

"We're not going to have the sort of attendance we had for the Nigeria game, for the Scotland game," he said. "It's a little bit of a concern, but hopefully it'll pick up in the next few days."

Still, he's optimistic about the city's future as a destination for U.S. Soccer.

"We'll be back in Jacksonville, I can assure you of that," Gulati said.