given the US has a large immigration population. Also, the US may still be viewed as a second tier football nation. At best FIFA may see spikes in TV ratings for matches involving the US, but not as large of spikes in non-US matches until you get to the Finals and 3rd Place Game.

From a branding standpoint, I am not sure FIFA cares. I could see FIFA take the stance that USSF has only itself to blame for not doing a better job of developing the talent and getting MLS onboard with greatly improving its brand and quality of play. Especially since CONCACAF is considered to be a weaker confederation. Also, FIFA may even believe that it was only a matter of time before the US missed the World Cup when considering that the US has not qualified for the last 2 Summer Olympics. It was only a matter of time before that caught up with USMNT.

Plus, if you look at the current FIFA Rankings, then you will see teams ranked higher than US didn't qualify for the World Cup. Right now Chile (ranked #9) appears to be the highest ranked team to not qualify for the World Cup. Also, there are bigger named teams (i.e. Italy) who may not qualify depending on how the Playoff Round goes. If FIFA has any opinion about the countries that didn't qualify, then it may be on those countries that are more passionate about the sport.