As Messi, 2026 World Cup clocks tick, MLS seems content with business as usual

There were 552 days on the World Cup clock when MLS commissioner Don Garber stepped to a lectern last Friday and spoke, yet again, about “unbelievable opportunity.” He was summarizing the state of the league, and recounting a “great” 29th season. But, as always, the questions he faced were forward-looking. How, one asked, does MLS plan to capitalize on “opportunity”? With the 2026 World Cup approaching, what, exactly, is the league doing to maximize impact? How will it attract new fans, and lure more subscribers to its Apple TV streaming service, which many believe is limiting its reach beyond core supporters?

Garber spoke about collecting and “leaning in” to consumer data.

He mentioned Apple’s global reach, “high technology” broadcasts and “interactivity.”

He mused about tweaks — or even a sea change — to the league’s “competitive format.”

He touched on storytelling, on sponsorship growth, on digital engagement and a bunch of other buzzwords … but not so much on the one that, in theory, should be central to any soccer league’s plan: soccer players.

When asked whether he and MLS owners planned to make significant changes to spending rules, Garber concluded: “I don't anticipate anything significant happening in the next couple years.”

And throughout a 40-minute news conference, he struck a less ambitious tone than he has previously in the Lionel Messi era.

Messi’s arrival amplified an ongoing debate within and around MLS about the league’s trajectory — and the investment required to accelerate it. With Messi here; with the 2024 Copa América, 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup coming; and with MLS more stable than ever before, many wondered: might now be the time to loosen roster restrictions, raise the salary cap, and unshackle ambitious owners in an attempt to elevate the on-field quality of the league?

“We're gonna have the eyes of the world on us,” Garber said at last year’s “state of the league” address. “And the soccer market here in the United States is gonna be exposed to the entire global soccer and football community. And that is the pressure we're under: As everybody's paying attention to us, what is the product that we can deliver?”

He even set a deadline — “being the league we want to be in 2027.”

He reiterated that the “goal” was to “be one of the top soccer leagues in the world, to be part of a global conversation.”

His most important business partner, Apple’s Eddy Cue, went a step further last November: “People think it’s crazy, but [given the size and economic power of America,] why wouldn’t we have the best soccer league in the world?”

And in February, Cue, who oversees Apple’s 10-year, $2.5 billion rights deal with MLS, offered a blunt roadmap to the lofty aim: “When anybody asks, ‘What do I want from [MLS] teams,’ I’m like, ‘Sign some more players!’”

At the time, doors seemed ajar. Also in February, when pressed on why roster rules remained static entering 2024, MLS executive VP of player strategy Todd Durbin said that the league had actually eschewed minor changes because they didn’t want to “corner ourselves, or pigeonhole ourselves,” in case they “wanted to make more sweeping changes, or do a more significant overhaul of the system.” For months, he and the league office, in tandem with the owner-led sporting and competition committee, studied the pros and cons of doing just that.

What they apparently came up with, however, were the three “substantial” but incremental changes announced in July.

They granted clubs more flexibility in roster construction, and the ability to build squads that were less top-heavy. They allowed some teams to add extra young players at discount rates. They permitted clubs to turn around and spend more of the income they make when selling players abroad.

But they didn’t sweep aside the system of arcane transactions and spending limits that has slowed MLS’ rise toward the “top soccer leagues in the world.” They didn’t really bring Inter Miami or LAFC much closer to Tottenham Hotspur or Porto or Palmeiras — or even Monterrey.

And Garber indicated Friday that they probably won’t. “There's discussions going on; I wouldn't put it in the category of significant,” he said when asked about potential changes to spending rules. “MLS is constantly, every year, looking at ways that we could incentivize our teams to use their resources better, to be very very productive and efficient.”

That, of course, is the main reason for the maze of rules. They mitigate expensive mistakes in the transfer market, and guide club execs toward the types of players that the league, collectively, has agreed are worthwhile investments.

They also control costs. And some owners, Garber seemed to hint, remain concerned that the millions of dollars they sink into their clubs — into wages and transfer fees, but also into youth academies, a reserve league, facilities and more — won’t yield returns.

On the subject of academies, Garber said Friday: “We need to justify what has been over $100 million a year in [league-wide] investment underneath the first[-team] roster.”

On the market value of MLS squads, he said: “That's something, over time, that I hope to be able to see continue to grow, as our teams are investing more in players, and hopefully generating more in revenue to justify that expense.”

It seems, though, that they aren’t prepared to expend anywhere near enough to reach the upper echelons of the sport anytime soon. There was no talk Friday of being “one of the top soccer leagues in the world.” When asked whether MLS teams were equipped to compete with elite European counterparts, as Seattle and Miami will try to do at the Club World Cup this summer, Garber acknowledged that they were valued in the “lower quadrant” of the 32-team field. Then he gave the careful answer above, abut revenues justifying expenses, and concluded: “We're working on ways that we can provide each team with some opportunity to be more competitive. We'll talk about that a bit at our next board meeting [Thursday in New York].”

And as they do, clocks will tick, toward 2025; and tick, toward the end of Messi’s contract; and tick, toward 2026, with most MLS games sparsely viewed behind an Apple paywall.

And it seems more likely than ever that, once they’ve all struck zero, MLS will still be growing slowly, methodically. It will be better, marginally, but not markedly different than it was when this “unbelievable opportunity” first arose.