As Major League Soccer prepares for its championship game on Saturday, the league is also looking at how to best position itself for growth as high-profile events descend on the United States over the next two years.
The United States will host the FIFA Club World Cup next year before co-hosting the men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico in 2026.
“Over the next two years, North America will be the epicenter of global soccer. … We have an unbelievable opportunity to create this great trajectory and create even more momentum as we continue to grow our sport and our league for years to come,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Friday.
Garber spoke ahead of the MLS Cup final on Saturday between the LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls in Carson, California.
The game caps a postseason that did not necessarily unfold as expected. Superstar Lionel Messi and Inter Miami finished atop the Eastern Conference and won the Supporters’ Shield for the league’s best record. But Miami was eliminated in the playoffs’ best-of-three first round by Atlanta United.
LAFC, the West’s top seed, fell in the conference semifinals to the Seattle Sounders.
“The fact that Miami didn’t run all the way through to the playoffs is a testament to the competitiveness of Major League Soccer. We think every game needs to matter,” Garber said.
But of course, Messi currently rules MLS. The 37-year-old Argentine World Cup winner, who has won the Ballon d’Or eight times, was announced as the league’s MVP on Friday.
Garber’s annual state-of-the-league address touched on numerous issues, among them the league’s partnership with Apple TV and the crowded competition calendar.
Congested schedule
The United States will host the expanded Club World Cup from June 15 to July 13. Inter Miami and the Sounders will be among the clubs in the 38-team field, with games to be played across 11 U.S. cities.
Inter Miami will open the tournament with a match against Egyptian club Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium.
Additionally, there’s the Leagues Cup tournament next summer featuring teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX. There’s also the upcoming CONCACAF Champions Cup and Garber said MLS teams will participate in the U.S. Open Cup.
”(We) believe that tournament play, if we could manage it with 30 teams where at least each team is in one tournament, it’s good for the club, it’s good for the fans,” Gaber said.
Garber said the league will not play during the 2026 World Cup, and for a portion of the Club World Cup next year.
Asked whether MLS would consider moving to a European fall-to-spring calendar, Garber said: “Making those changes is something we’ve got to be very, very thoughtful about. I do think that we are considering, more than ever before, this opportunity to change. But it’s not something that we’re ready to talk about right now.”
The metrics
The league is wrapping up the second season of a media deal with Apple TV, which streams every game on its platform. Apple TV doesn’t announce viewership numbers or subscriptions, so it’s difficult to determine whether the audience is growing.
The final will be nationally broadcast on FOX and FOX Deportes, which airs selected games. The game will also be streamed for free on Apple TV, like a number of matches were this season.
Garber acknowledged that MLS needs to do a better job of communicating that a number of games each week are available without a subscription.
He said over a million viewers collectively watch the league’s games on a typical Saturday, the audience skewed younger and they watched an average of 65 minutes per game.
As for attendance, the league previously announced that it had a 5% increase in attendance over last year, with a league-wide total of 11.45 million. That’s a 14% increase over 2022 — before Messi arrived.
The average was a league-record 23,234 per match. Ten teams set or exceeded attendance records and the league had a record 213 sellouts. Even if Messi’s road matches were excluded, the average attendance figures would still be an MLS best.
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