Major League Soccer has come a long way since 1996. The league that almost went bust in the early 2000s is now preparing to welcome the 2026 World Cup with 30 teams and Lionel Messi on the roster.
It all started as a condition for hosting the 1994 World Cup. The United States had to promise a first division soccer league. What began with 10 teams in San Jose and D.C. has become one of the world's top soccer competitions.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber put it perfectly in December. "We'd love to say that the World Cup is the rocket fuel, but this jet has been running for 30 years, and it's going to run for another 30."
The 2026 World Cup will be the biggest ever with 48 teams. It's happening across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. And MLS will have its fingerprints all over it, from training facilities to national team rosters.
The Early Vision That Almost Died
Doug Logan, the league's first commissioner, always believed MLS would attract the world's best players. "I realized where it was going to go. Not where it could go, but where it was going to go," Logan said.
But those early years were tough. At one point, Philip Anschutz owned six of the league's 10 clubs just to keep things afloat. Teams like Tampa Bay Mutiny, Miami Fusion, and Chivas USA folded completely.
The vision survived thanks to investors like the Hunt family, who also own the Kansas City Chiefs. They saw the potential even after the North American Soccer League collapsed. They remembered how the NASL brought Pelé to America and knew soccer could work here.
"A World Cup puts the host country and all of the host cities on the global map," said Clark Hunt, chairman of the Hunt Sports Group. Kansas City alone will host training camps for Algeria, Argentina, England, and the Netherlands.
World-Class Facilities Change Everything
Today's MLS facilities are incredible. The new Red Bull New York training center opening in March cost over $120 million. That's more than most early soccer-specific stadiums cost in total.
These facilities helped convince FIFA to bring the expanded World Cup format to North America. Brazil's national team will train at the Red Bull facility this summer. Other top nations are selecting MLS training grounds as their World Cup bases.
For bettors, this World Cup exposure matters. Teams that train at MLS facilities might see players transfer to the league afterward. That could shift power dynamics and create value in futures markets for the 2027 season and beyond.
The league is also shifting to a summer-to-spring schedule in 2027. This aligns MLS with European leagues and makes transfers easier. It's another sign the league is entering a new era.
"We're a league now that has elite player development and incredible facilities, and 43,000 kids playing in MLS NEXT," said Dan Courtemanche, MLS EVP and Chief Communications Officer. The youth development system is producing players like Alex Freeman and Obed Vargas who've jumped to top European leagues.
In 2022, MLS had 37 players competing at the World Cup for various national teams. That was more than any other league in the Western Hemisphere. The 2026 edition should blow that number away.
Messi's arrival in 2023 changed everything. He won the Ballon d'Or as an Inter Miami player for his 2022 performance. During the last two years, MLS had the second-highest total attendance in the world behind only the Premier League.
The World Cup gives MLS a massive chance to convert casual soccer fans into regular followers. The league can now say "keep watching these World Cup players in MLS" in a way it never could before.
"One of the things that has happened after every World Cup in recent times is that the domestic league receives a big boost," Hunt explained. Attendance and TV viewership typically grow significantly in the years following a World Cup in that country.
MLS has a younger fan demographic than traditional American sports leagues. That positions it well for the next 30 years. The growth that seemed impossible in those early struggling years now feels inevitable. And with another World Cup coming, the momentum isn't stopping anytime soon.
