"I want Atlanta United fans in London, in Germany." That's CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, and it tells you exactly where MLS ambitions are pointed right now. Not consolidating what they have. Building something the rest of the world actually cares about.
MLS commissioner Don Garber was equally direct at this week's Business of Soccer conference in Atlanta: the league's future "is going to be to grow our fan base and our business outside the United States and Canada." For a league that drew 12 million fans last season — second only to the Premier League — that's a significant pivot from a competition that has spent 30 years just trying to make domestic Americans care about soccer.
The salary cap problem isn't going away
Here's the structural reality: Real Madrid and Manchester United don't have salary caps. MLS does. That gap doesn't close with a marketing campaign.
The league has used its "designated player" rule to bend those limits for marquee signings — Messi, Beckham before him, Son Heung-min and now Antoine Griezmann joining this week. These arrivals generate genuine global buzz. But Garber is now walking back the idea of the league subsidising superstar deals at the institutional level, essentially saying the Mo Salah rumours won't be going anywhere fast. "I'm not sure the league needs to get involved in those kinds of deals going forward," he said, despite admitting he'd love to see Salah stateside.
That's a confident stance. Whether the product can sustain it without that star-powered pulling power is the real test.
The World Cup window is narrow but real
The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico, is the obvious catalyst here. MLS is planning an aggressive marketing push to convert World Cup attendees into domestic league followers once the tournament ends. Brian Bilello, president of New England Revolution, pointed to the infrastructure as a genuine selling point — several national teams have used MLS training facilities and come away impressed. "This is better than the training center that I train at with my club every day," is the kind of quote that actually lands with players scouting potential destinations.
The schedule shift matters too. From next year, MLS moves to a summer-through-spring calendar, aligning with the rest of the world and removing one of the practical barriers to signing European talent mid-season. It's a logistical fix, but it signals the league is serious about operating on global terms rather than American ones.
Whether that translates into fans in Germany caring about Atlanta United on a Tuesday night is a different question entirely. Decades of tradition and generational fandom aren't built by a World Cup summer and a new calendar. But MLS is at least asking the right questions — even if the answers are still a long way off.
