CARSON, Calif. — Speaking at Dignity Health Sports Park on Friday, MLS commissioner Don Garber emphasized the league doesn’t have plans to overhaul its roster and spending rules.
“I wouldn't say [potential changes will be] significant. There’s discussions going on. I wouldn’t put it in the category of significant,” Garber said. “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…I don’t anticipate anything significant happening in the next couple years.”
Garber discussed attempts to maximize the impact the 2026 World Cup could have on MLS’s popularity, the league’s potential calendar shift, the U.S. Open Cup, Leagues Cup, and more.
Here’s what you need to know from this year’s State of the League address:
MLS trying to maximize the 2026 World Cup
With Garber’s stated goal of MLS being “one of the top soccer leagues in the world”, questions continue to swirl about how exactly MLS will draw more fans. The next men’s World Cup being played primarily in the U.S. further shapes the topic of growth for a league that’s origin was tied so closely to the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
Those questions don’t just swirl in the media, among fans, or even inside the league office — they swirled throughout Garber’s address on Friday.
“I think it’s a very good question on what are we doing on the business side and on the competitive side,” Garber said when asked if MLS is doing enough to maximize its potential to grow on the back of the 2026 World Cup.
