In some ways, MLS is already up there with the big leagues across the world.
There were 45 MLS players represented at the 2026 World Cup – including two in the final for Argentina, Messi and Rodrigo de Paul.
MLS has a reputation for being almost a retirement home for superstars – a lucrative place to play for legends like Beckham and Messi after peak careers in Europe.
But that reputation is outdated, Courtemanche says, with the average age of new international players in the league now 23.8 years. Though many of them have dreams of playing in Europe after experiencing MLS.
MLS is changing its calendar in 2027 to adopt a summer-to-spring season, more aligned with Europe to make it easier for players to move between the leagues.
And the competition’s leaders are investing in youth development leagues.
All MLS teams run youth academies. As LA Galaxy hosted a viewing party for the US victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on a big screen, dozens of children ignored the match, instead battling it out themselves on three separate pitches, occasionally running to the big screen when the sound of a goal spread through the crowd.
These were rare pick-up games in a culture full of highly scheduled children – and the skill level was high. Some of the kids played for MLS youth teams.
Eight-year-old Landon – named after US star Landon Donovan – was one of the more skilled, moving from goalkeeper to forward with glee. His mother Jen Wing is a coach and says her children have attended MLS camps and play on travel teams at their home in New Jersey.
Landon dreams of being a professional soccer player one day in MLS.
“LAFC,” he says, referring to his dream team.
But critics say MLS will never compete with Europe until it sorts out its “pay-to-play” culture in youth development.
At the top level, MLS academies train and develop youth players for free, much like their European counterparts.
But to get to that level, where an MLS academy team would notice a teenage player, families typically pay thousands of dollars for private lessons and access to travel teams, a common theme in US sports.
MLS officials say the development leagues are constantly evolving and improving when it comes to developing young talent, and that every team has scholarships available to talented players.
Commissioner Garber says the league is always improving and is determined to get even better at developing young players so they can deliver “more and more to the men’s national team and just be better, bigger, stronger, faster, all those things that give you energy to think of a better future”.
When it comes to attracting audiences, Messi is the league’s biggest draw.
But the cult of celebrity runs throughout the league. More than two dozen entertainers and athletes hold ownership stakes in MLS clubs, including Will Ferrell (LAFC), Reese Witherspoon (Nashville SC), Matthew McConaughey (Austin FC) and Magic Johnson (LAFC).
And it’s a lucrative business.
Drew Carey was an original Seattle Sounders owner when the club joined MLS in 2009 for a $30m (£22m) expansion fee. The Sounders are now valued at more than $900m (£668m). David Beckham’s 2007 LA Galaxy contract included the option to buy an MLS expansion team for $25m. He now owns Inter Miami CF, a club that experts have valued at more than a billion dollars.
