Over the years, Major League Soccer has been defined by developmental eras. Now in its 30th season, those MLS eras are now coming faster and with bigger steps in between. San Diego FC announced themselves to the league on opening weekend by beating the reigning champions in the Los Angeles Galaxy behind strong performances by Hirving Lozano and Anders Dreyer, big name forwards Kevin Denkey with FC Cincinnati and Emmanuel Latte Lath with Atlanta United both showed why they’re worth their fees while Evander, also in Cincinnati and Luciano Acosta, no longer in Cincinnati and now in Dallas, both making their league debuts for their new teams.
With spending rising, stars that moved abroad being replaced — and those same stars also succeeding abroad, which enhances the league’s reputation, there is stability coming to MLS that has rarely been associated with American soccer. While there’s plenty that needs to be done for the league to capitalize on this, things are also moving in the right direction. During the winter transfer window, MLS was the fourth highest-spending league in the world according to Transfermarkt, behind only the Premier League, Brazilian Serie A and Italian Serie A.
That should be taken with a grain of salt due to MLS and Brazil being in their offseason during the winter instead of midseason like other leagues around the world, but it’s still a significant step in spending. With all this coming together, it’s a sign that MLS 4.0 could be on the horizon or potentially already here.
What are the eras of MLS?
MLS 1.0 is simple to identify as it was defined by the league being founded and kicking off play. Following the success of the 1994 World Cup, D.C. United and the San Jose Clash played the league’s first-ever game on April 6, 1996. While there has been plenty of shuffling of teams and their locations since then, an MLS team hasn’t folded since Chivas USA in 2014, as more and more stability has come to the league.
The transition into 2.0 was stark with David Beckham’s arrival with the L.A. Galaxy in 2007 and the Designated Player rule coming into existence. That was something that took MLS to new heights and set a new standard for what kinds of global superstars the league was able to attract along and also eventually led to Beckham’s ownership stake in Inter Miami.
For MLS 3.0 things are murkier as you can argue that the league is still in or maybe hasn’t even entered that era. But with expansion teams like Atlanta United, Los Angeles FC and FC Cincinnati pushing limits of what was possible spending-wise in the league, others had to adjust to keep up or end up being left behind. This league-wide arms race also helped pave the way for the arrival of Lionel Messi to thrust MLS into the stratosphere. Now, with that continuing and loosening of league rules, each day there’s a new thing that pops up showing what’s possible.
Simplified transactions keep talent in the league
In leagues around the world, the methods of acquiring players have been simple to follow. Either you agree on a fee with a team and sign a player or add them as a free agent when their contract is expiring, but that hasn’t been the case in MLS. Not only does the league have the American mechanism of trading players and limited free agency, but between Targeted Allocation Money, General Allocation Money and different roster designations, it can be a tough time to break down what means what. While everything boils down to being some form of money to keep a team under the salary cap, none of the roster mechanisms could adequately allow a team to be compensated for losing a true star.
Previously, designated players would need to leave the league and re-enter, but now the system offers another route for keeping top talent within MLS and has already been picking up steam. Luciano Acosta, Evander and Jack McGlynn have all moved teams in the offseason for multimillion-dollar fees and it shows no sign of slowing down.
According to Christina Labrie, MLS Senior Vice President of Player Relations the new system involved some much needed changes.
“I think you can see from all of the transactions that happened in a very short period of time there was a need for this and desire to take advantage of this type of structure.
“This was in the works for a long time. We’ve been talking about this for a long time and I think what this makes clear is that this is now going to become part of our day-to-day. It’s another avenue for a player to move from one club to another without having to leave MLS. I don’t think there’s a particular profile of player that this will work for, there’s a variety already, but I think this is going to be just part of our commonplace transactions going forward.”
While Labrie didn’t rule out this becoming the norm for MLS transactions, what’s important is that teams are utilizing this avenue and showing that there’s need for the mechanism. Adding this in with things such as the U22 initiative allowing more spending on younger players without absorbing the full cap hit and the flexibility to construct a roster.
“The [U22 initiative] is a great way for a club that they want to continue to develop. Now that homegrown player can have a U22 contract and be a significant contributor to the team,” Labrie said. “A player like Diego Luna who as an academy player was special you can tell but he had to evolve, and he had to develop into the player that he is today. Different clubs are going to use these mechanisms differently and that’s what I think leads to a really effective and really compelling roster construction.”
If a team chooses the designated player model, they can use three designated player splots and up to three U22 initiative slots, but if a team chooses the U22 initiative model, they’re then able to use up to two Designated Player slots, up to four U22 slots and then receive an additional two million dollars in GAM that can be used as they see fit. As long as a team is able to pay the GAM to switch between the two, they also aren’t locked into one path or the other.
There’s never a one-size-fits-all all solution, and that’s something that shrewd spending teams will need to use to find an edge, but if MLS is going to push European leagues, being able to have spending power to compete is one of the biggest ways to do it. And this spending isn’t only happening on the senior roster.
Increased youth investment
While MLS has wanted to attract top talent, being able to nurture young talent is also critical to being a successful league. There isn’t enough money to go around to buy ready made products and that’s where development is necessary. Now entering its fourth year, you can see the impact of MLS Next Pro in that development cycle. During the recent January camp under Mauricio Pochettino, Patrick Agyemang and Max Arfsten were Next Pro Alumni who earned their first caps with the USMNT while Paxten Aaronson, Nathan Harriel, Jack McGlynn, Patrick Schulte and Benjamin Cremaschi were all involved with the Paris Olympic squad.
But it’s not Next Pro’s job to make players for the USMNT, that’s just a byproduct of them doing well with their teams, with players like Schulte seamlessly making the jump from winning the Next Pro championship right to competing for trophies as starters for their clubs in MLS. It doesn’t stop there. If not for a league like Next Pro, one of American soccer’s hottest prospects in Cavan Sullivan may not still be with the Philadelphia Union. Along with his family, Sullivan made the decision that it would be better to stay with the Philadelphia Union instead of moving abroad before he is expected to join Manchester City at 18. Sullivan recorded a game winning assist in his pro debut in Next Pro and also became the youngest player to ever appear in an MLS match at 14 years, 293 days old when facing the New England Revolution.
“A player like Cavan Sullivan who is high potential or maybe higher potential than any player that’s coming into the league from abroad, he might be one of the highest potential players in the global game according to some experts,” MLS Next Pro President and MLS EVP Charles Altchek said.
“He with his family and his advisors made a conscious decision to stay with the Philadelphia Union and make MLS his league of choice and had a really productive year last year playing the majority of his minutes in MLS Next Pro. He progressed and had a positive year with a team that made it all the way to the MLS Next Pro Cup.”
Sullivan is only one example of many who are coming into MLS Next Pro and turning heads as teams like Charlotte FC are using the league in a unique way to get talented youth players used to American soccer before they transition to the senior roster. With MLS being under a salary cap, anyway that can help players adjust without them hitting the cap is a net positive for a team. That pathway between Next Pro and MLS is becoming a well worn one for Charlotte by design.
“What you’re seeing with teams like [Charlotte FC’s MLS Next Pro side] Crown Legacy is that they’re investing meaningful transfer fees into players from different parts of Europe or other parts of the world that have come in and really had an impact,” Altchek said. “And the reason that it’s been so effective is because they’re able to come in and have an impact right away and play meaningful games, get meaningful minutes against high-level competition while playing every weekend in Next Pro against teams, many of whom, have first team players week in and week out.”
Coaches such as CF Montreal’s Laurent Courtois and FC Dallas’ Eric Quill have also spent their time in Next Pro showing that this pathway isn’t just for players.
What’s next?
All eyes may be on the World Cup coming to the United States Canada and Mexico in 2026 but this summer Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders will get to carry the MLS banner at the Club World Cup, a chance for the league to measure itself against top sides around the world. Depending on how those teams do, there could be an increase in attention surrounding the league with excitement that can carry into 2026.
There’s also the growing talk about a potential shift to a European calendar. With attracting more talent, there’s growing pressure for MLS to stop play during international breaks by observing the FIFA calendar. With changes like that on the horizon and significant chances to see where the league is, this is a moment that could be reflected on as a true tipping point a few years from now.
For only being 30, MLS has come a long way since its inception but that also doesn’t mean that it’s anwwhere near done growing to reach the full potential that it can.
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