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Major League Soccer (MLS) Commissioner Don Garber said that the league is looking at the FIFA World Cup, being co-hosted by the USA alongside Mexico and Canada this year, as something that brings long-lasting, consistent fan attention to the North American football scene, which does not disappear once the marquee tournament ends.
Garber spoke to Reuters in an interview. The league's commissioner said that MLS started planning for the tournament after FIFA WC hosting rights were given to the US back in 2018, using the event to expand and fuel the country's football infrastructure and bring more fanfare and stature to the US in the footballing world. "We sat back and said, ' This will be that North Star," Garber told Reuters in an interview. "What do we need to do to be a different league by the time the World Cup is on our shores?," he added. Since then, MLS has added seven more teams and nine soccer stadiums, encourages investment in young talent through roster rule changes. A global partnership with Apple and the arrival of global football phenomenon Lionel Messi to Inter Miami in 2023 raised the viewership. MLS has also said that the valuations of the club have tripled since 2018 and have a combined value of 23 billion USD. Garber said that MLS does not want the World Cup to be a short-lived event which will fade from public memory for a while and fade away after the tournament is done, saying, "We do not want the tournament to be like a Taylor Swift concert where there's enormous energy, and then it is a period of time until she comes back on tour. We want this to be more like the front porch to a new house." Garber also said that MLS expected a post-WC boost in attendance, as several domestic leagues in host countries have benefited from hosting the World Cup. But he added that the league would measure success in broader terms such as popularity, relevance, awareness, player recognition and involvement of fans. "What we are really going to measure is, through research, whether we are more popular? Are we more relevant? Do more people know about MLS?" Garber said. He also rejected the chatter around MLS that it remains a destination for footballers who are nearing the end of their careers at the top-flight football, pointing out how competitive the tournament and players have been and the average age of 26 in the league. The MLS commissioner said that the arrival of Messi to Miami changed how the world viewed MLS, saying that the football legend treats an MLS game as important as any other game of his career. "He certainly did not come here to retire. The guy plays a full 90 every single game and scraps as if winning that game is as important as winning any other match he has played in," he said. Garber said that MLS would like to sign Mohamed Salah, who concluded his nine-year stint with English football giants last month, saying, "We would love to sign him. We will wait and see how any of those discussions progress," he signed off. (ANI)
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