MLS Commissioner Explains Three Key Factors To Measure League’s Rise After 30 Seasons

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami lifted MLS Cup, watched by a global audience of 4.6 million people.

MLS commissioner Don Garber outlined key factors used to measure the league's growth. / Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

MLS Commissioner Don Garber is in the final years of his contract, but is bullish on the future of the American top flight after Inter Miami won the 2025 MLS Cup, completing its 30th season. 

Speaking to reporters ahead of unveiling Messi as the league’s first back-to-back MVP, Garber outlined three key factors that MLS uses to measure growth and the guiding points that determine the league’s progress. 

He outlined cultural relevance, the level of play and the only purely measurable factor: the value of the league’s member clubs. 

The hope, in Garber’s mind, is that MLS competes with the best soccer leagues in the world and penetrates the common American sporting lexicon, which continues to be dominated by the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. 

Star players like LAFC's Son Heung-min are helping MLS further penetrate the crowded American sports marketplace. / Jared Martinez/Los Angeles Football Club/MLS/Getty Images

“You want your clubs to matter," Garber said. “That's what drives football in Argentina and Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and everywhere in the world, and we're competing with so much here in our country. We want our clubs to be relevant, so when you walk down the street here, you'll see people walking around with Vancouver jerseys and Miami jerseys.”

While relevance is not a measurable factor in a traditional sense, the presence of MLS in major sports media and an increase in match viewership can serve as indicators. On Friday, MLS announced that 4.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the 2025 MLS Cup between Miami and Vancouver, breaking the record for the most-watched MLS Cup in league history. 

At the same time, it is evident that there is growth through jersey sales. Following his signing in August, LAFC’s Son Heung-min had one of the top-selling jerseys on Fanatics—a platform that also houses fanwear and merchandising operations for the major leagues in the United States, and some college sports. 

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Quality of Play in MLS

MLS Commissioner Don Garber (left) sees Lionel Messi (right) as a vital piece to the elevated quality of play in MLS. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

While not directly quantifiable, the 68-year-old commissioner highlighted the league’s level of play as a key point, focusing on data points such as Expected Goals (xG), the amount of time the ball is in play and other metrics analyzed by the league’s data scientists.

Shifting to a winter-based schedule to align with the top European leagues and their transfer windows, MLS hopes to elevate the on-field product further while harnessing the financial might of some ownership groups. As of November, the league ranks 10th in Opta’s Football League Ranking. 

“I believe we're thought of as one of the top leagues in the world today, so whether or not we're competing with the Premier League or La Liga or Serie A is really not that relevant to me. I don't know what the world's gonna look like 10 years from now. I do know we're gonna get more popular, we're gonna get more competitive, and we're gonna have more players choose Major League Soccer,” he added. 

“We're gonna have three new stadiums in three really large markets coming on in the next couple of years. We're changing our calendar so we'll be closer to the international FIFA calendar, which is what we call it, so we'll be way more competitive with the top leaders.”

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Value of MLS Clubs

Atlanta United are one of five MLS clubs reportedly valued at over $1 billion. / Matthew Dingle/Atlanta United/MLS/Getty Images

Garber highlighted club values as the third most important, but to the league’s 30 ownership groups, they are among the most pertinent. 

“Fans don't care about that, but we do,” he said. “The more valuable the teams are, the more investors will invest in players and facilities.”

According to Sportico’s most recent valuations in May 2025, LAFC is the top-ranked team at $1.28 billion, while Inter Miami, LA Galaxy, Atlanta United, and New York City FC all exceed the $1 billion threshold and rank among the Top 20 clubs in the world. 

Of the Top 50 highest-valued clubs in Sportico’s analyses, 19 come from MLS. The list, topped by La Liga's Real Madrid, factors in revenue, real estate and other business metrics.

“I have no doubt that this sport will be the most popular sport, or among the most popular sports in this country,” Garber said. “We're only 30 years in, and the others are over 100 years. Our structure is one that I think allows us to be strategic and get investors to be smart and thoughtful.”

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