New MLS Commissioner: Who Are the Candidates to Take Over From Don Garber?

Don Garber’s days as Major League Soccer’s Commissioner are coming to an end, and two names have emerged as finalists to take on the role, as the league continues through its fourth decade of action.

The 30 owner-operators, whom the commissioner represents, narrowed their search to three finalists before one reportedly dropped out. Los Angeles FC co-owner Larry Berg and longtime media executive David Nathanson are the two finalists, while San Francisco 49ers and Leeds United executive Paraag Marathe reportedly pulled his name from consideration, ESPN report.

The owners of each MLS team are expected to hold a vote in August to decide on the candidate who would take over Garber’s role, which the 68-year-old has held since 1999, three years after the league’s founding.

Garber will remain in the role until 2027, when MLS adopts a new calendar to align with Europe’s top leagues. The schedule shift begins with a 14-game sprint season in the first part of 2027, before the late-summer launch of the 2027–28 season, the first MLS campaign to be spread over two years.

“I will be in this office until 2027, and whether or not I’m commissioner, we’ll wait to see,” Garber told Front Office Sports this week. “There is a succession process that is not only ongoing, but I’m supportive of it. I’m embracing it. I feel great about it.”

One of the key focuses for the league will be how it continues to grow in the wake of the excitement around the 2026 World Cup, with a major focus on its media and television deals, which currently see Apple TV as the primary global rights holder, with only select games available on major linear channels.

Larry Berg

Involved with LAFC’s ownership group since the club’s debut in 2018 after resurfacing from its days as Chivas USA, Berg appears to be most familiar with MLS and served four years as the Black and Gold’s managing owner.

In 2020, he touted that MLS could surpass the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball within the decade, backed by the growing product and the demographics “in terms of youth and diversity” around soccer.

“I think we’ll pass baseball and hockey to be the number three sport in the U.S. behind football and basketball. I think our crown jewel in the MLS is our academies,” he said at the time. “I think the good news is players want to play here. We’re the United States of America; people want to live here; it’s an incredible lifestyle; the infrastructure is fantastic.”

Outside of his ownership and leadership with LAFC, Berg has spent upwards of three decades in the private equity business, with 30 years as a senior partner at Apollo Global Management before moving to 26North, an investment firm, in 2023.

David Nathanson

If the MLS owners want someone who knows the media landscape well, look no further than David Nathanson. The former Fox executive led the bids to secure the 2018, 2022 and 2026 men’s World Cup television rights for Fox Sports, which has also had deals with MLS in the past.

David Nathanson and his wife, Sabina Nathanson, hold a stake in the Seattle Sounders investor group, and he was a founding investor in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC and the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. At the same time, he is a director in the U.S. Soccer Foundation. Outside of his sports dealings, he is also involved in his family’s holding company, Mapleton Investments.

According to a report from The Athletic, his media experience could be an advantage for MLS, given that the current Apple TV deal could end in 2029, three years earlier than the initially signed date of 2032.

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