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Major League Soccer (MLS) enters its 31st season with this summer’s Fifa World Cup front of mind.
The impact of soccer’s biggest gathering has already been felt for several years, with new franchise owners, sponsors and broadcasters investing significantly in MLS since the US was awarded co-hosting duties in 2018. Now, the league wants to use the tournament as a watershed moment commercially, culturally and competitively.
The 2026 campaign, which will take a six-week break to accommodate the World Cup, will see MLS make its largest-ever marketing investment as it looks to take full advantage of the showpiece event. Attention will also turn to converting short-term interest into long-term fandom, staying relevant once the buzz fades and competing with European leagues for attention.
The year, however, is not solely about the World Cup. Notably, it will be the league’s final full season before transitioning to a summer-spring calendar, while every match will be available in a standard Apple TV subscription following the news that the tech giant and MLS are ending their deal early.
Put all that together and 2026 represents a pivotal moment for MLS, providing an opportunity to harness World Cup momentum while laying the foundations for its next phase of growth.
Broadcast arrangements
This is the fourth season of MLS and Apple’s exclusive US$2.5 billion global broadcast deal, but it marks the beginning of the end for the partnership, which will conclude after the 2028/29 campaign – three-and-a-half years earlier than originally planned.
Confirmation that the agreement would end prematurely came days after Apple dropped the standalone Season Pass add-on, with live MLS matches now included as part of a standard Apple TV subscription.
MLS already has a sublicensing arrangement with Fox Sports in the US, which airs an average of 34 regular-season games and eight MLS Cup Playoff matches per year. Last March, the league secured a partnership with Australia’s SBS – its first overseas broadcast deal since the Apple agreement. Since then, the competition has signed linear deals in several international markets, including Sportdigital in Germany, Dubai TV and Eurosport India.
Seth Bacon, MLS’s executive vice president of media, was noncommittal when asked by SportsPro in January if expanding linear distribution had become a greater priority.
“Our priority is growing the reach and the accessibility of MLS across all of our platforms,” said Bacon. “What we need to do is drive people to MLS and where that lives is on Apple. But we give people opportunities to sample it on our linear partners in the US, Canada and other parts of the world.”
Apple TV will no longer require fans to purchase MLS Season Pass to watch live games from this season (Image credit: Getty Images)
Sponsorship overview
A founding partner of the league, Adidas remains MLS’s longest-standing sponsor, with its current six-year deal running through 2028 and valued at US$830 million.
Century 21 Real Estate, Corpay, New Era and Walmart were among the brands to sign on as MLS partners in 2025, following eight new additions in 2024. This February, Chime was announced as the league’s official retail banking, credit card and debit card partner. A recent tie-up with Polymarket has also seen MLS claim that it is the first soccer league to integrate prediction market insights into its fan engagement efforts.
MLS listed 27 other corporate partners on its website at the time of writing, including long-running deals with AT&T, Audi, Coca-Cola, Continental, EA Sports and Procter & Gamble.
According to SponsorUnited, MLS team-level sponsorship revenue reached an estimated US$716 million in 2025, up eight per cent year-over-year (YoY). New jersey patch deals averaged more than US$5.5 million annually, while fresh venue naming rights agreements exceeded US$14 million per year.
SponsorUnited attributed the growth to a wave of new premium assets, expanding category participation and the league’s rising cultural relevance ahead of the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Attendance analysis
MLS’s average attendance for the 2025 regular season was 21,988 fans – a five per cent drop from the record high set in 2024. It was also the league’s lowest average since 2022, according to Sports Business Journal (SBJ). MLS nevertheless surpassed 11 million in total attendance for the second consecutive regular season.
The YoY decline can be partly attributed to the Fifa Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup being held in the US over the summer. When the majority of those matches took place, MLS averaged 20,124 fans per game – its lowest monthly figure since 2013, according to SBJ. Fewer teams also staged one-off matches in larger venues to capitalise on the popularity of Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi.
Atlanta United once again led the league in attendance with an average of 43,992 fans per game, followed by Seattle Sounders (30,993) and Charlotte FC (30,664). In their debut season, San Diego FC ranked fourth, averaging 28,064 fans per match at Snapdragon Stadium. Nineteen teams recorded YoY declines in average attendance in 2025, while eight saw increases.
What else is new for 2026?
Messi’s contract extension until 2028, signed in last October, ensures he will remain an Inter Miami player when the club opens its new US$1.3 billion, 25,000-seater stadium. Miami Freedom Park, which broke ground in August 2023, is scheduled to open in April.
Since their MLS debut in 2020, Inter Miami have played at the 21,500-seater Chase Stadium in nearby Fort Lauderdale.
What next?
Making the most of the World Cup is only part of the bigger picture for MLS. The situation with Apple has expedited media rights negotiations, though commissioner Don Garber believes the league will be entering the market at a time when there will be “a bit more stability” compared to when talks with Apple began back in 2021.
The impending move to a summer-to-spring format also marks one of the most significant developments since MLS’s formation in 1995. Garber has said the switch, part of his ‘MLS 3.0 vision’, will strengthen MLS clubs’ “global competitiveness”, as well as “create better opportunities in the transfer market” and ensure the playoffs “takes centre stage without interruption”. Bacon believes it will also benefit the league’s broadcast product.
With the 68-year-old Garber’s latest contract expiring after the 2027 season, there has also been talk of succession. Garber has said he plans to remain in the post for the “foreseeable future”, without giving a firm timeframe.
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