Can MLS leverage the 2026 World Cup success to become a major powerhouse in U.S. sports leagues?

When one door closes, another door opens. And for Major League Soccer, that door might just mean an increase in popularity and relevance following the closure of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Whereas the main football leagues like the Premier League and Serie A will only kick off their new season in late August, MLS opted to resume their season on July 16, with CF Montréal taking on Canadian nemesis Toronto FC and St. Louis CITY SC meeting midwestern rivals Sporting Kansas City, followed by the Cascadia Derby between Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders.

The reasoning for this is simple: millions of Americans have gotten hooked on football over the past six weeks, and with two days in between the second semifinal and the third-placed match, there was a void that needed to be filled. As such, MLS have capitalized on their potential withdrawal and given themselves a chance to convince new football fans to give their domestic league an opportunity.

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“All of our teams have been preparing for this for eight years, both in terms of the fan-development perspective, thinking about what kind of product we want to have in the years to come,” stated MLS Commissioner Don Garber at an event in New York City on Wednesday. “After the World Cup, we’re going to welcome back 45 World Cup players into our stadiums and tell the world that if you love the World Cup, come to an MLS game and you’re going to love it even more.”

Since arriving in 1996, MLS has made incredible strides both in terms of its player quality, commercial success, and popularity. But in the most congested sports ecosystem on the planet, it hasn’t yet managed to impose itself as one of the premier choices, with the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, as well as college football ranking ahead in terms of popularity. Nevertheless, that could very well be starting to change with a number of different modifications to the country’s #1 football league.

Firstly, MLS are making it far easier for fans to watch matches. In 2023, Apple acquired the global over-the-top streaming rights to MLS, with all matches being streamed globally with no blackout restrictions. However, they failed to gain the viewing numbers that they had hoped for due to MLS Season Pass, where subscribers were forced to pay $14.99 per month to watch MLS in addition to their $12.99 monthly Apple TV subscription.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 06: Don Garber, MLS commissioner, speaks on stage with Inter Miami CF owners Jose Mas, Jorge Mas, David Beckham, and Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF before Inter Miami CF trophy lift following the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Final match between Inter Miami CF and Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Chase Stadium on December 06, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Julio Aguilar/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Julio Aguilar / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

This changed during the 2025 MLS playoffs, with the league removing the paywall and enabling all Apple TV subscribers to watch their games.

The other alteration pertains to the calendar: as opposed to the spring-to-fall format which has been used since the league’s inception, MLS will shift to a summer-to-spring format in 2017, aligning itself with the other major leagues in the world. This will enable MLS clubs to synchronise with international transfer windows, recruit top talent, and maximise television visibility by concluding their playoffs in the spring, away from the overarching dominance of MLS.

And to accommodate the harsh North American winter, the new schedule will feature a mandated winter break from mid-December to early February, resulting in no league matches being played in January.

“[The calendar change is] amazing and incredible,” stated US Men’s National Team captain Tim Ream to Firstpost. “It could have happened sooner, but I think it’s going to put teams on par with leagues and teams around the world. No longer are they working against a clock where they have to get things done two weeks before everyone else gets things done.

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“Now, all of a sudden, players have even more options than they had before, whether they stay in Europe or MLS, whether they come to MLS…it just puts everything on a much more even playing field. I think it’s going to give GMs and Sporting Directors a whole lot more ammunition to bring people in.”

MLS already boasts arguably the greatest player of all time in Lionel Messi, who will be joined by Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo de Paul and ex-Atlanta United star Thiago Almada in Sunday’s FIFA World Cup Final. And over the World Cup break, they’ve added two of the best players of this generation – Robert Lewandowski and Antoine Griezmann – to their ranks.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 06: Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF holds the Champion's trophy after the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Final match between Inter Miami CF and Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Chase Stadium on December 06, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Rich Storry/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

 The expectation is that this combination of veteran superstars and exciting young prospects will enable MLS to capitalise on the World Cup’s momentum and drive it to new heights. A rising tide lifts all ships, and there’s every reason to believe that MLS can ride the wave and catapult itself to an unprecedented level of popularity in the USA.

The United States have already demonstrated that it is a football-mad country, but now, can they prove that they are an MLS-mad country? Can MLS truly ‘take it from here’ and capitalise on the growing interest across the nation? Garber and co. will certainly be hoping so as they look to elevate the country’s top football league into the upper echelon of American sports.