As the U.S. men’s national team faded in a 4-1 loss to Belgium that ended its World Cup run, Fox broadcaster John Strong made a pitch to the 30 million Americans watching from home. If you enjoyed what you saw, he urged, support your local team. The sellout crowd of nearly 67,000 packed into Seattle’s Lumen Field for that match was more than double what the Sounders typically draw for MLS games at the same stadium. It was a stark illustration of both soccer’s soaring popularity in this country and the gap that still exists between the World Cup spectacle and the weekly reality of domestic league play.
Major League Soccer has long viewed this summer’s tournament on American soil as an inflection point, much as the 1994 World Cup gave birth to the league itself. All 30 clubs chipped in at least $500,000 each for an advertising campaign rolling out this week with the tagline “Thanks World, We’ll Take It From Here,” and 22 teams are offering free tickets to first-time attendees in hopes of converting casual viewers into regular fans. League executives are betting big that Lionel Messi’s continued presence — he leads Argentina into Sunday’s final against Spain while his Inter Miami club resumes its season Wednesday after a seven-week break — combined with the World Cup buzz will translate into lasting growth.
But some financial experts think the optimism has outpaced the numbers. MLS franchises are now worth an average of $731 million, up from $185 million just a decade ago, with Sporting Kansas City selling earlier this year for roughly $700 million despite playing in one of North America’s smallest major sports markets. Yet bankers and advisors around the sport say those valuations have climbed too fast relative to what the clubs actually earn. At roughly 8.9 times revenue, MLS teams trade at multiples higher than Manchester United and Real Madrid, an unusual position for a league that still ranks well below Europe’s elite in global prestige. Alexander Jarvis, founder of the soccer M&A advisory firm Blackbridge Sports, says many American investors feel priced out of their own market and find better value overseas, where clubs can be acquired for one or two times revenue.
League officials counter that the business is genuinely accelerating, pointing to Inter Miami’s revenue surging from an estimated $56 million in 2022 to $200 million last season following Messi’s arrival. The league has also landed several high-profile signings from European powers, including Son Heung-min at LAFC and Antoine Griezmann at Orlando City, and plans to shift its calendar starting in 2027 to align with the global July-to-May schedule. Whether all of that adds up to justify billion-dollar valuations is a question investors will keep wrestling with long after the World Cup trophy is lifted.