The Allure Of The MLS

Major League Soccer has grown an awful lot over the course of the last few decades to the point where it’s clear to see why there’s an appeal behind heading over to the United States.

Between the lifestyle, money and American style of marketing their sports leagues, there’s a major ‘larger than life’ attitude that we absolutely adore – and many others do, too.

If you want any concrete proof of that, just take a look at the following quotes from Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Neymar

“I believe it is a great opportunity for the country to grow its soccer. As I said before, I already have my contract with David. A few years from now, I will be there. We’re in this together. He is my president.”

Cristiano Ronaldo

“I know that many players move there. I think it’s becoming better and better. It’s growing. I think it’s good. It’s good for me and young players that maybe one day we want to move there. So it’s good that football—’soccer’—grows there. I mean, what’s happening there is great, it’s fantastic—maybe in the future will be a good chance for me to play there. You never know, but it’s something interesting. I consider it, of course, because as I’ve said, soccer there has become better and better, so why not? I think that this is maybe going to be possible.”

Lionel Messi

“I always had the dream of being able to enjoy and have the experience of living in the United States, experience what the league there is like.” ”

I don’t know what will happen. I am focused on what we have in front of us over the next six months. It would not be right to tell you what I am going to do after that because even I don’t know.”

They’re just two players but the list really does go on – and the big bonus here is going to be the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

We all know the unbelievable impact the 1994 World Cup had on the country and their development of the beautiful game.

If they can harness even a slice of that energy into 2026, then the sky really is the limit. We’ve already seen an excitement building behind the USMNT and the squad they’re starting to put together, and we think they’re a long way off of hitting their full potential – which is exciting in itself.

In the instance of Neymar he’s technically already signed a contract for Inter Miami, even if he doesn’t actually go over there for another decade or so.

There are pieces of this puzzle that are far more complicated given the dominance of European football across the board. Still, the future is all about making sustained changes to how the game is run, and MLS needs to realise they could play a huge role in that.

More and more players are invested in the idea of making the transition and we’re intrigued to see how it plays out.