MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 4, 2026

Larry Berg

Jimmy Haslam

Bennett Rosenthal

Don Garber

Dan Courtemanche

Press Conference

DAN COURTEMANCHE: Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Dan Courtemanche with Major League Soccer. Really appreciate you coming out here today to 2 Penn Plaza in New York City, and those of you joining us on Zoom.

Historic day today. Actually 27 years ago to the day, August 4, 1999, we held a similar press conference to announce Don Garber as Major League Soccer commissioner, and today we are taking another step forward with the official presentation of the next MLS commissioner.

Joining me today down to the far right is our current commissioner, Don Garber.

(Applause.)

Also joining us at the next commissioner of Major League Soccer announced offically yesterday, Mr. Larry Berg.

Then finally, the two co-chairs of the Succession Committee for Major League Soccer: We have the CEO and chairman of Haslam Sports Group Jimmy Haslam, and we have the lead managing owner of LAFC, Mr. Bennett Rosenthal.

(Applause.)

We're going to get started. I'm going to kick it over to Jimmy Haslam to provide some thoughts on the process, what we've gone through the last number of months, and talk about the next commissioner of soccer.

JIMMY HASLAM: Thank you, Dan, and welcome to everybody. Really, really big day for U.S. soccer and for Major League Soccer as we name Larry Berg the third commissioner of MLS. So Larry, congrats. Huge day to you, and I'm going to recognize the commissioner later.

I'm doing the talking today, but Bennett and I worked closely together. As a matter of fact, there were several times during the last year that my wife, Dee, who some of you know, most you don't, is very outspoken who said, you talked to Bennett today more than you did I.

But we worked closely together, had a great committee, and the ownership involvement in the process was terrific. I think it's important to understand the process we went through.

When Don said this is my last contract, I'm not going to do another contract, he appointed a Succession Committee. Bennett and I were the co-chairs. We had five other owners who were members. We hired a group called The Miles Group who specializes big transitions. A big organization. We used them at MLS, we used him at our former business. Lots of businesses use him.

He helped add process to what we were doing. He also helped us define what we were looking for. So we got that done.

We then interviewed several search firms, ended up -- this was Bennett's idea and I thought it was interesting and ended up being very effective. We had Korn Ferry lead the process and CAA, because all their connections back them up and the two of them provided names.

We actually started with a profile of 125 different men and women from literally all over the world. Some were in sports. Some were in media. Some were in technology. Some were just in business.

We narrowed that list down to 25 different individuals. Korn Ferry screened that list down to 12 or 13. Bennett and I then interviewed the 12 or 13 people and we cut that to six.

June 1 and June 2 our entire Succession Committee, all seven of us, met in Chicago, had two long days of both presentations and interviews, and we cut that list to three.

As you know, one of the participants decided to drop out, so we had two.

Of course yesterday we named Larry Berg the third commissioner of MLS. I'll tell you, it was a hard day. We worked hard. We started at 8:00 a.m. We had presentations by both candidates, Q & A, smaller group Q & A, and then voted, and at the end of the day unanimously selected Larry.

I can't tell you how excited we are to have Larry as our next commissioner. He's somebody who loves soccer. And Allison -- he said this yesterday. You might have already heard this story. But he said, Allison is on me all the time about how much soccer I watch and now I've got a great excuse; it's my job.

But really excited to have him. I think I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize Don Garber. Don took over, as Dan said, 27 years ago today. What he has accomplished, Don has told me when he left the NFL, which is a pretty safe place to work in a lot of ways, to come to Major League Soccer, most of his colleagues and friends said, you're crazy. Betsy, you might have said that, too. I don't know.

But what he's accomplished and accomplished here at Major League Soccer is incredible. I think maybe the most telling thing, and I think very few people know this, Don is responsible for personally recruiting and bringing in 28 of the 30 MLS owners, which is really an unbelievable accomplishment.

And present company excepted, myself and Bennett, it's a really remarkable group of individuals. You really did a great job of selecting them.

I think we owe the commissioner a real round of applause for everything he's accomplished.

(Applause.)

With that, we'll turn it over to Don Garber.

DON GARBER: Thanks very much, Jimmy. Thanks for the kind words. Thanks to all of you who are here today.

Larry, this is going to be family number two for you, the hundreds and hundreds of people that will be supporting you at the league office and the many friends or maybe not close friends of yours in the media who will help tell the Larry Berg story in the days and months ahead.

I want to thank the Succession Committee for all their hard work, and Jimmy, you and Bennett, for your leadership. These kinds of successions are very rare in the life of any league, and it's been many, many decades since a new commissioner was not an inside candidate.

So the process was very unique and it deserved the time. It deserved the thoughtfulness to be done in the right way. That's what strong organizations do. They do the work to be sure that we're preparing for the future.

While Jimmy, I appreciate the words, this is really not a time to look back on what's happened over the last 28 to 31 years of the league; it really is about the future, the future path that we'll be on with new leadership, the future energy that Larry is going to bring to this sport.

I pledge to stay in support of Larry until the end of the year and then support him as chairman through 2027. But we all should be very proud of where we are. The league is strong. It's valuable. Our ownership is committed. They're ambitious. Our stadiums are among the best in the world.

We've built an incredibly vibrant commercial market, and we have millions and millions and millions of passionate fans and great teams like LAFC that you and your partners, Bennett in particular, have worked so hard to create.

Most importantly, we built a soccer nation. Seeing what took place this past summer, where the world came to our country to take advantage of and experience all the things that we've all done to build what was the excitement around the most incredible World Cup in the history of sport, there couldn't be a better time for someone to take it from here.

We love that tagline that our marketing folks did.

My focus now is to work in transition, to be sure that you have the support, Larry, of a seamless and successful period of time. You'll have the support of our clubs. You'll certainly have the support of our players, our owners, and our supporters, because now, Larry, it's your time.

In Larry, our league has found exactly the leader that we need at this time because most importantly, as Jimmy said, Larry loves the game. He understands it because he helped build it. He knows our clubs and knows our league because he's experienced it full-time and understands the opportunities and the challenges ahead.

He really understands that our best days are ahead.

I'd like to say, Larry, and I haven't said this to you yet. We've talked about building a soccer nation where an entire ecosystem can come out of the decades of what we've all built, and we've always said around the league that at some point, politicians are going to grow up playing the game and they'll help us get our stadiums built or support us when we bring World Cups.

Our sponsors will grow up with the game and then ultimately help fund and promote our game. Our secretary general and CEO of U.S. soccer can grow up with the game as a player and then lead our federation.

You, Larry, are a byproduct of that soccer nation.

I saw a great photograph of Larry in his high school soccer uniform that I hope goes viral because he's been doing it for most of his life.

I will say that leading MLS is going to be one of the great privileges of your life. I think it is a full-time job times a full-time job times a full-time job, and I think your integrity, your ambition, your thoughtfulness, your smarts, your respect that you have for the game is going to help take this league to where we all want it to go.

On behalf of all your future staff, particularly those that have been here building the foundation for so many years, Larry, and I'll say on behalf of a grateful group of people that love the game and love the league, welcome, Larry Berg, as the next commissioner.

(Applause.)

LARRY BERG: Thank you. I knew I shouldn't have shown Don that picture from high school.

Thank you, Don. Thank you, Jimmy. Good afternoon, everyone.

Before I say anything else, I want to take you back to 1974. I was eight years old and my father saw a flier taped to a telephone pole announcing a brand new youth soccer league in our hometown. He didn't know anything about soccer, to be clear, but he thought it looked interesting and signed me up anyway. There were only two teams so we played the same opponent every weekend.

I don't think either of us could imagine that one decision would lead me here today. So Dad, who's in Florida watching, thank you. You put a ball at my feet. You started me on a journey that has shaped my life in ways neither of us could have imagined, and this moment belongs to you as much as it belongs to me.

I also want to thank my wife, Allison, who is here with us today, my son Zachary who's here with us, and our older son, Matthew, who's back in California. You've been my greatest source of support throughout this journey. None of this would be possible without your love, without your encouragement, and without your belief in me.

To the owners of Major League Soccer, including the two of you, thank you for the confidence you've placed in me. I know what an extraordinary responsibility this is, because I have had the privilege of sitting alongside many of you over the past 12 years.

I've seen firsthand the commitment, the passion, and the long-term vision that have transformed this league. You invested when there were no guarantees, believed when many people didn't, and together you've built something truly remarkable. What has impressed me most isn't simply what you've built. It's the long-term commitment made to this league and this sport.

Together you've created an extraordinary foundation, and I'm honored that you've entrusted me with helping lead the next chapter of Major League Soccer.

I'd also like to thank the members of the Succession Committee, especially Jimmy and Bennett, for conducting a process that was thoughtful, thorough, and incredibly professional. I'm grateful for the confidence you've shown in me.

Before I go any further, I want to recognize someone whose leadership made today possible: Don Garber. Don, there isn't a person who's done more for soccer in North America than you. For more than a quarter century you've lead this league with extraordinary vision, determination, and integrity, and under your leadership, Major League Soccer grew from an ambitious idea into one of the most respected soccer leagues in the world with incredible clubs, passionate supporters, committed owners, world-class facilities and partnerships that have positioned this league for an even brighter future.

On a personal level, you've also been a mentor and a friend. I'm incredibly grateful that you'll continue to be a part of this league and that I'll have the opportunity to learn from your experience during this transition. Thank you for everything you've done, not just for Major League Soccer, but for the game itself.

(Applause.)

Soccer has been the thread running through my life for as long as I can remember. It began in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, but it certainly didn't stop there. I fell in love with World Cups, spent countless Saturdays watching Soccer Made in Germany on PBS, became a lifelong supporter of the U.S. Men's National Team. I was fortunate enough to attend some the earliest Major League Soccer matches as a fan, including the Galaxy's inaugural home match in April 1996.

Years later, I had the privilege of becoming an owner with LAFC, serving alongside many of our owners on the sporting and competition committee, where we worked together on ways to strengthen our competition and continue improving our league. I've experienced the sport as a player, a fan, an owner, and now with tremendous humility as commissioner, next commissioner.

Every one of those experiences has reinforced the same belief: The future of Major League Soccer has never been brighter.

Over the past 30 years, this league has accomplished something extraordinary. Together owners, players, coaches, supporters, league staff, club employees, and partners, we've built a league that people across North America can be proud of.

We've built soccer stadiums that transform the fan experience. We invested in world-class training facilities and academies, and we expanded into vibrant soccer markets across the United States and Canada.

We attracted committed ownership groups and built clubs that are deeply connected to their communities. Simply put, the foundation has been built. Now it's our responsibility to build on it. That's what excites me most.

I didn't accept this role to protect what we've already accomplished. I accepted it because I believe this league is ready for its next chapter. We've come an incredibly long way in a remarkably short period of time, and everyone who has helped build Major League Soccer should be proud of that.

But I also believe the opportunity in front of us is even greater than what we've accomplished so far. My responsibilities to work with our clubs, our owners, and everyone across this league to build on that foundation and help Major League Soccer reach its full potential.

The World Cup this summer reminded all of us why this sport captures the imagination of billions of people around the world. Millions of people across North America experienced that passion firsthand. They fell in love with the drama, the atmosphere, the supporter culture and the emotion that makes soccer unlike anything else.

For many, it was also their first meaningful introduction to the global game, and that creates an extraordinary opportunity for all of us. The question isn't whether people are paying attention to soccer. They are. The question is what we do with this moment.

Our responsibility now is to make sure the people discovering our league today become supporters for life. That means strengthening the connection between our clubs and their communities, creating unforgettable experiences for fans, and making sure the excitement generated this summer becomes lasting momentum for Major League Soccer.

We have accomplished an extraordinary amount over the last three decades, but success can never become an excuse for standing still; status quo is not an option.

I wouldn't have accepted this responsibility if I didn't believe Major League Soccer's best years are still ahead of us. We have an extraordinary foundation, exceptional clubs, terrific fans, and tremendous momentum.

My job is to work with out owners and every stakeholder in this league to build on that foundation and make thoughtful decisions that strengthen Major League Soccer for years to come.

The platform is in place. The infrastructure is in place. The opportunity is in front of us. Now it's time to pull the right levers, make the right decisions, and build on everything that's been created.

As I begin this role, my first priority will be listening. Over the coming months I'll spend time with owners, with players, coaches, fans, with league staff, commercial partners and leaders throughout the soccer community. Every one of them has a perspective that matters, and every one of them has ideas that can help shape our future.

As we look ahead five to ten years from now, I hope people won't simply say that Major League Soccer got bigger. I hope they will say it got better. Better competition, better player development, stronger clubs, deeper connections with supporters, greater success internationally, and a league that inspired more young people across North America to fall in love with this game.

I accepted this responsibility because I believe deeply in Major League Soccer and in the people who have built it. More importantly, I accepted it because I believe our greatest achievements are still in front of us. We have exceptional owners who are ambitious for this league. We have outstanding clubs, passionate supporters, dedicated employees, and tremendous momentum behind us.

The foundation has been built. The opportunity has never been greater. The expectations have never been higher. That's exactly where we want to be. Together we'll make the right decisions to elevate our competition, strengthen our clubs, develop more world-class players, and inspire the next generation of supporters.

We'll continue challenging ourselves to improve because that's what growing leagues do, and that's what our supporters deserve.

I believe Major League Soccer has entered a new era. The foundation is strong, the opportunity is extraordinary, and I have complete confidence that working together, we'll seize it. I couldn't be more excited about what's ahead. Thank you.

DAN COURTEMANCHE: We mentioned Mr. Larry Berg is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, class of '84. He did play in the state tournament against Peter Vermes back in the day.

Q. Larry, to you, but Don, you were talking about this; any of the four of you who'd like to address it. To expand on importance of having for the first time in history a commissioner with a major soccer background and what that means, what that can mean for the league and the sport, to any of the four of you how to address that. Thanks.

BENNETT ROSENTHAL: Well, when you go back and look at the process, one thing that came out to all of us on the Succession Committee was we needed somebody who had a passion for the game.

There was nobody who had a bigger passion than Larry. And when we say the word passion, Larry described this role as something he had a calling to do. When somebody has a calling, that means they're really dedicated and they're really committed to growing it.

As Larry's partner, I also saw his vision for the league, his vision for our club, but also his vision for our league and what our league could become.

This is something Larry talks about 24/7. I called it his greatest hits. There was always a view of where the league should go. So to get a head start and to have that knowledge and have the knowledge of being an owner, have the knowledge of all our stakeholders and have the passion to execute puts us in a position and puts Larry in a position, most importantly, to succeed and get consensus to make those changes.

DON GARBER: I'll add, Jonathan, that this league was founded by a bunch of folks who really believed in what soccer could be, and they were the stakeholders and the influencers in the early days of MLS to establish a sporting strategy.

Several years ago as we were thinking about what would the future of the game look like, powering the game on the field to lead while the foundation, the commercial side was stable and strong, the person that I selected to co-chair the product strategy committee was Larry.

That was way before he had the ambition to be commissioner.

He brought to that role an entirely moderate and forward-thinking perspective as to where the product could be on the field, something that he and others in the committee have described as game first.

I think that was a big part of his influence and a big part of how he became even more qualified to be commissioner.

Q. Larry, what are your plans in terms of here at the league office? What are you looking for in potential deputies? Do you think you'll look to folks that you've worked with in the industry, people within the league office?

LARRY BERG: I think it's a little early for that. I think, as you heard from Jimmy and Bennett, this was a very thorough process and I was on a fair level playing field with everybody else.

In terms of league financials that I hadn't seen yet, in terms of org chart, et cetera, we decided to leave that until after the process was complete to keep things fair for everybody.

I have talked to Don at length about certain things so I'm getting up to speed, but it would be premature to have strong viewpoints on any of that.

Q. As mentioned, you began playing soccer very young. What will you look to as far as building out MLS, MLS NEXT, all the younger player ends of it as you came through locally?

LARRY BERG: As Bennett can attest, at LAFC, youth investment at MLS is very near and dear to my heart. I feel like we have the clay; we've built the foundation. Almost every team has an academy. Most teams have an MLS NEXT Pro team.

Every year we have more and more emerging stars that are coming through. The U.S. Men's National Team, about 75 percent of them have roots in MLS, similar to the Canadian National Team.

The good news is we're starting from a really good spot, but I also feel like we can do a lot more. I feel like we can get more player more minutes at a younger age, play at the highest level to continue to feed the national teams, continue to make this a soccer nation, ultimately win trophies whether that be Copa or the Olympics or World Cups.

So I feel really strongly that's a place we absolutely need to dig in and focus on, and we owe it to all the young players to do everything we can with their development.

And then this is also probably a good time to say I also feel like U.S. soccer is doing a lot in this area. I know they're restructuring college soccer which is terrific. They are very focused, along with FIFA, on youth development in this country.

I don't think we can do it apart. I think by putting us together it's going to be a lot more effective, and I get to come in at a time where that's really beginning to take root. So starting from a good place but a lot more to do.

Q. For Larry and the committee co-chairs for the incoming commissioner, you have a lot of history in soccer, obviously, as we've been talking about, but also a lot of history in private equity. I'm curious if your experience in private equity will inform the way you make decisions as commissioner of MLS, if it's going to affect your approach? And to the committee co-chairs, was Larry's experience in private equity a factor in your decision? And if so, how was it?

LARRY BERG: I do think there's a lot of characteristics in private equity that do apply to other things, which is not a surprise. It applies to everything. It's about a sense of urgency, rolling up the sleeves, being in the trenches, asking about questions, aligning people toward a common goal. There's a lot of parallels.

I had a lot of experience on many boards, which gives me a lot of experience in governance, and at the end of the day this is a governance job with 30 owners and a lot of constituents.

So I do think it helps, and I think by virtue of having seen a lot of different businesses and a lot of different industries, you become somewhat of a quick study and learn to frankly work with the experts in the room. The league office has a ton of experts in the room and help work that through.

I personally think it's an advantage. I think it was an advantage at LAFC. I had invested in soccer clubs before but I had never helped run a soccer club. But I do think those things translated, and I think they'll translate here as well.

JIMMY HASLAM: Private equity and, quote, regular business comes in, generally takes control of the company, owning more than 50 percent, installs their own management team, and makes the necessary changes to benefit the shareholders.

In sports, private equity is a great source of capital. As the value of these teams has soared, and they have really in all leagues, when somebody comes in to buy a pro sports team or buy a share of a pro sports team, private equity can provide great assistance by providing capital.

I think it's important to understand, though, in the sports world, the most they can own is 30 percent. It varies by leagues. The NFL is only 10, most leagues are 30, and they have no governance rights. Let me say that again: They have no governance rights.

I think it's important for Larry to understand that. Some people have, well, he's a private equity guy. Larry is a very broad based business person and I think it's important to understand the role of private equity in sports.

LARRY BERG: I think it's worth mentioning because it was recent, and we recently partnered with KKR on our MLS NEXT Pro league. I think institutional capital, as Jimmy said, has entered sports, and we're really happy about that working relationship with KKR.

And obviously having a 30-plus year experience in private equity, it puts me in a good position to work on specific things like that.

JIMMY HASLAM: I think one other thing is there's lots of partnerships and deals to be made out here in U.S. soccer. I think we're all convinced we need to work like this together. How do we work with CONCACAF? How do we work with FIFA? How do we work with Liga MX? Larry's skill set in making deals and doing transactions I think will come in really, really helpful there.

BENNETT ROSENTHAL: Yeah, we were fortunate enough to see a lot of people from a lot of different industries, and I think Larry's private equity background and the understanding of the factors of success, meaning people, process, and culture, it's what we built at LAFC.

It's the ability to communicate that skillset I think really helped Larry in the process, and it really helped get our partners in the league a lot of confidence that Larry is going to be able to collaborate, take in a lot of data and make great decisions, which I think is what makes a great private equity investor, which Larry proved he already is at Apollo; he's proven at LAFC that he can bring that skillset.

I'm sure he's going to bring that skillset to the league.

Q. Two questions, one for Larry and one for Don. For Larry, wonder if you could play your greatest hits as Bennett called it for us and talk about what levers you do need to pull to get to those greatest hits? And Don, when you were coming up on your 25 years, you talked a little bit about the advice Paul Tagliabue gave you when you were taking over as commissioner. I wonder what advice you'd give Larry as he prepares to take over.

LARRY BERG: To be clear, when Bennett talks about greatest hits he was making fun of me. I tend to be a little bit repetitious.

BENNETT ROSENTHAL: And passionate.

LARRY BERG: And passionate. Look, we have a lot to do. Obviously the foundation is terrific, but I think it all starts with quality on the field.

I think there's a lot of other things that matter a lot. I think I the new calender was a massive move. I thins the new playoffs, the new divisions, these are all really important youth development we talked about.

But at the end of the day, it's quality on the field, which means roster investment model in part, and that's something that the owners need to decide collectively. It was my job as co-chair of sporting competition committee to help move those along.

I'm really excited about the opportunity to have my fingers all over that even that much more, and what I promised the owners yesterday at my presentation is I'd spend the first few months talking to them, meeting with all the owners and hearing about all of their viewpoints. Because I think everyone unanimously wants to move forward, everyone wants to take advantage of this rocket fuel from the World Cup, but they have different views of how to do so.

They focus on different -- we call it choose your own adventure, different things. It's my job to take all these things in and come up with a plan going forward.

Sometimes it's just a question of being a little bit creative. I have that experience in private equity, to go back to the last question, to try to bring people together and make certain tradeoffs. We've done it as you know, Paul with our current roster investment model in terms of choosing a DP or choosing more roster investment or choosing an extra U22 so people can decide what they want to do.

And I would say that's my number one job. I think if I do that well, we will have more transfer revenues and we will have media money and that will all lead to better product on the field, and that will become a flywheel because it leads to more transfers and more revenue money and more media money.

But that's job one.

DAN COURTEMANCHE: Our next question, which is down here with -- oh, our next question goes to Don Garber. How could I forget that?

DON GARBER: See how fast that happens? (Laughter.) Good job, Dan. Dan and I have been doing this -- he was the emcee at my first press conference, which literally was so many years ago.

And Paul -- it was 28 years ago, and I worked at the NFL, and Paul Tagliabue took me into his office and said, why would you leave? Why would anybody who was working in what was then the growing sports industry leave, and obviously I believed in what MLS could be.

I said, do you have any advice? Paul was an attorney, and he really didn't have a great sense of humor so I wasn't expecting something that I would be repeating so many years later. He said two things then that I thought about for many years, but sitting here today are no longer relevant.

The first thing was, you're going to see what life is like without leverage. In the early years of MLS we had no leverage. Every day our staff, our clubs, our players had to earn it, literally, just through sweat and blood and being smarter and working harder, because nobody really believed that MLS would be what it's turned out to be.

We no longer need to worry about not having leverage because we have one of the best leagues in the world. We've got the best player in the world. I think we've got the best ownership group in the world, and we're going to have a great commissioner who's going to take it from here.

The other thing he said, which is no longer true, which I've repeated before and it is probably something that may be the cover of my book, he said, in order to be successful, you need to keep the owners who hate you away from the ones who are undecided. (Laughter.)

I don't know if I ever told you that.

So what I would say today is they are so connected with each other and they're so connected with our leadership and the rest of our staff, we no longer have to think about what we need to do to get them to align. They were proven through the succession process; they are aligned.

Jimmy said earlier, it brought them all together in ways that probably hasn't happened before. So these are the things that power you when you least expect it.

What I have said in bits and pieces to Larry and we'll spend much more time together, is he and Allison are going to have to change their social life because their Saturday nights will never be the same.

So get used to that, Allison. You and Larry, like Betsy and I; but Fridays and Sundays you can have. Watch many, many, many games. I know you guys have been together for a long time.

I've been so fortunate to be with my wife who's been supportive for 41 years, 28 of those running Major League Soccer. But family is first for both of us, and family still needs to remain first.

The second thing is that we in this sport have so many setbacks, but we live for the comebacks. You're going to have a lot of setbacks, but you have to power through all of that to be this challenger league and challenger brand that we will always be, and I don't think that will ever change.

The last thing I would say is we now can go from strength to strength. We have so much to be proud of, and we have so much excitement, enthusiasm for what's next. It's no longer about having to fight every day to get recognized. We are strong and we are powerful, and you're going to make us even better than that.

That's what I've said. There you go.

Q. Larry, one of the biggest things on the horizon for this league is the media deal that you said you're going to listen and learn over the next couple months, but right now what are some of your biggest priorities heading into those conversations?

LARRY BERG: Well, as the incoming commissioner I'm allowed to kick it to the current commissioner to answer that question.

DON GARBER: Only for a few more months.

We are proud of our relationship with apple. We're proud of the fact that every single one of our 600 games is televised like a national game. We're proud of the fact that we have global distribution, and we've got a company that has been so supportive of us.

But our future is going to be about leaning into the transformation and disruption of the media business, and Larry, I'll throw it to him, has got a lot of great ideas about that.

But what better time to be out in the media world in 2029 and a half, to be able to put together the next generation of a partnership.

LARRY BERG: The thing I would say is especially at this time since we have a little time before the next media deal, it's about finding media partners that want to co-create the future with us. It's about co-creating. It's about what's interesting to them, what's interesting to us, how can we change certain things to their benefit.

I'll use one example. In the World Cup we obviously all discovered hydration breaks. Obviously that was interesting in many ways. But my job is to sell the future and to paint what MLS can be, to introduce Leagues Cup to media folks that some of them are not aware of it, but it's this amazing tournament that's starting this week.

Our new playoff system will be something that I'm hoping to explain to people and get them excited about it. So if I can establish those relationships, if they can engage and I've been doing that already, then we'll have a good time of it 12 to 18 months from now when we engage on the business side.

Q. You mentioned competition and quality on the field, and I'm curious, as you look at the league's next phase of growth here, do you see promotion and relegation as something that could create more value for MLS or potentially maybe introduce more risk rather than reward?

LARRY BERG: So I have had the experience -- I won't call it the opportunity, but the experience of having invested in a few clubs in Europe and a few clubs in promotion and regulation leagues. I can understand the appeal for the fan.

I don't think it's a great way to build a league. I don't think it's a great way to get stadiums built and to get training facilities built and to have owners invest in rosters and all the other things you need to do.

So I don't think it's appropriate for our league.

I think Don has said before, never say never. But I just don't see it happening anytime soon. I think there are other ways. I liken it more to jeopardy. The great thing about promotion relegation for fans is the jeopardy is quite severe, but I think there are other ways to create jeopardy during the regular season to get into the playoffs, during the playoffs to get to the next round.

In the World Cup we all enjoyed knockout games after the group stage. I call those games of consequence or games of jeopardy, and I think that's really what I'm more focused on than specifically relegation.

Q. Larry, just building off of that a little bit, you've teased that a new format, like a new competitive format, might be something that's of interest to you. What sort of improvements on the current format -- what are sort of the improvements, for lack of a better term, in the current form that you would like to make? What are some things you're thinking about as you're contemplating that?

LARRY BERG: So I don't think it's important what I personally prefer. I think it's about showing leadership and bringing the ownership group together to the best answer. That's not just asking them a question and tallying up the votes.

The league has done a ton of work with outside parties, with inside parties, looking at those very questions for the regular seasons, for the divisions, for the playoffs, and there's a lot of analysis that has gone in. There's a lot of research and fan research that has gone in, and there's a lot of discussions at committee levels that has gone in.

What's important to me is that we ultimately achieve consensus and we move forward together, but the good news is I think the things we're thinking about certainly will move our league forward, make it entertaining, make it interesting, and I'm pretty excited to roll it out.

I don't know timing-wise when that might be. We obviously have next summer, the start of our new calendar, so that's a pretty big deal. Perhaps we have it by then - I hope. But it's really about what the owners can do and what kind of analysis and leadership I can provide as part of that.

Q. Larry, in 2020 you said you thought MLS could surpass both MLB and NHL in the pecking order of U.S. sports by the end of the decade. You have six more years of data. You have the World Cup to look at. I'm curious how you feel about that now. Would you accelerate that proclamation or leave it where it is? How do you feel about that sitting here now in 2026?

LARRY BERG: I think if you look at the research, it shows that the sport of soccer in many ways is second or third in this country, depending on the demographics and the age. The younger the age, the more popular soccer is.

Our challenge is to get MLS to be the most popular league in the sport of soccer. I am impressed with and proud of the fact how far soccer has come since that, as you called it, proclamation. But we still have, obviously, a lot more to do, and certainly I'm excited to join and see what I can do to continue that.

But I think you have to look at the sport and be quite proud of the fact that when you do this research and especially for the younger and the diverse communities in this country, soccer is just booming.

This gives MLS a great opportunity. We're a big part of that already. It gives us an opportunity to grow that much more.