The United States once again showed everyone how professional sports should function
Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets are officially introduced as Inter Miami players. These signings allowed David Beckham’s club to officially become the most expensive squad in MLS (the team’s roster, estimated at 70.6 million euros, is 5 million euros more than New York City), and the League itself to slightly close the gap with Portugal and Brazil in Top 10 most expensive world championships.
Now MLS is in eighth position, but given the pace at which the League is developing, it is possible that in the next few years it will break even into the TOP-5. Yes, MLS League 1, whose players are valued at 1.24 billion euros, is seriously behind, but France continues to lose stars, America “collects” them.
MLS is now one of the nine leagues with a combined player value of more than a billion euros. At the same time, the American League has already bypassed the Dutch Eredivisie, and is quite a bit behind the Portuguese Primeira.
If we talk exclusively about America, then the MLS in terms of the total cost of players is second only to the Brazilian Serie A. And then, as it seems, it will soon outstrip the Brazilian championship.
However, speaking of growth and progress, it is important to take into account another interesting point. For 15 years, the cost of the MLS franchise has grown 25 times! In 2008, the owners of San Jose paid $ 20 million for it, in 2023 the “gunpowder of entry” for a group of owners of San Diego, which includes the legend of the US national football team and its all-time leading scorer Landon Donovan, amount to a seemingly unimaginable $500 million. And yes, San Diego MLS will appear only in 2025.
And of course, how not to recall the MLS contract with Apple, according to which the TV rights sold to the tech giant receive $ 250 million per season for the League, the whole deal lasting 10 seasons is estimated at $ 2.5 billion.
So far, the League has not announced another expansion – starting from the 2025 season, there will be 30 teams in the MLS, but it seems that it is inevitable. Especially after the 2026 World Cup, which the United States will host together with Canada and Mexico, interest in football in the country will grow even more. And before the World Cup, both Messi and Busquets, who are preparing for their debut, and Insigne, Hernandez and Bernardeschi, who have been playing for more than a season, will do this.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
