- Major League Soccer is making big changes to enhance its presence in the world.
- A summer-to-spring schedule will align MLS with top leagues in Europe.
- The league's Apple TV deal will make games available to millions more viewers.
That the new owners of Real Salt Lake are bullish on Major League Soccer isn’t a surprise considering they paid more than a half-billion dollars for the team this past April.
But Miller Sports + Entertainment isn’t alone in that thinking. RSL’s original owner Dave Checketts sees big things on the horizon not only for the league but for the sport in the United States.
The Larry H. Miller family appears to have ventured into the game just as it’s about to have a global moment or two on American soil in the next few years. The U.S. will co-host the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031, while the 2028 Olympics will be in Los Angeles. The U.S. will also host the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
The men’s World Cup, spread across NFL stadiums in the largest media markets in the country over five weeks, is being billed as the largest sporting event in history.
At the same time, MLS continues to mature as a league. It’s more competitive. It increasingly attracts some of the world’s best players such as Lionel Messi — whose Inter Miami FC team is scheduled to play RSL in Utah next season — and Son Heung-min of Los Angeles FC. A coming change to a summer-to-spring schedule and major adjustment to the league’s deal with Apple TV will put the beautiful game, as it’s called, in front of more American eyes than ever. Soccer is already the most played youth sport in America.
“It’s really a powerful convergence of this sport that’s on the rise, a league that’s on the rise,” said Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company. “All of that just continues to add more fuel to this incredible momentum.”
Growing fan base
Professional soccer in the U.S. is at a tipping point.
MLS was founded in 1996, two years after the U.S. last hosted the World Cup in 1994. It has taken some years for the league to find its footing.
“It’s been a long and difficult history,” Checketts said. “But it is clearly a league on the rise now. I couldn’t be happier for the people of Utah because they love their soccer. They love their football. They love showing up for games and cheering for that team.”
The 2025 regular season ranked second-highest in total attendance in MLS history, with 11.2 million fans and average crowds of 21,988 per match. Total league attendance has increased 12% since 2022.
RSL came in just under the league average this season at 19,776 per game, down slightly from 2024 but a 1.8% increase over the past two years, according to Sports Business Journal.
Among the world’s top soccer leagues, MLS trails only the long-established English Premier League in total attendance.
“Maybe the headline here for me would be that we’re witnessing the transformation of Major League Soccer and we all can have a front-row seat to that,” Starks said.
Aligning U.S. soccer with the world
In what MLS commissioner Don Garber calls “one of the most important decisions in our history,” the league will adopt a summer-to-spring schedule in 2027, aligning itself with the rest of the professional soccer world.
He said the change will strengthen MLS clubs’ global competitiveness, create better opportunities in the transfer market and ensure the playoffs “take center stage without interruption.”
Having the playoffs in May rather than November will move soccer out of the long shadow of the NFL and college football, opening sponsorship opportunities that those sports suck up each fall. Aligning the season with leagues worldwide will also help MLS teams build their rosters and possibly pull top players to the U.S.
David Beckham had a great run with the LA Galaxy more than decade ago. But like other international players who have joined MLS teams, he was near the end of his career.
Checketts said he doesn’t think MLS will be able to attract those types of players in their prime, at least not right away.
“As it stands now, the competition and the way that the game is played in the Premier League is exceptional, but that has happened over 100 years. I do think MLS quality–wise, though, has come a long way," he said.
It’s great that stars like Messi, who will be nearly 42 when his Inter Miami FC contract ends, have come over but the U.S. needs to start developing young American players at the academy level, Checketts said.
“I’ve always thought that MLS would be getting close to what it needs to be when every national team player for the U.S. was playing somewhere in the MLS and that the national team is one of the top four or five teams in the world,” he said. “We’ve got a ways to go to get there.”
A veteran player’s perspective
RSL defender Deandre Yedlin, 32, played professional soccer at every level. He started his MLS career in Seattle in 2013. He played with the U.S. national team in the 2014 World Cup. He spent seven years in Europe, including a stint in the Premier League. He returned to the U.S where he and Messi were teammates with Inter Miami.
The competition in MLS “was not even close” when he started his career a dozen years ago, he said. But, he said, it’s growing fast.
“You see the type of players it’s attracting, you see the facilities, the stadiums,” he said.
“Would I say it’s at the Premier League level yet? No. It’s like putting the NFL over there. It’s obviously going to be a bit behind. But the rate that MLS is growing is outstanding.”
Yedlin described the difference from the time he left the league to when he returned as “incredible.”
A young player’s perspective
Eighteen-year-old Zavier Gozo is the type of player Checketts is talking about. He was born in West Valley City, grew up in Bountiful and graduated from the RSL Academy in May. He’s now on the big club.
“Obviously, it’s a big dream come true,” he said.
Gozo, midfielder, also played for the U.S. in the U-20 World Cup. He’s the 10th-ranked player in Major League Soccer’s annual “22 Under 22” young player class. He has aspirations to make the U.S. national team.
Gozo’s favorite player growing up was the Brazilian star Neymar. Now he finds himself on the same pitch as those high-caliber players. He’s looking forward to playing against Messi next season.
“I’m excited to play against him. But at the same time, we are playing in the same league. We are playing on the same field,” he said “Obviously, he’s the best ever and you have to respect that, but we want to win.”
Soccer on television
Another MLS move that perhaps might be as big as the schedule change is the league’s deal with Apple TV. Initially Apple subscribers had to pay an additional fee to get MLS games. No more. Apple dropped the secondary paywall.
“That’s a monumental shift and it will enable MLS games to be viewed by literally tens and tens of millions more people around the country,” Starks said.
RSL season ticket holders get an Apple TV subscription as part of the package.
Checketts called the Apple decision a “brilliant contribution by a great company to make it work.”
Speaking of TV, there’s no question programs like “Ted Lasso” and “Welcome to Wrexham” have driven American interest in soccer. Wrexham with Ryan Reynolds particularly takes viewers inside a soccer club’s ups and downs with the humans who play the game. “It’s a great drama,“ Checketts said. ”That’s what most seasons are for teams.”
Checketts also credits the current set of “terrific” MLS team owners, including the Millers, for coming in with a vision of what the league could be.
Investing in the future
The Miller family and Miller Sports + Entertainment bought a controlling interest in the Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals FC soccer teams from David Blitzer this past April in what sources told the Deseret News was a $580 million deal. It also includes the Utah Monarchs, America First Field in Sandy and Zions Bank Training Center and Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
Because the deal happened after the season started, Starks said the new owners took mostly an observer role and asked questions rather than offer solutions.
The team made its first major move last month hiring RSL’s first-ever player and its MLS Cup 2009-winning head coach Jason Kreis as president of soccer operations, a position it hasn’t had before. He will report to ownership and oversee the sporting structures of both RSL and the Royals, though both will continue to operate independently.
Checketts, who owned the team during the championship season, said Kreis has great understanding of the game and is an outstanding leader.
RSL is the only MLS team to make the playoffs for five consecutive years. But Starks said the next step is to go deeper in the postseason and assemble a championship roster. At the same time, the team will invest in health performance, analytics and scouting.
“We want to build from the inside out. Typically, world-class organizations do that, and so we’re starting to make investments in that infrastructure,” he said.
Ownership also has plans to renovate America First Field and enhance the fan experience on game day.
Starks said RSL has had strong demand on tickets and sponsorships. He said part of the interest is the Miller Sports + Entertainment platform that includes RSL, Royals, Salt Lake Bees and Megaplex theaters. “We’re already having partners want to lean in on Real Salt Lake in ways that they haven’t in the past,” he said.
What are MLS teams worth?
As MLS reaches new heights and soccer becomes more and more popular in the U.S., the value of teams in the league will follow.
In January, Sportico valued RSL at $525 million, with the average MLS team worth $721 million. The top five teams, including Messi’s Inter Miami FC, exceed $1 billion in valuation. But there’s reason to believe the RSL’s worth might be on the rise amid recently reported valuations in comparable markets.
Austin FC, Columbus Crew and Cincinnati FC have all cracked the $900 million mark, according to reports on team transactions.
Checketts said more and more because of its status on the world stage soccer will become better in the U.S., the players will be better and the league will be better for the changes being made. At the same time, he said MLS will continue to attract marquee players but maybe not in their 20s as it competes with big-budget clubs in Europe.
Still, MLS, he said, has a chance with all its changes to be among the top leagues in the world.
“The beautiful game is different than every other game in the world and we’re part of it because we’ve got an MLS team and a NWSL team in Salt Lake City,” Checketts said. “I think we’re very lucky.”
