Major League Soccer’s accelerated growth over the past few seasons has been documented in different ways, but it was on display in a new light on Friday afternoon in Atlanta.



A day before MLS Cup, in a city that has become the crown jewel of the league, MLS commissioner Don Garber made a pair of statements that represented 180-degree changes in the league’s stance on two key issues. The first was when Garber addressed solidarity payments, emphasizing the league’s support for the FIFA mechanism—something Garber acknowledges is a change in policy from even, “two, three, four, or five years ago.”



Garber then said something that nearly caused me to fall out of my seat.



“We need to be more of a selling league,” he declared.



For years, MLS has fought against any perception that it was a selling league. It interpreted the moniker as a negative one. The league’s belief was that if MLS was suddenly cast as...