Most of the new stadiums, including BBVA Compass, were built through a combination of public and private money. The Houston project cost about $95 million, and the hope is for the stadium to start an extension of a downtown revitalization.

Players who have been around since the early days see the stadiums as concrete symbols of the economic health of the league.

“In the beginning, you took what you could get,” said the Dynamo star Brian Ching, the club’s career scoring leader. “As the league has grown, you’ve seen teams creating these stadiums that create a true soccer experience. With that, everything else about the league has gotten better. It’s more exciting to play in these places.”

It also makes financial sense. Instead of paying rent for insufficient homes, teams can now control all of the revenue streams, including concessions, naming rights and profits from other events like concerts.

Other M.L.S. stadiums will become hubs in larger entertainment developments.

In New Jersey, the $200 million Red Bull Arena is the centerpiece of a planned $1 billion project including office space, retail outlets, parking decks and housing across the Passaic River from Newark. PPL Park, the $120 million home of the Philadelphia Union, sits at the foot of the Commodore Barry Bridge, part of a planned $500 million entertainment, retail, residential and business complex covering more than 60 acres along the waterfront in Chester, Pa.

Garber said BBVA Compass would be a gold standard of the new ones, and Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., is another. The $200 million BBVA Compass mixes cutting-edge technology — it has more than 150 Wi-Fi access points — with one of the league’s loudest atmospheres, because of a drum-shaped roof designed to deflect sound down to the field.

The Kansas City team was floundering five years ago, and the ownership group saw an eye-popping stadium as the vehicle to turn the team’s fortunes.