It is 10 years from today—the end of the 2028 MLS season—and MLS looks substantially different. The league has continued to ride the momentum created by the North American 48-team World Cup, which smashed records for average and overall attendance, advertising revenue, and TV ratings. The level of the league has been on a steady incline for nearing three decades now, and with revenue growth both before and after the 2026 World Cup, MLS has become an even bigger player in the global soccer economy.



I think it’s possible that MLS clubs will have a $20 million salary budget in ten years’ time, about five times more than in 2018. In this vision, there are four designated player spots, which allow teams who want to spend substantially more on star players to continue to do so. Targeted and general allocation money has been eliminated, as there is no need to buy down salaries to get under a far more substantial cap. Senior rosters have increased to 25 spots,...