What a time it is for the Major League Soccer(MLS)! Attendances and finances are growing, apart from the streaming deal with Apple, which is paying dividends through global traction and stars incoming, MLS has agreed several new broadcast deals outside the US, franchise’s social channels are at an all-time high, which according to an article from Forbes, have received 400 million social interactions to date in 2024 that is a 230% increase compared to 2023,MLS is ticking all the right boxes. Here are some 2024 attendance stats showing the growing fan acceptance:
- With over 12.1 million fans having attended an MLS match this season, MLS trailed only the English Premier League in total attendance globally through the 2024 Conference Finals.
- Forty-one matches have featured an attendance of 40,000 – 50,000.
- 10 matches have surpassed more than 60,000 fans in attendance with two matches crossing 70,000 fans.
The best part is MLS seems to be peaking just at the right time with FIFA Club World Cup around the corner and less than 500 days, there’s the biggest football spectacle FIFA World Cup 2026. Moreover, 2025 marks its 30th year and with San Diego FC added, it’s now 30 franchises in the fray.
In 2024, MLS announced a deal with OneFootball, the German digital media platform, to provide highlights, stats and other content to a global audience, a clever marketing strategy to establish itself globally. It is not just a regular partnership, MLS will also invest in OneFootball, joining a group of shareholders that includes European clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Manchester City, among others.
In this blog, we take a look at the key growth factors – revenue, broadcast coverage and valuation over the years.
Revenue Growth
Considering revenue data from the Sportico annual MLS revenue & valuation reports, aggregate revenue of all franchises has been growing at a CAGR of 14% from the year 2021 and has grown by 13% in 2024 over 2023. Please note that 2021 had 27 franchises and 2022 had 28 franchises. A more appropriate comparison would be the average revenue growth and at the given CAGR, it can be considered as a very attractive growth rate. The given chart shows the average revenue growth over 4-year period:
This brings to the question; which franchise has grown the most? The most obvious answer to this is Inter Miami, growing at a CAGR of 43% although the actual growth has happened since Messi joined in 2022.The recorded revenue of Inter Miami in 2023 is $127mn, a growth of a whopping 131% over 2022. What’s more, Inter Miami has almost touched the $200mn revenue mark closing 2024 with $193mn in reported revenues, which is a 50% growth over it’s 2023 revenue. The other franchise to show a big jump in 2024 revenues is Vancouver Whitecaps with a 42% jump, closing 2024 with $47mn. Franchises crossing $100mn revenue in 2024, apart from Inter Miami, are:
- LAFC: $142mn
- Atlanta United: $131mn
- LA Galaxy: $110mn
Securing More Broadcast Coverage
Availability in multiple markets is one of the pillars of a becoming a global league. MLS is truly on the way to achieve that with a recent spate of broadcasting deals. As per a report from SportsPro, agreements have been inked with local broadcasters in:
- Germany
- Malta
- Israel
- South Korea
- Middle East
- Southeast Asia
Domestically, MLS has non-exclusive deals with Fox and TSN in Canada. This is certainly not the end. As per reports, MLS will seek to address presence in other markets in the near future. Beyond broadcast, MLS has content deal with Footballco, for big events like the postseason and MLS All Star Game. MLS has also partners with ScorePlay, which all 30 clubs to manage and distribute digital content.
MLS is truly on the way to become a global league.
Valuation Growth
Consistent with the revenue growth, average valuation of an MLS franchise in 2025, as per Sportico 2025 valuations, is $721mn a 6% increase over 2024. As expected, it’s Inter Miami which has experienced the maximum jump in valuation, from $585mn in 2022 to $1.19bn in 2025, a huge 103% jump! The five franchises, other than Inter Miami, recording highest jump over their 2022 valuations in percentage points are:
- NYCFC: 45%
- LAFC: 42%
- Austin FC: 37%
- FC Cincinnati: 32%
- Columbus Crew: 30%
In Conclusion
The other avenue contributing to the surge in revenue, apart from surge in ticketing, attendances & season passes, is the increasing interest in sponsorships. Messi is inarguably a huge factor and has probably acted as a catalyst but there is also another reason, demographics.
As per Dan Courtemanche, VP at Major League Soccer, “we have the youngest, most diverse audience in all the professional sports leagues that are based in North America, a third of the league’s fans are Latino and most are younger than 45, that’s appealing to broadcast partners, corporate sponsors.”
All the above reasons put together, football or soccer never had it so good in the USA. We hope the momentum will keep increasing beyond the FIFA World Cup too!
