The World Cup, hosted jointly by the US, Mexico and Canada, has given Major League Soccer a major boost in exposure, and the league is now moving to convert that attention into lasting growth. MLS has launched an advertising campaign featuring stars such as Lionel Messi, Son Heung-min and David Beckham inviting new fans to follow the domestic season, complete with free tickets for newcomers, as executives say the tournament has "exposed millions of people" to the league and they intend to build on that momentum.

MLS, itself created as a legacy of the 1994 World Cup, has grown from 10 teams in 1996 to 30 clubs today, and 45 of its players featured at this year's tournament, including Messi and Rodrigo de Paul in the final. World Cup matches drew huge US television audiences, with England's win over Mexico reaching 45 million viewers and the USA's loss to Belgium pulling in 33 million on Fox, though still short of Super Bowl-level figures. The league, whose new signings now average 23.8 years old rather than fitting its old "retirement home" reputation, is also shifting to a summer-to-spring calendar from 2027 and investing in youth academies as it seeks to rank alongside Europe's elite competitions.