Don Garber Says MLS Should Be Viewed as ‘Big 5’ U.S. League
Garber acknowledged the league's media rights revenue and audience are still growing.
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber maintains that his league should be recognized as a "Big Five" professional sports league in the United States. Garber insists his league is on par with the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. He argues that MLS deserves inclusion in the global conversation, citing factors such as millions of fans, influential players, and high global profile via FIFA.
However, Garber concedes MLS's status is not yet comparable to the other major leagues in terms of both media revenue and audience. The current MLS media rights deal with Apple TV is valued at $200 million for 2026 and up to $275 million for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons. This falls short of the annual media rights revenue of the NFL ($10 billion), NBA ($6.8 billion), MLB ($2.1 billion), and NHL ($625 million).
Garber defends the Apple TV deal, having experienced challenges in regional sports networks due to lack of competitiveness. Since 2022, MLS has been airing 500 games nationally on Apple TV - five times more than previously. Garber believes the number of games, not just viewership for a few popular ones, should be the key metric.
According to Nielsen Data from Tuned In summit, MLS viewership has grown 55% among men aged 18-34 and 29% among young adults since 2026 FIFA World Cup matches on Fox and FS1. Garber's current media deal will not be renegotiated, as he retires at the end of the year to be succeeded by Los Angeles FC co-owner Larry Berg.
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