SBJ’s inaugural Business of Soccer, presented by Concacaf and MLS, brought together some of the sport’s most plugged-in people in North America just over a year before the arrival of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Here’s a snapshot of happenings in the sport that were discussed both onstage and at the hotel bar in Marina del Rey, Calif.:
MLS SCHEDULE FLIP: Ahead of what could be a pivotal MLS board meeting in Chicago next month, Nashville SC Vice Chairman Ian Ayre and AEG President and CEO Dan Beckerman (whose company owns the LA Galaxy) discussed the possibility of MLS aligning its schedule with the global soccer calendar.
“How does it affect players’ contracts?” Ayre asked. “How does it affect commercial contracts and sponsors and partners? There’s so much to work through.”
“We have to make bold moves to propel our sport forward,” Beckerman said. “This could be one of those moves.”
Sentiment across the league seems to be trending toward going forward, but there are many details to iron out and it’s unclear how long that might take.
USL PRO-REL: News of USL’s intention to institute a promotion and relegation system between its professional men’s divisions as soon as 2028 broke on the opening morning of the conference. The development has been a long time coming, but the USL owners’ formal vote caught the attention of many in the soccer world. Some attendees felt it was too early to get excited about the system, which is contingent on USL’s ability to get its proposed Division I league off the ground, and questioned whether it would have a meaningful impact in growing USL’s popularity. Many also applauded the effort, however, as a compelling differentiator from MLS.
“This is a momentous occasion, but I think we have to approach it with total humility,” said Brett Johnson, owner of USL Championship club Rhode Island FC and an investor in Premier League club Ipswich Town FC, who was not at the event. “The work starts now. This was the easy part.”
CRUNCH TIME: It’s been nearly three years since FIFA chose the 16 cities where World Cup matches will be played next year. Still, there’s a widely held feeling that organizers in those locations are playing catch-up, especially from a financial perspective. Much of the blame for that is being assigned to FIFA, which, despite the existence of a Host City Supporters program, is perceived as giving cities little opportunity to raise the money necessary to host the event.
One source familiar with the host city dynamics said many are beginning to adjust their expectations for what they can pull off. Areas for scale-downs could include fan fests and legacy programs. They are also hopeful that an influx of federal funding to cover major expenses, such as security, could help relieve the financial burden.
GROWTH IN WOMEN’S SOCCER: On March 20, NJ/NY Gotham FC minority owner Jennifer Mackesy announced her plan to launch a 7-on-7 women’s competition called World Sevens Football that will debut in Portugal in May and offer a $5 million prize pool. The effort has the backing of global streamer DAZN.
The emergence of multiclub organizations in the women’s space was also a topic of discussion, with Sixth Street’s Bay Collective and Avenue Capital’s Mercury 13 seemingly poised to join Michele Kang’s Kynisca Sports. While the easiest teams for those groups to valuate and acquire are those that are already independently owned, Monarch Collective managing partner Kara Nortman said her firm is working aggressively on developing a model to ascribe value to women’s teams that are joined at the hip with male counterparts. This suggests more investors could be looking into buying the women’s sides of prominent European clubs.
