MLS Rethinks Roster Spending as the Messi Era Draws to a Close

MLS is preparing for a future without Lionel Messi, and while the 2026 World Cup demonstrated that the 39-year-old superstar can still compete at the highest level, the league is proactively planning for life beyond his tenure.

According to The Athletic, MLS owners will convene this week to review a substantial restructuring of the league’s roster regulations, focusing on a more flexible salary cap framework.

The board of governors is scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Charlotte ahead of the MLS All-Star Game against Liga MX, where the sporting and competition committee will introduce a preliminary proposal aimed at removing many current spending restrictions for teams.

Reworking spending rules is being treated as the final—and arguably toughest—box to check in that broader plan. “It’s a must-do; it’s not a maybe-do,” commissioner Don Garber emphasized to The Athletic ahead of the World Cup final. “… And that’s not ripping everything up that got us here. It’s evolving it. It’s making a couple of bold steps.”

Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul during an Inter Miami match. (Getty Images)

There is a genuine urgency driving this initiative. As Messi’s time in the league shortens, MLS needs to demonstrate its capacity to attract top international talent without depending solely on one individual’s appeal.

Complicating the timeline, any proposed modifications will likely need to be integrated into a new collective bargaining agreement with the MLS Players Association, whose current deal does not expire until January 2028—leaving a tight window to finalize changes before 2027.

Keeping the Designated Player slot intact

Relaxing the regulations does not mean dismantling existing frameworks, and there is widespread agreement that the Designated Player system must remain in some capacity.

“You have to keep DPs, in my opinion, because you cannot have a rule structure that will prevent you from signing the next Messi or Son (Heung-min),” one chief soccer officer stated in an anonymous survey by The Athletic. “You would need to keep that. However, I would like to see the salary cap function so we can invest across the entire roster, rather than just a handful of players, allowing teams to strategize freely.”

The wave of stars that followed Messi to MLS

Messi’s return in 2023 prompted a surge of high-profile signings that has only accelerated since. LAFC shattered the league’s transfer record to acquire Son Heung-Min from Tottenham for $26.5 million, while Inter Miami secured Rodrigo DePaul for a $15 million fee and later added Casemiro.

Thomas Mueller moved to the Vancouver Whitecaps, and Robert Lewandowski made the switch to MLS as well, ultimately joining the Chicago Fire instead of reuniting with Messi in Miami as initially anticipated.

Antoine Griezmann has also made the transition, signing with Orlando City as yet another high-profile name betting on MLS’s future. Through these acquisitions, the league has cultivated the star-studded depth required to sustain its momentum once Messi eventually departs.

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