ORLANDO, FLORIDA – AUGUST 22: Antoine Griezmann #7 of Orlando City celebrates with teammate after scoring his second goal in second half of the match against Real Salt Lake at Inter&Co Stadium on August 22, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Dustin Markland/Getty Images)
Getty Images
With the secondary transfer window closing last week, Major League Soccer announced that its 30 clubs had set a new record for overall spending, disbursing $370 million in total fees across both windows of the current season.
The total represents a 10% increase over 2025 and a dramatic 118% rise compared to five years earlier.
On the selling side, the news is arguably even better. MLS clubs generated $218 million in transfer revenue, marking an exceptional 263% increase from five seasons prior.
MLS Transfer Growth, 2021-2026
Expenditures
2021 – $170 million
2022 – $163 million
2023 – $172 million
2024 – $188 million
2025 – $336 million
2026 – $370 million
5-year increase: 118%
Revenues
2021 – $60 million
2022 – $114 million
2023 – $99 million
2024 – $143 million
2025 – $202 million
2026 – $218 million
5-year increase: 263%
The league is well within its rights to boast about progress that is real and significant, occurring on a scale that far outpaces the 27.65% total inflation over that five-year interval.
That said, MLS has presented those numbers in the most flattering light possible. A closer look reveals that some of the progress is less dramatic than it sounds.
Here are four reasons why:
MLS Introduces Cash Trades
While MLS still operates within its single-entity structure, the league introduced cash trades as a new mechanism for buying and selling players before the 2025 season.
On a macro level, these trades function similarly to domestic transfers in other leagues, bringing MLS closer into alignment with the global game.
According to MLS’ release, clubs spent a combined $46 million on cash trades during 2026, led by St. Louis’ $12 million acquisition of Rafael Navarro in the secondary window. That money accounts for 12.4% of the league’s acquisitions and 21.1% of its sales.
Again, that revenue would count the same in any other global competition. However, it is notable that the market was previously unavailable to MLS clubs from 2021 to 2024.
Continued MLS Expansion
As with MLS statistics, the growth in transfer activity over the last five years must be considered in the context of continued league expansion.
Charlotte FC joined in 2022, St. Louis City launched in 2023, and San Diego FC debuted in 2025. That represents an 11% increase in club inventory over the five-year interval, which plays at least a minor role in the overall increase.
The Messi Influence
Lionel Messi himself did not require a transfer fee when he signed with Inter Miami midway through the 2023 season. Still, his arrival has propelled the club into a different spending tier in subsequent seasons.
The club has spent approximately $80.6 million on transfers since Messi’s arrival, spanning three-and-a-half full cycles. That includes roughly $49.6 million this season, which exceeds the total increase in MLS transfer spending from 2025.
Global Ground To Gain
While MLS has clearly grown as a market, it remains relatively small on a global scale.
In terms of expenditure, Miami led MLS with $45.4 million spent on transfers during the 2025-26 window that Transfermarkt uses to monitor global activity. (For MLS purposes, this includes the secondary window of 2025 and the primary window of 2026.) That placed Miami 86th worldwide in total spend over that interval.
Charlotte FC, the MLS club that earned the most from sales during that timeframe — primarily by shipping striker Patrick Agyemang to Derby County — ranked 200th overall in worldwide revenue.
This does, of course, differ from club valuations. Forbes placed seven MLS clubs in its top 30 most valuable soccer teams in 2026. But that only heightens the urgency the league and its clubs should feel to begin acting more like the bigger leagues they are chasing.
