Landon Donovan has a theory, and it's not a bad one. MLS owners are about to sit inside their own stadiums watching World Cup crowds go delirious — and then open their checkbooks.
"They're going to look at it and say, 'Oh my god, look at this. I want this,'" Donovan told Front Office Sports. "They have the ability to spend the money to bring in players of this quality." The question he's posing is whether MLS clubs can lure players at the peak of their careers — not Messi at 37 winding down, but players in the thick of it.
That's been the league's central problem for three decades. Top European talent treated MLS as a retirement plan. The money was there, the competition wasn't. Donovan knows the dynamic better than most — 15 seasons in the league, six titles, still the all-time assist leader. He's watched the product improve steadily while the reputation hasn't caught up. "The problem is the perception still remains that the league is what it was before," he said.
The Apple TV problem and what Garber got right
Donovan was candid about MLS's decision to move behind the Apple TV paywall — something the league has quietly had to walk back. He recounted a conversation with commissioner Don Garber: "Putting it behind a second paywall proved to be the wrong idea. And we had to adjust."
That's a rare admission in sports, and Donovan respects it. But he's also clear-eyed about where MLS actually sits: "I don't think MLS is mature enough yet to go away from the NBCs and the Foxes and ABCs and linear television." The NFL still uses broadcast TV despite being able to go fully streaming tomorrow. MLS needs those eyeballs more than it needs the streaming revenue. Any sportsbook pricing MLS expansion markets should be watching how the league resolves its distribution model — reach drives interest, interest drives money.
USMNT, NWSL, and where Donovan is putting his own cash
On the USMNT's World Cup chances on home soil, Donovan didn't hedge: "Not only do we have a chance to get out of our group, we should finish first in our group." Win that group, you likely face a third-place qualifier in the round of 32. From there, he thinks it's realistic to "start hitting the big boys" — which implies a deep run is genuinely on the table, not just optimistic noise.
His sharpest investment take had nothing to do with MLS. "The best investment you can make anywhere in sports right now is the NWSL," he said flatly. Still relatively cheap to buy in, trajectory pointing steeply upward. He compared it to where MLS was a decade ago, or where the NBA and NFL were in the 70s and 80s. Those comparisons can get overused, but the NWSL's recent valuation jumps suggest Donovan isn't wrong.
He also disclosed a stake in English League One side Lincoln City, arranged through a connection to the Jabara family — minority owners of the San Diego Padres. His role is informal: "I'm not having any meaningful impact — but give some insight that sometimes helps them." A MLS legend with a foothold in the English football pyramid is a reminder of how quickly the global ownership landscape is consolidating.
"It's starting to change. And it's not going to change overnight." That's Donovan on MLS — and it doubles as an honest summary of where American soccer sits heading into the biggest tournament the country has ever hosted.
