Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber said the league will cap expansion at 32 teams, ending the most profitable stretch in North American sports franchise sales. MLS currently fields 30 clubs. San Diego is confirmed for 2025. Las Vegas holds conditional approval for 2026 or 2027, pending stadium financing. After that, the door closes.
Garber told reporters the league does not anticipate growth beyond 32 franchises, a reversal from the rolling expansion model that generated $2.4 billion in entry fees since 2019. The last two expansion slots—Charlotte FC and St. Louis City SC—commanded $325 million and $200 million respectively. Las Vegas is expected to settle near $500 million, assuming SPAC-backed Renaissance Ventures and Oak View Group can close on a Strip-adjacent stadium site by mid-2025. San Diego's ownership group, led by Anschutz Entertainment and Right to Dream Academy, wrote a $500 million check in 2023.
The hard ceiling matters most to the groups still circling: Phoenix, Detroit, and a Sacramento coalition that spent $18 million on stadium design work in 2022 before losing its bid to San Diego. Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego met with MLS executives in January, according to two people briefed on the conversation. The city commissioned a feasibility study in late 2024 that assumes a $600 million stadium build and $450 million expansion fee. That math no longer works. Detroit's Gilbert family office sent a term sheet to MLS headquarters in October, per a source familiar with the bid. It assumed slot 31 or 32 would open by 2028. Neither will.
The expansion freeze also closes a path for secondary markets to leapfrog into top-flight soccer without buying and relocating an existing franchise. USL Championship clubs in Louisville, Indianapolis, and Birmingham had pitched MLS on a tiered promotion model that would grant market access below the $500 million threshold. That framework required an open expansion window. It doesn't exist now. Instead, those clubs will negotiate with the USL on a second-division media deal expected to pay $3 million per team annually starting in 2026, roughly 6% of MLS's current $50 million per-team average under the Apple TV contract.
For current MLS owners, the cap delivers enterprise-value clarity. Charlotte FC was valued at $680 million in a January appraisal commissioned by minority investor Velocity Partners, according to a filing reviewed by this desk. That figure assumed continued expansion through 2030 would dilute sponsorship and media revenue per team by approximately 4% annually. The cap removes that drag. It also signals MLS believes its Apple deal—$2.5 billion over ten years, signed in 2022—won't support more than 32 teams without renegotiating tier splits. Apple pays a per-subscriber bonus once MLS Season Pass crosses 2 million accounts. The league hit 1.8 million in December, per two executives briefed on the numbers. Adding teams 33 and 34 would require Apple to increase the total rights fee or accept lower per-team payouts. The league chose to stop at 32 instead.
The Sacramento and Phoenix groups are expected to shift focus to minority stakes in existing franchises or USL expansion. Sacramento bid leaders Jeff Jacobs and Kevin Nagle own USL Championship's Sacramento Republic, which drew an average of 11,569 fans per match in 2024. Phoenix was represented in recent MLS talks by Jerry Colangelo's son Bryan, who has held preliminary conversations with Orlando City's ownership about a 15% stake, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions. Neither party confirmed.
Watch for Las Vegas stadium debt to close by June 2025. If Renaissance Ventures misses that window, MLS will reopen the 32nd slot to Phoenix or a surprise bid. Also watch Charlotte FC's Velocity Partners exit—the firm typically holds stakes three to five years, and it crossed the three-year mark in February. A sale would set the first post-cap valuation comp. Sacramento Republic is expected to announce a USL expansion franchise in Reno by April, per two league sources.
The takeaway
MLS locks expansion at 32 teams, killing Phoenix and Sacramento bids and forcing Apple to carry existing per-team payouts without adding clubs.
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