By Daniel Feuerstein | New York, NY | August 4th, 2026
On Monday, August 3rd, Major League Soccer hired Larry Berg, Co-Managing Owner of Los Angeles Football Club and Co-Chair of Major League Soccer’s Sporting and Competition Committee, as the new Commissioner, to take over for Don Garber when his tenure ends. He was introduced to the media today at MLS Headquarters at 2 Penn Plaza in New York City, just in front of Madison Square Garden, to discuss his ideas to advance the league and the improvements he could make for the future. He met with the media to share his thoughts on what he wants to do.
About Larry Berg
After a thorough interviewing process of candidates, Berg was selected with the assistance of Korn Ferry, CAA, and The Miles Group serving as advisors. Berg is a lifelong soccer player is a successful sports owner, and is respected as a private equity investor. He is passionate about the game, as he has seen his LAFC club win two Supporters Shields in 2019 & 2022, the MLS Cup Championship in 2022, and the U.S. Open Cup in 2024. His club has had multiple runs in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, but fell short in the final against Tigres during the COVID-19 year when the tournament was suspended till late in the season at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando.
Berg is also an owner of two clubs in Europe. He’s part of the ownership of AS Roma in Italy’s Serie A, and he is also part of the ownership of Welsh side Swansea City in England’s football pyramid, and they are currently in the EFL Championship. So he has experience in how the game works in Europe and in MLS. He is also on the board of the LAFC Foundation.
“I’m honored to lead Major League Soccer into its next era,” said Berg. “Thanks to the vision and commitment of so many people, Major League Soccer has achieved tremendous success, but I believe our greatest opportunities are still ahead. We have an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen the quality of our competition, develop more world-class players, deepen our connection with supporters, and continue elevating Major League Soccer’s place in the global game. Together with our owners, clubs, players, partners, supporters, and league staff, I could not be more excited for what comes next.”
Meeting the Media at MLS Headquarters
This Tuesday, Berg, along with Don Garber, Columbus Crew owner Jimmy Haslam, and Bennett Rosenthal, Primary Owner of LAFC, met the media to discuss Berg’s thoughts on what he will be doing when he takes over and in what direction he will move the league, and the partnership the league has with U.S. Soccer.
“A really big day for U.S. Soccer and for Major League Soccer as we name Larry Berg, the third commissioner of MLS. So congratulations. Bennett (Rosenthal) and I worked closely together. As a matter of fact, there were several times during the last year that my wife, Dee, who some of you know, was very outspoken, said, you know, you talked to Bennett. We had a great committee, and the ownership involvement in the process was tremendous. I think it’s important to understand the process that we went through when Donnie said This is my last contract; I’m not going to do another contract he appointed us.
Some were in sports, some were in media, some were in technology. We narrowed that list down to about 25 individuals; Corn Ferry screened that list down to 12 or 13. Bennett and I then interviewed the 12 or 13 people, and we cut that to six. June 1 and June 2, our entire succession committee and interviews, and we cut that list to three because one of the participants decided to drop out, so we had two, and of course yesterday we named Larry Berg the third commissioner of MLS. I think it was a hard day.
We worked hard. We started at 8:00 a.m. with the presentations by both candidates, Q&A, smaller group. Q&A, and then voted, and at the end of the day unanimously selected Larry, and I can’t tell you how excited we are to have Larry as our next commissioner. He’s somebody who loves soccer, and Allison he said this yesterday; you might have already heard the story. He said, you know, Allison’s on me all the time about how much soccer I watch,” said Jimmy Haslam
Don Garber moving on to a new position
At the end of the calendar year of 2026, Garber will leave his Commissioner’s position and take over as Chairman of MLS with his remaining two years on his contract. He will assist Berg with the day-to-day operations of being Commissioner and what to do. Garber spoke to the media and discussed his time for the 27 years he has taken over from Doug Logan in 1999 till the end of this current season. A lot of memories, but he never went back to discuss them; he felt looking into the future of the league is the most important moment with his new successor taking over.
“These kinds of successions are very rare in the life of a leader. Of any league. And it’s been many, many decades since a new commissioner was not an inside candidate. So the process was very unique, and it deserved the time; it deserved the thoughtfulness to be done in the right way. And that’s what strong organizations do. They do the work to be sure that they’re preparing for the future. And while, Judy, I appreciate the words, this is really not a time to look back on what’s happened over the last 28 to 31 years of the League. It really is a time to look back. It is about the future, the future path that will be on with new leadership, the future energy that Larry is going to bring to this sport. I pledge to stay in support of Larry until the end of the year and then support him as chairman through 2027. But we all should be very proud of where we are.
The league is strong. It’s valuable. Our ownership is committed. They’re ambitious. Our stadiums are among the best in the world. We built an incredibly vibrant commercial market. And we have millions and millions and millions of passionate fans and great teams like LASC that you and your partners, Bennett in particular, have worked so hard to create. Most importantly, we built a soccer nation. What took place this past summer where the world came to our country to take advantage of and experience all the things that we’ve all done to build what was the excitement around the most incredible World Cup in the history of sport. There couldn’t be a better time for someone to take it from here,” said Don Garber
Berg has big shoes to fill
No matter which professional sports league you follow, the previous Commissioner who made that league successful has a big job to improve and to not make any mistakes. Don Garber moved from the NFL to become the top dog of MLS. Berg, who is leaving his ownership group role, now has big shoes to fill. The last Commissioner who moved from the owners to the league’s big chair was Bud Selig when he gave his Milwaukee Brewers to his Daughter as he took over Major League Baseball.
Now Larry Berg will be the new man, leaving LAFC and headed to MLS HQ to put this league on a new trajectory. The shoes are very big to fill right now for Berg, but if he can continue to point this league in the right direction, everything should be fine, and MLS will continue to make moves to improve the game. That will start next season when they play a sprint season, take a summer break, and then begin a new era, as MLS will now get involved like the rest of the world, playing on the International Calendar of FIFA. The start of a new era is slowly coming in.
Larry Berg is the new MLS Commissioner, taking over for Don Garber at the end of the 2026 MLS Season.
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