Impact of European League Stars on MLS

For the past few years, there were several big transfers between European soccer leagues to Major League Soccer (MLS). Most recently, on August 6, 2025, Son Heung-min transferred to Los Angeles FC (LAFC) from Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in August 2025. Son Heungmin won the 19-20 season Puskás Award and Premier League Golden Boot for 21-22 season. He was the captain for Tottenham from 2023 to 2025. As a soccer player with a distinguished record of achievements, Son moved to LAFC in a deal worth $26.5 million. At 33-years-old, his transfer represents one of the biggest in MLS history.

According to LAFC, views of club-related content have reached 33.98 billion, marking a 594% increase and media coverage of the club has also risen by 289% since Son joined. His transfer brought a huge difference in ticket sales. LAFC’s first home game with Son was sold out, which was the first time LAFC had their ticket sold out after the MLS final game on November 5th, 2022. After announcing Son’s transfer, almost every home game of LAFC was sold out. There was a clear impact in the ticket resell market as well. Son’s LAFC home debut tickets reached up to $3,800, which was 10 times the original price. LAFC signing the contract with Son also affected the merchandise sale such as jerseys. John Thorrington, general manager of LAFC, said Son’s jersey is currently the best selling soccer jersey in MLS.

This was not the first time in MLS history. Lionel Messi signed with Inter Miami in July 2023 as a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain. An eight time Ballon d’Or winner, which is a record for the most wins by any player, Lionel Messi’s transfer was one of the history in MLS. Messi’s home debut in Miami sparked the biggest single-day subscription ever for Apple TV+, reaching up to 110,000 new subscribers for Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass. Compared with the day before, it recorded more than 1,700% increase in a day. Apple CEO Tim Cook credited Messi’s transfer as the factor of beating their expectation in terms of subscribers.

Industry insiders have shared insights into how the influx of European stars is shaping the league’s future. Gareth Bale, a former LAFC winger, pointed out in a candid interview with Front Office Sports that MLS is growing, but a strict salary cap system of MLS limits how much teams can spend outside of a few “Designated Player” slots. He mentioned the importance of investing in younger talent to accelerate the league’s growth. However, there is a different perspective of noticing how European league stars join MLS at the end of their career at the average age of 32-years-old. While most of their performances are still good, there were some cases where some well-known players failed to meet expectations in MLS. While signing popular soccer players from Europe can increase the interest of MLS and can make high revenues for the club, MLS mainly being the option for retirement plan is one of the key points to be aware of in the long run.