NEW YORK — If there was one idea to take away from Larry Berg's introductory day as the third commissioner in MLS history, it was this: product first.

That is how Berg framed his mandate after owners voted him into the job this week, and it represents a critical pivot for a league that, by the admission of many of its own smartest minds, has spent years failing to ask itself the simplest of questions: are we putting the best possible product on the field?

A league that built everything except its product

For decades, the answer to that question was allowed to be 'no.' MLS prioritized infrastructure and stability — and by those measures, it succeeded. The league has driven billions of dollars of investment into 15 soccer-specific stadiums since 2010, with two more set to open in the next two years, along with 23 team training facilities.

Outgoing commissioner Don Garber will be remembered as one of the most successful commissioners in professional sports for his ability to sell expansion teams and inflate the North American commercial soccer market, with team valuations soaring off the back of that growth.

But the last decade brought growing frustration. While MLS stakeholders calmly paddled along, business as usual, the global game accelerated around them. Other leagues and competitions latched on to the American commercial market more meaningfully than MLS did, the world's top leagues put more distance between themselves and MLS, and the league continually failed to win the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The uncomfortable truth: MLS has long declared it wants to be one of the best leagues in the world, yet it has still not established itself as the best league in Concacaf.

Not a radical — a consensus builder

Berg's election was greeted by some fans as a victory for the league's progressive wing, given his ownership stake in LAFC, one of the more forward-thinking clubs in MLS. Many assumed he would push aggressively for a high-spending, free-wheeling future.

That reading misses the point. Berg has indeed been an advocate for change, but he has also shown himself to be an owner capable of seeking and pushing for common ground. It is less his leanings and more his approach that could prove transformational.

There is irony in the league announcing Berg's appointment with a unanimous vote — Sports Business Journal reported it took multiple rounds of voting for him to reach the two-thirds threshold required. That contested process is far more representative of how MLS actually works, despite its long-standing preference for presenting a united front. Berg, notably, is among those less concerned with that type of formality.

He demonstrated as much when he was named co-chair of the sporting and competition committee in February 2025. The committee had long been known for debating, studying and analyzing potential changes for years while rarely instituting impactful reform — a pattern many around the league believed was a deliberate strategy by previous leadership. Berg quickly altered the approach.

"We're a bigger league than we've ever been; we are a bigger committee than we've ever been," Berg told the 13-member group in his first meeting in charge. "It will be hard to get to unanimity and move fast to build the league. So let's discuss how we will make decisions."

He pushed ideas to a vote faster, evaluated concepts efficiently and reformed how the committee functioned so it could move quickly toward actionable plans. The task now is to bring that same strategy to the commissioner's office.

The missed World Cup — and the deadline that follows

The urgency is real because MLS already missed one once-in-a-generation opportunity. Despite an eight-year runway after the U.S., Canada and Mexico were awarded the 2026 World Cup, the league waited too long to study and vote on the changes that could have leveraged an unprecedented audience for the sport. Failing to have a calendar change ready to launch coming out of the tournament was an enormous miss — one that could yet prove disastrous.

The next chance comes in 2027, when the league could introduce a 'new' MLS: a new calendar, a new competition structure and new roster rules, paired with an aggressive summer transfer window that would let the league sell the narrative of a bigger, better, more competitive product than casual fans perceive today.

Berg acknowledged the stakes in his introductory remarks.

"The World Cup this summer reminded all of us why this sport captures the imagination of millions of people around the world," he said. "Millions of people across North America experienced that passion firsthand. They fell in love with the drama, the atmosphere, the supporter culture and the emotion that makes soccer unlike anything else. For many, it was also their first meaningful introduction to the global game, and that creates an extraordinary opportunity for all of us. The question isn't whether people are paying attention to soccer; they are. The question is what we do at this moment.

"We've accomplished an extraordinary amount over the last three decades, but success can never become an excuse for standing still. Status quo is not an option. … The platform is in place. The infrastructure is in place. The opportunity is in front of us. Now it's time to pull the right levers, make the right decisions and build on everything that's been created."

A win-win that could become a lose-lose

Berg's first mandate should be negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the MLS Players Association that is ready for summer 2027. But obsessing over 'winning the negotiation' would miss the forest for the trees — Berg needs buy-in from everyone at league headquarters that change is necessary, and those stuck in the old ways should step aside.

The MLSPA, for its part, should approach the deadline just as eagerly. A new roster investment model — more money to spend and more freedom in how to spend it — would ultimately benefit both the league and its players. It is a genuine win-win that would flip quickly into a lose-lose if not completed in time.

The league cannot afford to move slowly in the name of 'studying' and 'analysis' while competitors continue making inroads with the same fans MLS wants to capture. The window to take a leap forward is closing, and the path back from missing the moment again would be a long one.

"The good news is I do think the things we're thinking about certainly will move our league forward, make it entertaining, make it interesting," Berg said. "I'm pretty excited to roll it out. I don't know, timing-wise, when that may be. We obviously have next summer as part of our new calendar, so that's a pretty big deal. Perhaps we have it by then — I hope. But it's really about what the owners can do and what kind of analysis and leadership I can provide as part of it."

The commissioner's job is not an easy one. Berg goes from being one of the owners in the room to the voice that must convince his former peers to take big risks. But if MLS truly wants to become one of the best leagues in the world, there is only one real path — and the enormous responsibility of getting the league there now rests with him.