Lionel Messi-mania has changed everything! MLS must adapt to its new era or risk missing the opportunities Inter Miami's superstar can offer

Messi, in signing for Inter Miami, very much broke the league's mold in many ways. In others, though, it was a familiar story for anyone that has followed the league for the last decade, even if the player involved was the highest-profile yet.

There is still a salary cap in MLS, and there are still limits on Designated Players, although the introduction of Targeted Allocation Money has helped fill out rosters quite a bit. There are, though, still all sorts of rules that anyone besides the die-hards that follow this league on a weekly basis will never really understand when it comes to building out the back half of MLS rosters.

That's where we are now, very much in a similar stage as when David Beckham, Messi's boss at Inter Miami, changed the league with his own arrival at LA Galaxy. However, while Beckham made MLS a popular destination for some of the game's biggest stars, Messi has insured that interest in the league has never been higher, as players from all over the world are seeking their own opportunities to play with or against the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner in the U.S.

"The magnitude of his decision to join MLS cannot be overstated," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "He's playing in our league. We're now just not part of the global conversation of sports, but one of the biggest stories in the world and certainly one of the biggest stories this summer. The eyes of the world are now on Major League Soccer because the best player to ever play the game is here and he's succeeding."

Household names such as Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, Hirving Lozano, Alexandre Lacazette, Luka Modric and Olivier Giroud are among those that have been linked in the league since Messi's arrival, and they won't be the last. Interest is sure to spike during the winter transfer window and into the summer, when players could make the move after playing in the European Championship or Copa America.

To sign those players, though, teams will need to fit them into the league's salary cap structure. But as we head into the offseason, there's still uncertainty of what that will look like.

To understand why MLS is the way it is currently, you have to understand that this league is built on a history of failure. Every league that came before it failed, generally due to a lack of limitation on spending. Teams spent themselves to death by throwing money at a sport that just wasn't ready yet. MLS wasn't willing to let that happen and, less than 30 years from its founding, that's still the case.

Now, the other aspect of the league that you have to understand is that its owners are generally divided into two parties. One wants to push the limit, spend big and chase the idea of competing with the biggest teams in the world. The other wants steady growth and is not willing to really push the envelope when it comes to spending.

That divide has led to issues before. There have been debates about salary spends, transfer fees and even charter travel, while the league's biggest clubs have been caught several times bending the rules to fit their own ambitions. However, as ambitious as some owners are, there has always been another side that is more than happy with the league and its competitiveness staying as is.

That has served MLS well since its inception, as teams in every city have a realistic hope of competing at the top of the league. There is no Bayern Munich or Manchester City in this league, no super-clubs that dominate year in and year out. Two years ago, FC Cincinnati was the worst team in the league; in 2023, they had the best regular-season record, and not because they spent a lot, but because they spent well.

The league, realistically, is still operating with training wheels on, but with Messi now involved, it seems it's time to ride this bike as far as this league can. The first step to doing so is loosening the rules to allow clubs more freedom.

Garber made it very clear at his State of the League address ahead of the MLS Cup final: Whatever changes that may be on their way, the Designated Player number isn't changing. However, that doesn't mean there won't be alterations made in terms of roster construction.

“We don’t plan to add a fourth DP, but there will be announcements coming out of our board meeting — which is next week — and we’ll have press availability after that with a number of exciting things that we’re doing," Garber said. "There will be some exciting things that we’re going to announce next week, but all that needs to go to group of owners, and we don’t have plans for a vote for a fourth DP.”

So what are those "exciting" changes? There have been reports and rumors that the MLS Board of Governors meetings were going to be particularly hot this offseason, and even without a DP number change, there could be some big decisions.

Will there be a big boost to the salary cap and, if so, what will it look like? Will teams get more TAM to have more flexibility within the current setup? Will the league think of more fun acronyms to add that will simply allow teams to bring in better players? We'll find out soon enough.

At the moment, everything going on in MLS is immediately being compared to what's going on in the Saudi Pro League. While MLS got their GOAT in 2023 in Messi, Saudi Arabia signed theirs in Cristiano Ronaldo a few months prior. And while MLS has had a more measured response to that signing, Saudi Pro League clubs went all out to capitalize on the arrival of an icon of the modern game, signing several of the world's biggest names to ensure that Ronaldo wouldn't be the only star lighting up the Middle East.

Since the spending spree that brought the likes of Neymar, Sadio Mane, Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Roberto Firmino to the Pro League, many have waited for an MLS response. In truth, though, MLS can't and won't respond to spending of that magnitude.

“I think any emerging league needs to make whatever decisions make sense for them to try to be part of the global conversation, and that’s what the Saudis have done,” Garber told USA Today. “I’ve seen it so many times before, and, in some of those cases, it’s worked. In the case of China and the Chinese league, it hasn’t worked. Time will be the judge of if ’their plan was effective or not.

"It speaks to the challenger leagues making an important statement that it’s not just about the big leagues in Europe, it’s about the rest of the world, and we’re part of the rest of the world. So I am hoping that they’re successful. We’re not afraid of it or concerned about it.”

While MLS teams may not go all out to compete with the Messi signing like those in Saudi Arabia, it's clear that changes are needed. And the league seems aware of that as it looks to capitalize on the current spike in soccer interest.

The first step of that is, of course, star power. Fans love stars, and nothing moves the needle quite like a familiar face. Messi is the poster boy, of course, but you'll likely see a supporting cast join the likes of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in making their move to play with or against the Argentinian star.

Inter Miami, surely, will be looking to add more star-power to their roster. The club's offseason will one of the most interesting in recent memory as they now look to put the pieces around Messi, Alba and Busquets. It seems Suarez will be one of those pieces, reuniting him with his best friend in the game in Messi, but what else will they have the freedom to do?

If it was up to Beckham and his co-owners, Miami would sign a legitimate All-Star team able to compete those with at the top of the European game. It's not up to them, though, so we'll have to see what freedom the new rules give them to fill out their squad.

It's not just star power, though. MLS, as a whole, needs to improve in terms of quality. There needs to be a lift across entire rosters, giving each team more talent from top to bottom. Doing that will allow MLS teams to compete in the region as battles with Liga MX continue. It will also give MLS clubs a chance to make a run at the Club World Cup when they face the best Europe and South America have to offer.

The league has so many things going for it as we look ahead to 2024: Packed stadiums, a big TV deal and Messi as the face of it all. However, if MLS is to continue growing at home and abroad, the actual quality of play will need to take a leap forward. Fans need to be convinced that the product on the field is as good, or close to the one they can watch on their televisions from Europe.

Raising that level, of course, is easier said than done, but money is generally a good start. Loosening restrictions and increasing spending will almost certainly lead to a better product, and given the money coming into the league thanks to Messi's arrival, it's safe to say that the league is in a better place than ever before to finally blast past the failures of yesteryear and into a new era.

Messi, of course, is just one part of a big plan. He's a very, very big part, obviously, but there are so many other things ready to lift American soccer into a new stratosphere.

The 2026 World Cup is just around the corner and, if 1994 is anything to go by, millions of new fans will be created by that summer's tournament. Before that, the Copa America is coming next summer, providing something of an hors d'oeuvre for that World Cup. A bid has also been made to bring the Women's World Cup back to the U.S. in 2027, too, so the women's game also looks set to grow.

The point is that Messi is just one part of a larger puzzle. He may not even be around long enough to see that puzzle completed, with his Miami contract set to run out in 2025.

“I wouldn’t say that the timing is when Lionel Messi leaves MLS," Garber said." It’s really (about) what do we want to be by 2027? We’re going to have the eyes of the world on us [for the 2026 World Cup], and the soccer market here in the United States is going to be exposed to the entire global soccer and football community. What is the product that we deliver? That product is not just the players and the field experience. It’s everything around them: it’s the competition itself and the competition format. All of those things require an evaluation process.

"So first, I hope Lionel decides to stay longer than 2025, so maybe ‘25 isn’t the deadline. Our plan is to make the league what we want to be in 2027.”

In just a few weeks, that will be just three years away. It may feel like a long time, but it'll be here before you know it. What will MLS look like then? Will it even be recognizable compared to the league we see today?

Maybe, maybe not, but, regardless, change is on the horizon as MLS looks to take advantage of Messi's arrival and ride that wave into a new future.