By Rory Carroll
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Major League Soccer's incoming commissioner Larry Berg said improving the quality of play and deepening the league's youth-development pipeline will be central to his agenda as it seeks to build on momentum from the 2026 World Cup.
Berg, the Los Angeles FC co-owner and private equity executive selected on Monday to succeed commissioner Don Garber, said the league's immediate priority must be converting heightened interest around the World Cup into lasting support,
while ensuring the on-field product continues to improve.
"Quality on the field is obviously number one," he said. "The more we grow fandom, the more resources we have to improve the quality on the field, and the more the quality on the field grows, the more fandom we'll have."
Americans had their eyes opened to soccer's global roar during the World Cup, leading to huge television ratings and packed stadiums and fan festivals. MLS last week said ticket sales and television ratings have surged in the wake of the tournament.
Berg said he has a particular interest in making MLS academies and MLS Next Pro, the league's developmental competition, more productive pathways to first-team soccer.
He added MLS can differentiate itself from other North American sports leagues — and many overseas competitions — by giving teenagers regular playing time, while strengthening the U.S. and Canadian national-team player pools.
"I want to see our youth academies and our MLS Next Pro be that much more productive," Berg said.
PRIVATE EQUITY CONCERNS
Berg, 60, has spent more than three decades in private equity, serving as a senior partner at Apollo Global Management until retiring from the firm in 2022 and later joining investment firm 26North.
He sought to reassure fans wary of private equity's growing role in sports, arguing that the industry should not be treated as a monolith and that outside investment can help soccer grow when structured appropriately.
He said private equity had changed substantially since he entered the business roughly 35 years ago, with funds now pursuing a range of strategies and investment objectives.
Sixteen of the 30 MLS clubs have private equity investors, according to PitchBook.
Berg pointed to MLS's partnership with KKR in its second division as an example of capital being used to support clubs in smaller markets, including through stadium development and partnerships with municipalities.
His experience, he said, would help the league judge when institutional investment can be additive and when it should be avoided.
STEPPING AWAY FROM LAFC
Berg will step away from his LAFC ownership role, saying the move will be difficult but that the club is "in great hands". His experience with LAFC, he said, taught him the importance of allowing supporters to help shape a club's identity.
"We co-created it with our fans from the beginning," Berg said, citing fan involvement in the design of the club's supporter section, safe-standing area and community initiatives.
Garber, who will remain commissioner through the end of the year before becoming chairman, said Berg's appointment reflected the evolution of soccer in the United States.
"Thirty years ago, there were a bunch of kids who played, but they really hadn't elevated to be able to influence the game," Garber said.
"Now our political leaders, our business leaders, our partners and our investors have grown up, like Larry has, with the game as part of their lives."
(Reporting by Rory CarrollEditing by Christian Radnedge)
