The MLS season begins this week and the New York Red Bulls ended last season on a high note, making an impressive run to the MLS Cup final, where they were eventually bested by LA Galaxy. If they can carry that momentum into 2025, there’s no reason they can’t go one step further this season—especially with the acquisition of former Bayern Munich striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and the re-signing of former defender Tim Parker, who helped the Red Bulls win the Supporters’ Shield in 2018.
Aside from homegrown additions and securing Maxi Moralez to a new deal, New York City FC have made just one new signing this offseason: goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh, who arrived as a free agent. However, he won’t be starting ahead of Matt Freese in Pascal Jansen’s side, meaning the team will likely enter the 2025 season with the same squad that finished 6th in the Eastern Conference in 2024.
With other teams around them strengthening their rosters, it’s hard to see NYCFC competing this season.
The Galaxy won their sixth overall MLS Cup title last season with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls, a dramatic turnaround for a team that finished 26th in the league the year before. But the Galaxy embark on this season without dynamic midfielder Riqui Puig, who injured his ACL in the playoffs.
The addition of the San Diego balances MLS at 15 teams per conference. The league’s newest club is owned by billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Tribe, the first Native American tribe in the country to have an ownership stake in a professional soccer team. The team’s first season kicks off on Sunday.
Turnover At The Top
There are 12 coaches embarking on their first full seasons in 2025. Notable among them is Gregg Berhalter, the former U.S. men’s national team coach who is now leading the Chicago Fire.
In perhaps one of the most shocking coaching moves in the offseason, the Philadelphia Union dismissed Jim Curtin, a two-time MLS coach of the year who had spent 11 seasons with the team. He was replaced by Bradley Carnell, a former St. Louis coach.
Inter Miami’s coach, Geraldo “Tata” Martino, departed the club in November for personal reasons after one season. He was replaced in days by former Argentina great Javier Mascherano, another Messi teammate at Barcelona.
And finally, the San Jose Earthquakes brought in the league’s all-time winningest coach, Bruce Arena, after the club finished last in the standings with only six wins.
Coming and Going
MLS clubs were bullish in scooping up international talent in the offseason. Some of the notable additions were striker Emmanuel Latte Lath, who joined Atlanta from Middlesbrough, and Kévin Denkey, who arrived in Cincinnati from Cercle Brugge.
Perhaps the biggest departure was Cucho Hernandez, who left the Columbus Crew for Spanish club Real Betis. Austin FC sent midfielder Sebastián Driussi to Argentine team River Plate for a reported $10 million fee. Sporting KC transferred Alan Pulido to Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara.
Within the league, the Sounders scored Jesus Ferreira from FC Dallas, while Dallas got Luciano Acosta from FC Cincinnati. The Timbers sent Brazilian midfielder Evander to Cincinnati, while Houston picked up Jack McGlynn from Philadelphia.
Busy Season
It will be a busy season for MLS teams, with a number of tournaments in addition to the regular season.
Miami and the Sounders will get international attention as the league’s two participants in the FIFA Club World Cup. The event for an expanded field of 32 international clubs will be played across the United States from at June 14 to July 13.
The league will take a bit of a break during the tournament. At the same time, some players players will be with their national teams for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
There’s also the U.S. Open Cup, the Leagues Cup with teams from both MLS and Liga MX, and the CONCACAF Champions Cup. MLS teams can only participate in two tournaments to help alleviate the load on the players.
Building Toward the World Cup
The United States, Mexico and Canada will co-host the 2026 World Cup and MLS is hoping to capitalize as soccer’s biggest tournament looms.
The addition of Messi has already brought new attention to MLS. Attendance at games last season hit a league record 12.1 million, second only to the English Premier League. Five MLS teams are now valued at $1 billion each.
MLS is in the third year of a media deal with Apple TV, but there have been concerns about audience growth on the streaming service. Viewership numbers have not been made available.
This year Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass is available to Comcast and DirecTV subscribers — still at a fee but accessed via those platforms. Season Pass is also free for a season to T-Mobile phone service customers.
“Over the next two years, North America will be the epicenter of global soccer, our league, our clubs, our players and our fans are all committed to working together on this path to the world’s biggest sporting event,” Commissioner Don Garber said during his state-of-the-league address in December. “We have an unbelievable opportunity to create this great trajectory and create even more momentum as we continue to grow our sport and our league for the years to come.”
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