Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber said Thursday that promotion and relegation does not make sense for MLS now, but he declined to rule it out forever and said the league would adopt the system later if it served what MLS wants to become [1].

The paper's July 13 account of the NCAA women's bracket rule showed that changing one competition rule did not determine later results, and MLS's refusal likewise requires readers to distinguish the owners' investment concerns from any claim about how promotion and relegation would affect games or clubs.

Garber cited stadiums, academies, and player-development systems as investments that relegation could put at risk, while the 30-team league's newest club, San Diego, paid a $500 million expansion fee before starting play in 2025, a price that shows owners' exposure without establishing every franchise's value [1].

MLS still plans to move toward a summer-to-spring calendar through an abbreviated season in early 2027, while USL Premier plans to launch a connected promotion-and-relegation system in 2028, but neither future plan had produced completed games or operating results by the July 16 cutoff [1].

Garber's statement therefore establishes current MLS policy and one investment rationale, not owner unanimity, fan consensus, permanent closure, a required future vote, protected franchise valuations, or proof that the planned USL alternative will launch successfully and change the pressure on MLS.

-- THEO KAPLAN, San Francisco