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Rise of Major League Soccer: Building a Global Giant
Discover the strategy behind Major League Soccer's rapid rise as it aims to compete with global football giants.
Major League Soccer, armed with its massive Apple sponsorship, the imminent arrival of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, the hosting of the COPA America tournament in 2024, and the signing of the game’s GOAT, Lionel Messi, could make MLS one of the world’s biggest leagues and one, within the next five years, capable of keeping credible company with European leagues such as La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga.
In The Rise of Major League Building a Global Giant, experienced sports business experts Rick Burton and Norm O’Reilly dig into the slow but sure growth of Major League Soccer in North America and the advent of major European teams like Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, FC Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and others attracting huge fan bases in the United States. For soccer enthusiasts, sports business professionals, and anyone curious about the future of American sports, this book is an essential read that captures MLS’s journey to becoming a global powerhouse.
Major League Soccer, armed with its massive Apple sponsorship, the imminent arrival of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, the hosting of the COPA America tournament in 2024, and the signing of the game’s GOAT, Lionel Messi, could make MLS one of the world’s biggest leagues and one, within the next five years, capable of keeping credible company with European leagues such as La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga.
In The Rise of Major League Building a Global Giant, experienced sports business experts Rick Burton and Norm O’Reilly dig into the slow but sure growth of Major League Soccer in North America and the advent of major European teams like Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, FC Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and others attracting huge fan bases in the United States. For soccer enthusiasts, sports business professionals, and anyone curious about the future of American sports, this book is an essential read that captures MLS’s journey to becoming a global powerhouse.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 6, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 21, 2025
thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a free copy in return for a honest and open review.
The author major basis of the rise of MLS he puts down to beckham and messi rising the profile and helping boost the financial part of the football and sponsor deals and streaming with tech firms. found the book interesting in parts. does try to examine the failings of the past.
The author major basis of the rise of MLS he puts down to beckham and messi rising the profile and helping boost the financial part of the football and sponsor deals and streaming with tech firms. found the book interesting in parts. does try to examine the failings of the past.
February 9, 2025
Professional soccer leagues in North America have had a very spotty history at best. Many have come and gone, but there is one league, Major League Soccer (MLS), that has defied the odds and survived a near extinction to become a league that is getting more notice and respect around the globe. Notes sports business authors Rick Burton and Norm O’Riley look at the history and future of MLS in this excellent book.
While Burton and O’Riley wrote most of the text, there are many contributions from various soccer people, from players to business people and they are welcome but also contribute to the one minor issue I had with the book – there is a lot of repetitiveness of certain topics, such as the arrival of Lionel Messi in 2023. While his arrival is one of the biggest events in MLS history, that and a few other items are repeated by many of the guests and by Burton and O’Reily.
But at least the repetitions are on items that are truly landmark events for the league. In addition to Messi, there has been one huge name in soccer that changed the landscape of the league. That was David Beckham – when he agreed to sign with the LA Galaxy in 2007, it caused a seismic change in the league, all for the positive. It paved the way for many other international superstars of the game to come to MLS. Beckham’s involvement has come full circle as he is now one of the owners of Inter Miami, the MLS club for whom Messi plays.
There are plenty of great things about this book that any soccer fan will enjoy. Burton and O’Reily look at earlier leagues in North America, including the North American Soccer League (NASL) and their brief but exciting history. The idea to bring in international superstars was also done by them, most notably Pele, when he played for the New York Cosmos.
As for MLS and its bright outlook (according to the authors), there is excellent reasoning they give for this. There are a few reasons and they are all covered well, but the most notable is the contract with Apple TV for broadcast rights, given Apple’s global name brand recognition. The other big reason is that now the generations of soccer-playing youngsters are now adults and they are taking their love of the game to the stadiums and streaming services to ensure its growth. The authors also note the increased diversity of nationalities of American and Canadian citizens and they bring the love of soccer with them from their nations of heritage.
Add all of these up and one gets a very interesting and informative book. Not only readers who enjoy the sport, but anyone who likes reading about the business side of sports, no matter the sport, will want to add this book to their library.
I wish to thank Lyons Press for providing an advance review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
While Burton and O’Riley wrote most of the text, there are many contributions from various soccer people, from players to business people and they are welcome but also contribute to the one minor issue I had with the book – there is a lot of repetitiveness of certain topics, such as the arrival of Lionel Messi in 2023. While his arrival is one of the biggest events in MLS history, that and a few other items are repeated by many of the guests and by Burton and O’Reily.
But at least the repetitions are on items that are truly landmark events for the league. In addition to Messi, there has been one huge name in soccer that changed the landscape of the league. That was David Beckham – when he agreed to sign with the LA Galaxy in 2007, it caused a seismic change in the league, all for the positive. It paved the way for many other international superstars of the game to come to MLS. Beckham’s involvement has come full circle as he is now one of the owners of Inter Miami, the MLS club for whom Messi plays.
There are plenty of great things about this book that any soccer fan will enjoy. Burton and O’Reily look at earlier leagues in North America, including the North American Soccer League (NASL) and their brief but exciting history. The idea to bring in international superstars was also done by them, most notably Pele, when he played for the New York Cosmos.
As for MLS and its bright outlook (according to the authors), there is excellent reasoning they give for this. There are a few reasons and they are all covered well, but the most notable is the contract with Apple TV for broadcast rights, given Apple’s global name brand recognition. The other big reason is that now the generations of soccer-playing youngsters are now adults and they are taking their love of the game to the stadiums and streaming services to ensure its growth. The authors also note the increased diversity of nationalities of American and Canadian citizens and they bring the love of soccer with them from their nations of heritage.
Add all of these up and one gets a very interesting and informative book. Not only readers who enjoy the sport, but anyone who likes reading about the business side of sports, no matter the sport, will want to add this book to their library.
I wish to thank Lyons Press for providing an advance review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
April 1, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Globe for this ARC e-copy of The Rise of Major League Soccer: Building a Global Giant by Rick Burton and Norm O’Reilly.
This textbook covers, as promised, the rise of the MLS from a sports business perspective. Examples of supportive key content within the pages include tables, photographs, insider perspectives, and plenty of recorded data with dozens of sources, including real life experience.
While the beneficial effects of David Beckham and Lionel Messi—namely Beckham—joining the MLS in their careers clearly cannot be overstated, I do believe they were overstated here. My one complaint with this book would be its authors’ penchant for repetition.
As an attendee of the iconic Inter Miami vs. L.A. Galaxy game on February 25, 2024, I have witnessed the heights that the MLS has grown to firsthand. Just like the informed, expert authors of this book, I am hopeful for the rise of soccer in America with the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup and World Cup.
☆ ☆ ☆ - GOOD
This textbook covers, as promised, the rise of the MLS from a sports business perspective. Examples of supportive key content within the pages include tables, photographs, insider perspectives, and plenty of recorded data with dozens of sources, including real life experience.
While the beneficial effects of David Beckham and Lionel Messi—namely Beckham—joining the MLS in their careers clearly cannot be overstated, I do believe they were overstated here. My one complaint with this book would be its authors’ penchant for repetition.
As an attendee of the iconic Inter Miami vs. L.A. Galaxy game on February 25, 2024, I have witnessed the heights that the MLS has grown to firsthand. Just like the informed, expert authors of this book, I am hopeful for the rise of soccer in America with the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup and World Cup.
☆ ☆ ☆ - GOOD
January 14, 2025
Thank you to Edelweiss, the author, and the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book works through the history of the MLS from its beginnings in the 1990s to current times, with specific focus on big moments in MLS history, including expansion and the signings of David Beckham and Lionel Messi. There were a lot of interesting stories told throughout and it touched on topics that books like this often skip over, including the challenges the MLS has overcome.
The contributions from different important people in soccer added a lot of value, although some information was repeated a lot throughout the book. There were also times where it felt the author was trying to sell the reader on the future of the MLS which was a bit odd.
Overall, I would recommend this book to any sports fan, especially if you don't know a lot about the history of the MLS.
This book works through the history of the MLS from its beginnings in the 1990s to current times, with specific focus on big moments in MLS history, including expansion and the signings of David Beckham and Lionel Messi. There were a lot of interesting stories told throughout and it touched on topics that books like this often skip over, including the challenges the MLS has overcome.
The contributions from different important people in soccer added a lot of value, although some information was repeated a lot throughout the book. There were also times where it felt the author was trying to sell the reader on the future of the MLS which was a bit odd.
Overall, I would recommend this book to any sports fan, especially if you don't know a lot about the history of the MLS.
June 8, 2025
I was genuinely excited to read this book—even though I’m not a big fan of either MLS or Messi. Unfortunately, the author’s excessive repetition has completely ruined the experience for me. I'm only on page 25, and already I’ve been reminded multiple times that MLS has added one team each year from 2017 to 2025. The constant repetition about Beckham’s role—first as a player, then as an owner—is tiring. Similarly, the repeated emphasis on how Messi and Apple TV supposedly transformed MLS feels overdone and unconvincing (let’s be honest, MLS still isn’t in the global top 10). Overall, this has been a disappointing and frustrating read so far.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews