Coverage spread: 2 sources — 1 left · 1 center
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Larry Berg, co-managing owner of LAFC, was named MLS’s next commissioner, succeeding Don Garber, effective January 1, 2027.
- Garber, commissioner since 1999, will remain as chairman through the end of his contract in 2027 to oversee the transition.
- Berg must divest his ownership stake in LAFC as a condition of taking the commissioner role.
- Both outlets note Berg’s long private-equity career, including decades at Apollo Global Management, and quote Garber’s statement of confidence in him.
- The Guardian names and profiles the runner-up candidate, David Nathanson, and his sports-media background; CNBC does not mention a rival candidate at all.
- The Guardian describes the closed-door board vote at MLS’s Manhattan headquarters in detail; CNBC frames the news simply as a league announcement.
- CNBC emphasizes league-wide business metrics — 30 clubs, 26 stadiums, and CNBC’s own valuation rankings led by Inter Miami at $1.6 billion; The Guardian focuses more on LAFC’s specific history and honors under Berg’s ownership.
- The Guardian identifies Berg’s current firm as 26North, where CNBC’s account centers his identity mainly around his prior Apollo Global Management role.
Who was picked and when he takes over
Major League Soccer’s board of governors voted Monday to name Larry Berg as the league’s next commissioner, succeeding Don Garber. Berg will formally take over on January 1, 2027, becoming the third commissioner in MLS’s 30-year history. Garber, who has run the league since 1999, will stay on as chairman through the end of his contract in 2027 to help manage what the league called a “seamless” transition.
The vote happened at MLS headquarters in midtown Manhattan, in a closed-door meeting of team owners. Before the vote, Berg and the other finalist for the job, David Nathanson, each gave presentations to the board. Nathanson’s background is mostly in sports media — significant time at Fox, plus investments in the Seattle Sounders, Angel City FC of the NWSL, and the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.
Who Larry Berg is
Berg is a co-managing owner of LAFC, the Los Angeles MLS club, and has spent his career in private equity rather than sports media or operations. He was a senior partner at Apollo Global Management for roughly three decades and now serves as a senior adviser at the firm 26North. He’s also chaired McGraw-Hill Education. Berg first bought into LAFC as a limited partner when the club launched in 2014, then became a managing owner in 2016 following an internal ownership buyout. Within the league he co-chairs MLS’s sporting and competition committee.
Under his ownership stake, LAFC — which debuted in 2018 with former U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley and Mexican international Carlos Vela as its first star — grew into one of MLS’s flagship clubs: an MLS Cup winner in 2022, the league’s Operations Club of the Year in 2023, and home to sporting director John Thorrington, named MLS’s sporting executive of the year in 2024. Forbes valued LAFC at $1.32 billion as of May. As part of becoming commissioner, Berg is required to sell his ownership stake in the club.
What Garber leaves behind
Garber, 68, took over MLS in 1999 when it was a struggling startup and is credited with turning it into a multibillion-dollar league. Under him, MLS expanded from 10 clubs to 30, built or helped develop 26 soccer-specific stadiums, and drew in a new wave of owners who have pushed franchise values to record highs. CNBC’s 2026 global soccer valuations placed seven MLS clubs among the world’s 30 most valuable franchises, topped by Inter Miami at $1.6 billion.
In a statement, Garber said working closely with Berg over the past decade convinced him Berg has the qualities of “an exceptional leader” and that he has “complete confidence” in him for the role. Berg, in his own statement, said MLS’s “greatest opportunities are still ahead,” pointing to raising the quality of competition, developing more elite players, deepening the connection with fans, and elevating the league’s global standing.
What’s waiting for him on day one
Berg inherits two major pieces of unfinished business. The league’s collective bargaining agreement with its players expires at the end of January 2028, meaning a new deal will need to be negotiated early in his tenure. He’ll also be in charge when MLS negotiates its next media rights deal, since the league’s current arrangement with Apple runs out after the 2028-2029 season.
How the coverage compares
CNBC’s account leans on the business and valuation side of the story — Berg’s decades at Apollo Global Management, the league’s stadium and expansion numbers under Garber, and the CNBC-sourced valuation rankings showing Inter Miami atop MLS franchises. The Guardian gives more texture to the selection process itself, naming the runner-up candidate, David Nathanson, and detailing his sports-media background, plus describing the closed-door vote at MLS’s Manhattan headquarters. The Guardian also digs deeper into LAFC’s on-field and organizational history — Bob Bradley, Carlos Vela, the club’s 2023 Operations Club of the Year honor, and John Thorrington’s 2024 award — while identifying Berg’s current firm as 26North rather than emphasizing his Apollo tenure the way CNBC does.
Sources
Featured photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)