Kevin Baxter: MLS can't afford to fumble its Messi moment and must make bold changes now

Instead the focus should be on the league’s goals to double its fan base by 2027. The MLS sporting and competition committee opened two days of meetings in South Florida on Monday to discuss ways to make that happen, chief among them significant changes in roster rules competition format, including changes to the salary cap, which has restricted both spending and ambition.

And while that won’t allow teams to bring in the next Messi — like Jordan and Gretzky, there’s only one Messi — it would give them the ability to compete for the next level of talent.

“If there was ever a time to do something big and bold, if there was ever a time to actually let these teams that want to do big bold things, permit them to do [so] through the rules, it is this,” said Alexi Lalas, a former World Cup player and MLS executive and now a soccer analyst for Fox Sports. “It’s constantly being squashed. [MLS] has grown to a point now where it can handle a much more open type of spending.”

It’s uncertain whether Garber will listen to Lalas or even the fans, who are calling for the same bold changes. But he will listen to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, who gave the league a 10-year, $2.5 billion media deal last season.

“There’s a level of excitement,” he told reporters last week. “When anybody asks what do I want from anybody, any of the teams, I’m like, sign some more players.”

Garber, however, is preaching caution and urging perspective. While Stern seized on the singular star power of Jordan and Bettman bet on the greatness of the Great One, Garber said Sunday that his league is more than just one player.

“This league has so much momentum, and had it last year before Leo was signed,” he said. “We’ve all learned that it’s never about any one player. But we should all cherish the great experiences when legends come into your league.

“And I think you’ll see many more players like Leo, whether it’s Thierry Henry, whether it’s Zlatan or it’s Riqui Puig. There are great players that look to our league as a league of choice.”

But there are no more players like Messi, meaning there will be no more opportunities like the one Garber and MLS have now. The league can’t afford to let its Jordan moment pass.