By Rory Cahill

The 20th annual Povich Symposium focused on soccer for the first time, inviting major figures from across the world to discuss the past, present and future of the sport. The Povich Symposium is sponsored by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism’s Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism.

The discussion came ahead of the 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico at the Dec. 5 World Cup Draw in Washington, D.C., in which teams were given their match assignments.

“This is a big moment,” Commissioner of Major League Soccer Don Garber said. “I think it’s the beginning of capturing all of the excitement and the momentum of what global football, global soccer can be.” 

Major League Soccer was founded after the 1994 World Cup, which was also hosted by the U.S. Garber described it as a “30-year startup,” pointing out that most of the league’s senior executives have worked there since it was founded. 

“It’s motivating. It’s exciting. It creates innovation because you don’t get steeped in tradition,” Garber said. “I like being the little engine that could, but being old enough to not have to worry about whether we’re gonna be able to cover all of our obligations.”

Soccer’s popularity in the United States has traditionally lagged behind other sports, like baseball or American football. 

“From 1984 to 1994, this was a difficult, dark time where pioneers, coaches and players that loved the game had to really challenge themselves,” Maryland men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski said. 

During that time, Cirovski worked as an assistant coach for a salary of $3,000 a year. According to former MLS player and current sports commentator Taylor Twellman, there are now 72 players in MLS making over $1 million. 

While it’s not an exact comparison, this stark difference in salary still reflects the growth of the sport over the years. This salary increase makes it easier to keep players in the game, even compared to 10 to 15 years ago, said Yahoo Sports soccer writer Steven Goff.

“Soccer was growing [in 1994], it had a presence, but completely unlike today,” Goff said. 

With no major professional league at the time, soccer in the U.S. was dominated by college athletes, including the 1990 and 1994 U.S. World Cup teams.

“The World Cup team in 1994, they were training in some facility in Southern California,” Garber said. “They had no training grounds, they barely had uniforms, it’s amazing that [they] did reasonably well.”

The U.S. managed to make it to the round of 16 before losing to Brazil.

Goff shared that when the U.S. was announced to host the World Cup in 1994, people weren’t sure how much of a long-term impact it would have on soccer’s U.S. popularity.

“It was a big event, coming to the U.S.,” Goff said. “Big events in the United States…[are] going to sell, and the World Cup sold.” The big question was “what would be the legacy, what would be the lasting impact?”

In its early years, MLS struggled to make an impact.

“It seemed like it was close to going under,” he said. “There were a couple owners who were deeply invested in the league and kept it afloat, but if they had pulled the plug, it was done.”

Twellman credits the arrival of British soccer star David Beckham with revitalizing the league. 

“There was a different vibe to everything in the league,” Twellman said. When Conan O’Brien started mentioning Beckham and MLS on his show, “all of a sudden, that was the moment.” 

Now, the league is having a similar experience with the Argentine player Lionel Messi, Twellman said.

“Messi is doing the exact same thing [as Beckham] times a billion,” Twellman said. “[At one game] there were 25,000 in the parking lot, just to get a glimpse of him getting off the team bus.”

Garber called Messi a “unicorn” and expressed his excitement at having Messi in MLS.

“He decided to come to our league,” Garber said. “We didn’t have to go chase him. He decided to come. And he loves it.”

MLS recently changed its schedule to better align with the global schedule, which Garber described as a “massive undertaking.” 

Garber said that this new schedule, which runs from summer to spring, would involve holding many games over the winter, including in cold northern states.

“We’ll have to be thoughtful, our fields are gonna have to be heated. We’re gonna have to deal with a bunch of schedule shifts,” Garber said. “We’ve got now 30 teams, we can play a lot of the early games in the south.”

With each of these new developments, the panelists expressed optimism for the future of U.S. soccer.

Cobi Jones, an MLS commentator and former player, said that even if the U.S. team doesn’t do well in the World Cup, “soccer is still going to grow in this country. People are still going to be paying attention.”

If the U.S. does do well, Jones said, “we’ll be talking about a generation of players on the men’s side that will have turned themselves into legends. That they will be able to come to a panel 30 years on, and they’ll still be talking about what they did on those days.”

Featured Image: From right to left, soccer commentator Taylor Twellman, soccer commentator Cobi Jones, UMD men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski, Yahoo Sports soccer writer Steven Goff and moderator Emily Olsen, The Athletic’s head of global women’s soccer, at the 20th annual Povich Symposium on Dec. 3, 2025, at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center. Photo by Rory Cahill.