I’ve been watching MLS highlights and noticing something: the football feels faster, more attacking and more entertaining than the version of the league I remember. That doesn’t mean I can judge a whole match from an edited reel. It does mean the highlights are doing something they didn’t always do for me before: making me want to watch the full game.

D.C. United remains my favourite team. Lionel Messi drew me towards Inter Miami CF, and I also enjoy following New York City FC, LAFC and the New York Red Bulls, now presented by the club as Red Bull New York. I don’t need all those clubs to win. What interests me is that I now have reasons to watch them even when my team has nothing riding on the result.

What looks different this time

What keeps catching my eye is the attacking intent. In the clips I’ve been watching, teams seem more willing to turn possession into a chance. There’s more movement towards goal and less of the slow play I remember. Of course, highlights are where you would expect to see exactly those things. They cut out the spells when teams are tired, protecting a lead or struggling to build an attack.

In its 2026 regular-season review, MLS reports 1,657 goals, an average of 3.25 per match. That tells us there was plenty of goalmouth action, though it doesn’t prove that passing is faster or the standard is higher. An open game can be fun because the attackers are sharp, because the defending is loose, or because both happen at once. I’d rather watch more full matches than pretend the numbers settle that question.

Messi got my attention. Other teams are keeping it.

Messi was a big reason I started paying closer attention to Miami. It gives you an immediate point of interest when a player you know from the international game turns up in a league you haven’t been following as closely. And Miami’s extension with Messi through the 2028 MLS season means he’s more than a passing connection to the club.

But a football league has to be worth watching when one particular player isn’t on the pitch. That’s where watching other clubs has changed things for me. I can back D.C. United and still appreciate what I see from NYCFC, the Red Bulls or LAFC. I like recognising international players, but I also like discovering the ones whose names I didn’t know when I pressed play.

Did the World Cup give MLS a boost?

I think the 2026 World Cup helped give MLS some extra energy and attention. That’s how it feels to me as a returning viewer, not a claim that the tournament made teams pass better or explains the goals they scored. What the World Cup can do is give viewers a reason to look up a player and find out what that player is doing at club level. The next step is whether the club gives them a reason to keep looking.

That’s the change I notice in my own viewing. One familiar name can get me to put a match on, but the game has to keep my attention once it’s there. I’m seeing enough from the other teams now to want to know how they play over ninety minutes, not just what happens in the three that make the cut.

I’m still backing D.C. United, and I’m still curious about what Messi does with Miami. But the real sign of progress, for me, is wanting to watch an MLS match even when neither is playing.

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