Larry Berg, co-owner of Los Angeles FC, will be the next commissioner of Major League Soccer, the league announced Monday.
At the start of the new year, Berg will take over for Don Garber, who has served as the league’s commissioner since 1999.
The 60-year-old Berg, who will divest his ownership interest in LAFC, will be officially introduced on Tuesday at MLS headquarters in New York.
“I’m honored to lead Major League Soccer into its next era,” Berg said in a statement. “Thanks to the vision and commitment of so many people, Major League Soccer has achieved tremendous success, but I believe our greatest opportunities are still ahead. We have an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen the quality of our competition, develop more world-class players, deepen our connection with supporters, and continue elevating Major League Soccer’s place in the global game.
“Together with our owners, clubs, players, partners, supporters, and league staff, I could not be more excited for what comes next.”
Garber will remain MLS commissioner through the end of the 2026 season before taking over as chairman of the league. MLS has grown tremendously during Garber’s tenure, and hopes to capitalize on the momentum of the 2026 World Cup.
“Having worked closely with Larry over the past decade, I’ve seen firsthand the qualities that make him an exceptional leader, and I have complete confidence he is the right person to serve as Major League Soccer’s next commissioner,” Garber said in a statement. “His integrity, judgment, collaborative leadership, and unwavering commitment to building LAFC and the league have made him an invaluable partner. I look forward to working alongside Larry during this transition and supporting him as he leads MLS into its next chapter.”
Berg previously held ownership stakes in Serie A club AS Roma, as well as Swansea City AFC in Wales. Under Berg’s ownership, LAFC won the MLS Cup in 2022, and the Supporters’ Shield in 2019.
Before he came to MLS, Garber was head of NFL International. In 1999, NFL team owners Lamar Hunt and Robert Kraft approached Garber and asked if he might be interested in serving as commissioner of the league, which was launched in 1996.
At the time Garber took over, the league was in trouble. By 2001 MLS appeared on the verge of folding, but Garber steered the league out of the crisis.
Under his watch, the league has expanded from 12 to 30 teams with the addition of San Diego FC in 2025. He introduced the league’s marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, encouraged the construction of soccer-specific stadiums and spurred the growth of an academy system to develop players in the United States.
Five clubs, Inter Miami, home of superstar Lionel Messi, LAFC, the LA Galaxy, Atlanta United and NYCFC are valued at over $1 billion, according to Forbes.
At the start, Berk will help guide the league as it shifts to a new calendar, with the season running from on a summer to spring schedule to more align with its international counterparts. Currently the league plays a late winter to late fall schedule.
Following the conclusion of the current season, MLS will play a shortened 14-game “sprint season” in early 2027 before the league switches to its new schedule, kicking off in July with the league championship to be played in May 2028.
Last week in an interview with The Associated Press, Garber said it in was important for his successor to share the collective vision for the league.
“The next commissioner, I hope and expect, is going to believe in the future opportunity for our league and our clubs, and what role we can play domestically and internationally to grow the game and be responsible stewards for the game, and drive value for every stakeholder, every group that cares about their local club,” Garber said.
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FILE - Los Angeles FC lead owner Larry Berg gestures during an interviewed at the Major League Soccer 25th Season kickoff event in New York, Feb. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A record-breaking hot and dry summer tightened its grip on Europe on Monday, as water-dropping planes swooped over a major wildfire in Greece, firefighters in France sought to stabilize a blaze in Provence, and much of the United Kingdom recorded its driest July in nearly two centuries.
Wildfires west of Athens jumped containment lines a day after a midair collision between two helicopters killed two crew members. A Greek and a Danish national died and two others were hospitalized following the collision on Sunday.
All four were private operators chartered by the Greek firefighting service.
In France, firefighters in the region around Bordeaux guarded against potential flare-ups inside a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris.
A prolonged heat wave and lack of rainfall led to the driest July in England and Wales in nearly 200 years of recordkeeping, according to provisional statistics, the U.K.’s weather service said Monday.
All of Wales and more than half of England are officially in drought, the Met Office said. The dry spell was accompanied by sweltering temperatures across much of the U.K., following heat waves in May and June.
Wales tied its record for its warmest mean temperature for July while England and the U.K. recorded their second-warmest July.
Strong winds returned to southern Greece late on Monday, pushing flames into mountain home clusters, destroying farms and property, and closing a highway.
Areas surrounding the Greek capital remain at high risk through the week with temperatures set to rise further. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from around the seaside resort of Porto Germeno and other areas west of the capital — including more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area.
“This is a difficult fire that has troubled us,” Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said, adding that 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters were operating in the area Monday.
The blaze was blamed on a faulty power line from a wind farm and led to the arrests of two contractors on charges of negligent arson.
Despite improved detection methods and expanded cooperation among European Union members, Greece and other countries along Europe's Mediterranean coast suffer devastating wildfires every summer as spells of heat wave temperatures grow longer.
Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought leave vegetation drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely.
Thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home or to their holiday accommodations in France on Monday after a massive wildfire remained contained. More than 224,000 people had fled in what officials said was the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.
The wildfire burned about 420 square kilometers (162 square miles), making it France’s largest wildfire on record. Monday's return includes Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourist hot spot along the Atlantic coast, and Le Porge, the municipality hardest hit by the fire, where 183 homes were destroyed. Campsites remain closed.
A second wildfire in Provence did not flare up overnight, but was still not contained on Monday as stronger winds were expected, firefighters and authorities said. About 1,500 firefighters, supported by water-dropping helicopters, continued reinforcing fire lines along the blaze that tore through about 18 square kilometers (7 square miles).
The European Forest Fire Information System said the risk of wildfire remains high across parts of the continent through Aug. 5, including in traditionally cooler northern countries.
Firefighters in the Netherlands were battling a large blaze on Monday in a forest in the southern province of Limburg, authorities said, as the country sweltered through another day of hot, dry summer weather. The national railway operator halted trains between two towns in the area due to the fire.
The Dutch air force sent two Chinook helicopters equipped with large water containers to help firefighters tackle the blaze. Media reported that a campsite in the area was evacuated due to poor air quality caused by a large plume of smoke.
Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Athens; Thomas Adamson in Paris; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report.
A firefighting helicopter drops water over a smoke-filled forest during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Flames are seen on a mountainside during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
A volunteer firefighter observs a flame rising next to a house during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
A volunteer tries to extinguish small flames during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
