Former U.S. international Landon Donovan has told For The Win that MLS has now reached a tipping point in terms of popularity, and says U.S. soccer is an "absolute home run" for investors.
Donovan, 33, retired last year as the USMNT's most-capped player and highest scorer, netting 57 goals in 157 appearances.
MLS officially announced Minnesota United as its 23rd franchise back in March with the expansion team due to begin playing in 2018, with the plan to expand to 24 clubs by 2020.
Asked on For The Win's podcast if he was confident about the growth of MLS, Donovan replied: "How could you not be? I was blown away and I've seen quite a few things in the soccer world, but I was blown away by the support [Minnesota] had in the room that day.
"I was at the Masters this weekend and I met some people from Minneapolis, and 10 years ago if I said 'did you hear about the new expansion team?' people would have said 'what, for lacrosse?'
"But the two people were absolutely raving -- and they were not soccer people -- about how excited they were for Minnesota FC to start. They were talking about the tradition and history behind it and how passionate their fans are ... it's crazy to see how the paradigm shift.
"The tipping point has happened, now the reality is just how fast is it gonna go."
The U.S. Soccer Federation today announced Liberty Mutual Insurance as its newest sponsor, and Donovan says such deals with help to grow the game with greater investment.
"I was approached recently and I heard the news about Liberty and [U.S. Soccer] signing a new deal," he said. "I have a lot of time and passion to do things that I care about.
"It's pretty incredible to see where this game has come over the years from a place where nobody wanted to be affiliated with soccer in the U.S. to now where a company like this, the third-largest insurance company, so it's pretty special. It's going to be fun and enjoyable and I think beneficial for everyone."
Asked whether the desire for more investment was "too aggressive," Donovan replied: "That's a delicate balance but you also have to some extent strike while the iron's hot, and certainly our league has never been hotter than it is now.
"Presumably that arc will continue to rise and it's exciting. If I was a potential investor I think it's an absolute home run investment.
"Think about it: all the expansion teams coming in, literally hundreds of millions of dollars paid for expansion teams and stadiums, companies like Liberty Mutual and Coca-Cola coming on board that want to be associated with them, that doesn't happen by accident.
"These are big companies that are smart business-wise and want to be affiliated with U.S. soccer -- that says a lot about the growth of soccer."
Asked whether greater investment in MLS could be put to use on improving the wages of players at the lower end of the wage structure, Donovan added: "I can understand the owners' perspective, I can very clearly see the players' perspective.
"I think there's always a solution that both sides can be happy with, probably that both sides are a little bit uncomfortable with, but that's probably a good thing, and that both sides are happy with and can live with.
"But progress is happening. When I started guys at the bottom were making $12,000 a year, now the minimum wage is $60,000 a year. It doesn't happen overnight but it's getting better and as the sport does better then everyone will do better."