May 7 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has unveiled its new Manhattan headquarters, a 126,000 square-foot office across two floors at 2 Penn Plaza that nearly doubles the league’s previous footprint at 420 Fifth Avenue.
The league moved in last month, ending a 16-year run at its old base. Around 500 staff now operate at 2 Penn under a four-day-a-week in-office schedule, with another 25 working from MLS Productions’ Stamford studio.
Camilo Durana, MLS EVP and Chief Business Officer, called the move a “game changer” and tied it to what the league is branding as “MLS 3.0”.
“We were running out of space. We were struggling with the ability to add full-time people and still make it comfortable. In this, we have room to grow.”
Custom-designed by TPG Architecture, the space includes more than 80 meeting rooms, four wellness areas for meditation or nursing, two outdoor terraces, multiple podcast studios, a cafeteria, and a matchday operations hub.
LED ribbons throughout the building can be programmed to show partner branding or live scores. Mesh walls evoke goal nets. Curved archways mimic the shape of a soccer goal. Club-specific banners line the corridors. Whoever designed this building wanted the visitor to know exactly what business they were walking into.
Durana added, “We’re going through a lot of change and evolution as a league. To be able to work in a space like this as we present ourselves to the world, you think about partners, sponsors, media partners walking into this office versus where we were before, it paints us in a rightful light in terms of where we are in our journey.”
A bigger office. A bigger calendar and bigger ambition.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, moc.l1778148002labto1778148002ofdlr1778148002owedi1778148002sni@r1778148002etsbe1778148002w.kci1778148002n1778148002