How to Improve Major League Soccer: Some Steps to Making MLS a World Class League

Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 in the build up to the 1994 World Cup. The first season took place in 1996, and after a roller coaster ride start, the MLS has improved very much in the last few years. Building soccer in America is not an easy task with the likes of, baseball, football, and basketball dominating television, the fields and courts of America. However, soccer has had a steady climb in the USA, and it is no longer considered an unpopular sport.

With 15 teams now in the MLS and another three being added in the next two seasons, things have never looked so good for the league. In order to get on the same level as the leagues in Europe and South America a few changes must begin to be made. Although it cannot all happen overnight, it is time to start giving these changes a major look.

Schedule Change

Every big league in the world starts at the end of the summer and plays their season until the beginning of the next summer. MLS plays from the end of winter to the end of fall. MLS needs to get on this same schedule and redo their calendar. This will allow the MLS to compete in lucrative competitions, such as the Copa Libetadores. It will also keep the MLS from playing during the World Cup, when no one wants to see MLS when their national team is fighting for the world crown, as well as the best players for each team being away on World Cup duty. This is the first step to attracting world class players to the MLS, and making it a league not to be taken lightly.

Relegation Battles

The past three seasons have seen the MLS add three new teams, and the next two years three more are on the way (Portland, Vancouver, and Philadelphia). This is a step in the right direction as eighteen teams is a very healthy number for any league. MLS and the USL need to cooperate, and have the bottom two or three teams in MLS go down, and the top two or three teams in USL come up. There is not a league in the world that does not have relegation and promotion, and it is time for MLS to consider this. It would add excitement to every game of the season, as well as give USL teams more incentive for building a good team.

Youth Teams

The super-draft has always been a part of MLS, and it is a great to get college players into the pros. A better way to develop American soccer players not only for MLS, but also for the national team, is to have each MLS franchise have youth teams, or soccer schools. Although it would take some time to develop, each teams needs to start training kids at a very young age, and have them going through the ranks with the goal being getting to the first team. Much Like Fc Barcelona’s youth system, each team could have a team for every age from 6 on, with the best kids playing above their age to really develop America’s first Messi or Xavi. This is the step that needs to be taking to make the United States the world soccer power they should be.

The past ten years soccer has came a very long way in this great country, but it is time to take it to the next level. MLS is doing a great job, and soon enough MLS teams will be competing with the biggest teams in the world.

Mar 26, 2009 11:18 AM

Guest :

If MLS is to become a world class soccer league, it must adopt world class standards. Th things you listed would be a step in the right direction.

Mar 26, 2009 6:23 PM

Guest :

I agree with all points. However, MLS developed a youth player system a few years ago so this is already in place. The Houston Dynamo just brought the first player from their development system onboard this year.

Mar 26, 2009 6:24 PM

Guest :

Apr 4, 2009 11:29 AM

Brent Sedo :

Interesting ideas, but I think you're overlooking a couple of things. For one, during the winter months, soccer fields in places like Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto are covered with 3 feet of snow and the temperature on any given day could be -20 degrees Celsius. Of those cities, only Toronto has an indoor stadium large enough for a full-size soccer field.
The idea of relegation is completely foreign to North American sports. There's not a sports league in North America that has ever had relegation. It would be very difficult to convince North Americans to support a team that may end up in the 'second tier' next season, and North Americans will not pay the same ticket price to see a team/league that appears to be second best. It would be impossible for a team that was relegated to pay the same salaries to players if they dropped from the top level to the second level, and impossible for a team starting in the second level to generate enough money to sign players that could help them get promoted. For example, ticket prices for a major league baseball game are ten times higher than for a minor league baseball game, while salaries for minor league baseball players are ten times lower than for major league players. The vast majority of players who get 'sent to the minors' in North American sports take a huge salary cut.
In Europe, teams have a fan base that will come out and support them whatever league they play in. That won't happen in North America. An MLS team that gets 20,000 fans per game would be lucky to get 2,000 fans if they dropped down to the USL.
The financial structure of pro sports in North America - salaries, long-term stadium rental and concession deals, television rights, marketing - is just not conducive to a relegation system. All of those things are based on a team playing in one league, forever.