Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top-flight professional soccer league in the United States and was founded in 1993 as part of the USA’s bid to host the 1994 World Cup, with the first season being played in 1996.
Now in its 16th season, the MLS has elevated itself so much that it has managed to attract some of the best players in the world to the league.
With lots of investors interested and part of the MLS brand, money is never an option, which allows them to reach out to a larger fan base through TV deals and build bigger capacity stadiums, which are often used for glamour friendly’s between European sides in pre-season.
The MLS works a little bit differently to that of other European leagues.
The season runs from March to October with the 19 competing teams (16 are American and three are from Canada) playing 34 games.
At the end of the season, the team sitting top of the table wins the Supporters’ Shield, then the top 10 teams go into the MLS Cup playoffs, ending in the MLS Cup championship final.
Such has the progress been of the MLS in the last 10 years, they now have a Champions League style completion called the CONCACAF Champions League, with teams from North America South America and the Caribbean regions competing in it.
Despite the recent success of American soccer, it wasn’t always taken seriously.
It gained a reputation to be a feeder league where they would coach young players then sell them on to play in Europe. Some pundits have also said that the MLS is just a league to go to if your career is over and want one last big pay check.
The MLS has produced great players who have gone onto play in arguably the best league in the world- the English Premier league.
Players such as Landan Donovan, Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Brad Friedel are just a few names in a long list of players who have or still are playing at the top level.
The fact these players all started in the MLS, it shows that there is a great infrastructure and coaching programme set up to develop quality players.
However, in the past few years, they have managed to get rid of these stereotypes and have attracted some of the biggest names in football to the states.
David Beckham was one of the first to make the trip to the US and although he was highly criticised for going to the MLS for the money, he was adamant that he was there to improve the standard of football and its popularity worldwide.
And you have to say, he has done so.
In a recent interview, the Manchester United legend said: “The level of play has gone up in the last five years. The fact that Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and Robbie Keane are coming into this league shows there is more of a competitive edge coming into this game in this part of the world.”
Former Everton midfielder Tim Cahill is the latest player to ditch European football for the MLS lifestyle.
The success of Major League Soccer has had a knock on effect on the national team, with the USA performing above expectations in the last World Cup where they drew against England.
USA also beat Italy 1-0 recently in a friendly, showing that the resurgence of the MLS America is helping them avoid the unwanted stereotypes that they once had.
And with these examples, the rise in popularity of the MLS is showing no signs of stopping.
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