A couple of days ago, I wrote a column describing the biggest problem in MLS. Not wanting to come off completely negative, I have analyzed the league’s biggest strengths. These have helped put MLS on more solid footing in the American sports world than its predecessor, the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Quality of play: The talent level in MLS might not be on par with the top European leagues, but it is far better than most people seem to give it credit for. It’s a physically demanding league with some established stars.
Chivas USA was an expansion team that began play in the 2005 season. The Mexican League team CD Gudalajara, which has a policy of only signing players with Mexican heritage, founded them. Chivas had planned on continuing this policy of signing only Mexican players, thinking that it would be enough to run through MLS with ease. Many followers of MLS saw this as an arrogant move.
How did they fare in that first season? 4 wins, 22 losses, 6 draws. They gave up 67 goals in 32 games, scoring only 31. Chivas wisely decided to drop their policy of signing only established Mexican players after their first season, and have been a playoff contender ever since. This move proved that MLS was more of a challenge than anybody in the Mexican leagues had predicted.
The MLS All-Star game has also featured an MLS XI versus a European-based team for the last few years. In 2006, the MLS team defeated English club Chelsea 1-0. In 2007, the MLS team beat Celtic 2-0. MLS is improving itself by pitting its best against the world’s best, and has been successful so far.
Community Outreach: A couple of summers ago, I made the drive down to Chicago with a few friends to participate in MLS Futbolit, a 4-on-4 soccer tournament that the MLS hosts in each MLS city. My team was unceremoniously destroyed in every game we played, but it was still a great experience.
We showed up expecting maybe 20 or 30 other teams. When we arrived, we saw well over 100, with more cars showing up every minute. There were six youth age groups and two different adult divisions. Back in 1996, it would have been hard to envision this many fans flocking to an MLS promotional event.
Futbolito would have been hugely successful had it stopped with just the competition, but it went further. Every participant was given a ticket to an upcoming MLS game in that city. The league had realized something very important: get a young fan, get a fan for life. This was a great grassroots effort to win over fans, and judging by the attendance at the Chicago-Chivas matchup the next week, it was working.
Salary cap: I think this is the single most important reason that MLS is staying afloat. The downfall of the NASL was uncontrolled spending by one team. The New York Cosmos
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