Bright Future: The Emergence Of American Soccer and the MLS

Ever since the departure of legendary footballers Pele and Giorgio Chinaglia in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL), American soccer fans haven't had something to cheer about for quite some time. Perhaps taking a backseat to the traditionally preferred pastimes such as baseball and football, the general American public seemed to lose interest in the beautiful game.

It was only after hosting one of the largest international sporting events in the 1994 FIFA World Cup where Americans began to acknowledge soccer again for what it was truly worth. The recent success of the tournament led to the creation of Major League Soccer (MLS), which was formed later on in 1994. With hopes of rekindling the lost interest in the game, the league found themselves struggling with poor attendance following the first full season of the MLS.

The league that once showed signs of promise continued to spiral into further financial debts and was a contributing factor to the resignation of Doug Logan from his role as commissioner of the league. In need of desperate help, the league turned to Don Garber, the former National Football League International Chief and a veteran within the sporting industry.

Unlike the previous commissioners in the NASL and MLS, Garber emphasized the importance of taking small steps to assure stability within the league for the future. With only one team having a soccer specific stadium of their own (Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium), the league found itself facing an astronomical debt of $34 million US in 1998.

The newly appointed commissioner decided to take precautionary measures in order to allow for the league's survival in the United States. Garber and his fellow league owners decided to implement a commercial soccer company called Soccer United Marketing with the aim of gaining the rights of all commercial soccer properties within the United States.

The project turned out to pay big dividends and eventually led to the construction of the Home Depot Center, home to the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2003. Following in the footsteps of the Columbus Crew and LA Galaxy respectively, five teams are currently supporting soccer specific stadiums of their own--with the addition of two more stadiums being built by 2010.

Sticking to the plan implemented by Garber, the league witnessed significant growth both financially and in the quality of soccer being played in the United States. Relying heavily on building a foundation for strong domestic talent through "drafts", the league saw the emergence of a number of American and Canadian stars that have gone on to impress in the elite competitions of Europe.

Landon Donavan (LA Galaxy), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers FC), Bobby Convey (Reading), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Reading), Brad Friedel (Blackburn) and Clint Mathis (Ergotelis) are just a few examples of players that started their careers amongst the ranks of Major League Soccer before moving on to successful clubs. For many of these superstars, the MLS was their chance to showcase the underestimated might and talent of American soccer. 

In particular English Premiership club side Fulham FC has one of the main clubs that have benefited from the services from the growing American talent. In fact, soccer analysts in England often joke about how Fulham had become "Team America" due to the large amount of Americans assembled within the squad.

American internationals Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra, Kasey Keller, Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson were all MLS stars who now find themselves donning the white, red and black club colors of Fulham. Although they haven't taken the English Premier League by storm, all five players are well respected by football critics in Europe.

"We always have a lot to prove because our country doesn't have such a long tradition of playing soccer," Dempsey said.

"When people look at us, they have that in the back of their minds. Slowly and surely that is starting to change, and when you go somewhere you are representing your country. We are doing a good job with that at Fulham."

Prior to being sacked, former Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez lauded his American bunch by claiming that the US contingent of players demonstrated a high level of physical conditioning, work ethic, professionalism and team spirit.

Needless to say, American soccer has managed to gain some respect from the so-called footy experts in Europe. The newly implemented Designated Player Rule has given teams in the MLS the opportunity to bring quality international star players into the league. The rise in talent has attracted the attention of even the most glamorous footballers in the world today as evidenced by the presence of LA Galaxy's David Beckham and New York Red Bulls' Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna.

Furthermore, the MLS took further steps into expanding their market by the creation of the SuperLiga, a North American competition that operates similarly to the Champions League in Europe. Consisting of four Mexican teams and four American teams, the SuperLiga competition determined the best in the best in the North American region. Led by David Beckham, the Los Angeles Galaxy fell short to Mexican side Pachuca in the finals after a penalty shootout.

That's not to mention the crucial additions of several expansion teams in Chivas USA, San Jose Earthquakes and Toronto FC. The city of Philadelphia is set to become the 16th team in the MLS after they were awarded a franchise by the Garber's MLS committee. The league has announced that it plans on expanding to 18 teams by 2012 with two more cities to be awarded franchises. American cities such as Detroit, Portland, Charlotte and St. Louis are all rumored to be keen to add a professional soccer team to their respective cities. North of the 49th parallel, Montreal and Vancouver are itching at the prospect of joining their Canadian counterparts in Toronto--especially after considering the success of the recent 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. 

With the league growing at a record rate, there's always a possibility of implementing a two-league relegation system. Similar to how the European pyramid systems in football, the top teams of the second tier of soccer would get promoted to the top league while the bottom teams would be relegated to a lower league. However, despite the popularity of the this type of "relegation" system in Europe, the idea would most likely seem foreign to the eyes of most North Americans and keeping the current playoff system seems more like a more realistic scenario.

The recent resurgence in popularity following the arrival of worldwide superstar David Beckham has brought North American soccer to new heights. Despite the recent success, Don Garber and the rest of the league owners know that they still have quite a ways to go before they can truly become competitive with the leading European competitions.

However, Major League Soccer deserves full credit for maximizing the potential of the American game to the public. For all we know, the English journalists that once called the MLS a "Mickey Mouse League" could end up eating their words in the future.