MLS Commissioner Don Garber (L) needs to be smart about how his league is operating. Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Major League Soccer is still technically in its early years as an organization — it will turn 20 in 27 days (founded in 1993, first season in 1996). Its had its struggles, successes, and a fair share of criticism from other soccer leagues around the world and their governing body, FIFA. But it hasn’t stopped them from continuing to grow.
Two clubs will be introduced in 2015, along with a possible third shortly thereafter. New York City football club, backed by the New York Yankees and Manchester City, will open up shop as the second New York team. Orlando City soccer club, currently playing in the third tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid, will begin play as the first club in Florida since the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion folded in 2001. There are also talks of adding a second team in Florida, in Miami, which is being discussed by David Beckham and LeBron James. However, discussions are in very preliminary stages.
With 21 (or 22) possible teams in the fold for the 2015 season, MLS is already receiving criticism for the expansion as well as its continual failure to adhere to the operational protocols of other leagues. Not only does MLS not run on the FIFA calendar, which creates conflict with international play, but the tiered system used in the English Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and elsewhere is still nowhere in the future plans of MLS. Sure, having more teams (24 is likely the cap for expansion in the league) will increase the popularity of the sport. But, critics argue, the level of play in the league will likely be decreased by spreading the league so thin.
This expansion will help the league in the long run if the franchises can hold on through the tough beginning years. But transitioning to a more European management style is necessary. Opponents of MLS need to remember that the league is not quite two decades old yet; so expecting it to be perfect this soon is foolish. Once the league is finished expanding, it should consider using a promotion and relegation system, which would require merging with other leagues in Canada, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, and Bermuda. Forming a better relationship with FIFA, especially on the all-important issue of the playing calendar — would increase MLS’s ability to pull in big-name players via transfer. And big names are exactly what MLS is lacking.
So good for MLS for aiming high. But there is already a precedent set for how to run a successful soccer league, and it’s not being followed in the U.S. Soccer is a global game — and the U.S. formula of professional sports leagues will not work for it.
