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The MLS is the top professional association football, or soccer, league in North America. It currently has 15 teams 14 of which are in the continental U.S. and one of which is in Canada. Football as a sport has taken some time to take hold in the United States and Canada and is only just now starting to achieve some world wide notoriety. There have been attempts at professional soccer many times in the history of the United States and Canada, but none has had the success of the MLS. There are some things that separate the MLS from European and other world wide association football leagues, but much more that is similar. With continued expansion and popularity at the grade and high school level in the United States, football as a sport appears to be growing.

MLS Soccer, Football in America

In December of 1993 the formation Major League Soccer was announced in the United States. Originally it was planned to have 12 teams and over 27 cities expressed interest. A meeting was held and many of the cities were visited to pare the list down to 22 teams by May of 1994. In June of that year the first seven franchises went to Boston, Columbus, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, San Jose and Washington DC. In November of that year the league announced that they would start play in 1996 with 10 teams instead of twelve. At this time it was announced the Chicago and Tampa Bay would be added leaving one open spot left. This again changed as first New Jersey and then Chicago were dropped from the opening teams. The final three teams to replace them were announced on June 6th of 1995. These cities were Dallas, Denver, and Kansas City.

History of Major League Soccer

The league started play in 1996 with 10 teams from around the United States. The first season was very successful, but after that the league suffered a bit. Attendance steadily dropped and soccer as the United States did not have a very successful run in the World Cup. The team was eliminated in the first round and finished in last place with a squad that was largely made up of players from the MLS.

These formative years were tough on the league as it was trying to find its financial way. As it progressed, owners started trying to find ways to build stadiums designed for the sport of Football and with additional funding this became a reality. In addition to this, teams are starting to focus more and more on bringing in and developing American talent. Even with these moves the league remained stagnant with 10 clubs. In 2002 though there would start to be a change.

The US National team had a strong showing at the 2002 World Cup making it through to the quarterfinals. Crowds at all the stadiums increased peaking with a sellout final at Gillette Stadium. This, along with the debut of 14 year old prodigy Freddy Adu in 2004, led to a growing interest in soccer through out the United States. This proved to be a double edged sword. While there were more and more talented American soccer players coming up through the ranks, the talent level was getting to the point where Americaâ€™s best players were now in demand of the top international clubs. The league struggled, and continues to struggle, with keeping the top American players in America. However, the league has also been able to do a much better job of attracting European talent now that the teams have become more competitive and profitable.

In addition the Designated Player Rule has had a huge impact on bringing talent to the United States. This rule lets each franchise sing one additional player that does not count against the teams cap. For this player $400,000 of his salary is counted towards the cap. In addition, if a team can not use it designated player slot they can trade it away to another team. This rule opens up the market and allows the MLS teams to go after the top talent in the world. Currently the highest paid player in MLS is David Beckham at 6.5 million dollars. This salary is three times what the overall team cap is.

One of the big international criticisms of MLS is that it is a franchise based league. What this means is that there is not current system of relegation or promotion. This is a very familiar league structure to most association football fans, and without it the US league will probably never see the dominant teams like in other European leagues. While it would be difficult to implement, there are teams in the lower US league that could conceivably be eligible for promotion if their seasons were successful enough, however without a formal system in place this looks very unlikely to occur.

The other big things that has been holding the league back has been the media coverage. Since its inception there has been limited coverage of MLS, however in recent years this has changed. ESPN has become more focused on MLS games and in 2007 every match in the league was televised live. This was the first season that this happened. Tin addition to showing all the matches several shows have been set up that are dedicated to exclusive coverage of the league. These things together have led to the league starting to show signs of becoming more profitable. It is estimated by BusinessWeek that the league has lost 350 million dollars since its founding. Based on current numbers Don Garber, the MLS commissioner, said that all of the leagueâ€™s clubs should be profitable by 2010. This is a huge step forward for a sport that has had difficulty catching on in the United States. With continued sponsorships, smart stadium design, and increased television coverage there is no telling how well the league could perform.