The MLS
Why the Domestic League Matters
Winning the World Cup is the pinnacle of international soccer; it is what every fan of the U.S. Men’s National Team wants to see happen in their lifetime. Some would say, however, that the MLS is a roadblock to that end goal; that with it, we will never be able to bring home the World Cup. The main argument against the MLS is the belief that the MLS offers a lower level of competition than the top leagues around the world. While the La Ligas and Premier Leagues of the world do in fact have the top competition to be had, not having a domestic league in the United States would be a huge detriment to building the fan base within the U.S., and greatly hinder the early development of talent for the national team. Even if the MLS served as nothing more than a developmental league U.S. players went through before moving on to the greener pastures of Europe, the MLS would have a huge role in building the U.S. talent base.
However, I fully believe that the MLS can be so much more than a developmental league. It can, and should be, a major sports league in the United States, competing with the NFL and NBA. The Premier League is getting growing coverage in the U.S., but the problem for U.S. fans is that they have no local affiliation as a reason to get behind a team. For that reason I don’t think that any Premier League team will ever reach the level of support and devotion that baseball, basketball, or football teams do. If you had a local soccer team, however, I think that it could garner that high level of support.
The most important purpose the MLS should be serving is to create excitement around the game so that young athletes in America choose to play soccer and stick with it. That is the way soccer will really build up in the United States, at the youth levels. If kids in the U.S. become soccer fans then our youth development will, in my mind, greatly accelerate. Without the MLS I think the talent development in this country would flounder and be nearly ineffective. The importance of the league is illustrated by the fact that of the 30 members of the Men’s National Team preliminary World Cup squad, 15 currently play in the MLS. Of the 15 remaining players 10 have never played in the MLS and for the most part those players grew up outside the United States.
Other evidence in favor of the MLS is that since its inception the United States has not missed a World Cup and has finished as high as 12th and popularity for the team is growing as ESPN and Fox Sports 1 have just entered into a deal with the MLS to televise games through 2022. It is exactly this progress that gives me faith in the future of the game in the United States.
