1. The small successes of the MLS (Persuasive)
Everyone in the United States knows that soccer is growing in their country, whether they like it or not. Many people love to watch soccer, and many kids are part-taking in the beautiful game more than ever. People in the US even wake up at 5:30 in the morning to watch and support their favorite Premier League team (England), celebrating every goal like it is their home town team. If the amount of soccer is so grand in America, then why isn't the MLS blowing up like it supposed to? My only logical explanation for this is 2 words; relegation system. In the English Premier league, one bad season, and you go down to the 2nd division. It makes for an exciting finish to the season from both ends of the table. The most common responses I hear is that there is not enough money in soccer, which may have been true 20 years ago in the US, but not today. The other response I hear is that no other sports in the US have a relegation system. But that is what makes soccer brilliant, it is so different from American football and basketball. The MLS is relying too much on trying to stay relevant and similar to the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Everyone gets so excited for the NBA and NFL draft, but no one even knows what the MLS super draft is. The fact of the matter is that most of the players on these MLS teams either come from an academy team in Europe or South America, or they come up through their own academy team. No other league in the world has a draft for soccer, I believe that the sooner the MLS quits trying to “Americanize” the sport of soccer, the more successful the league will be. Do not get me wrong, I love watching Sporting KC play, I think they have a strong squad and could compete highly in some leagues in Europe, but the flaws in the management of the MLS are so astounding that the league will not be able to grow to full potential.
