Opinion: Why you should be watching and supporting MLS
America's top soccer league deserves your respect
Major League Soccer is the Rodney Dangerfield of the sports world. It just doesn’t get any respect.
But America’s top soccer league does merit more respect — and that means you should be watching it.
By supporting the league, you play a role in the growth of soccer in the United States. In fact, the success of MLS has a direct impact on youth development programs, infrastructure investment, future national team success and the game’s overall popularity.
Why aren’t more people watching?
There are a few reasons. For starters, Americans have lots of choices each week. Dozens of soccer games from around the world are streamed on TVs and on phones, putting MLS in direct competition with the likes of the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga.
Compared to Europe’s top domestic leagues, MLS can often look downright dull. Teams don’t have big money to spend so it doesn’t attract big-name players. When foreign players do come to the league, they are often past their primes.
Critics point out other problems. There is no promotion/relegation and too many teams make the playoffs, rendering the regular season pointless.
These are valid point, but MLS does have pluses. There aren’t just a few who contend for the title. The league is unpredictable year-to-year, making it more fun than some of Europe’s domestic competitions.
The pending arrival of Lionel Messi to Inter Miami will certainly get some people to watch MLS and that’s great. The truth is they should have been watching all along.
Messi will soon discover that MLS is no easy league. The heat, field conditions, travel and playoffs make for a tough time. Many international stars have come and failed.
MLS is also about fostering a soccer culture in a nation where the game has traditionally struggled, especially prior to the league’s launch in 1996. Watching, attending and supporting an MLS team allows you to be a part of the growing soccer culture in the United States and Canada. Attending games and engaging with others helps foster fan culture. Sure, you can cheer for Liverpool each week, but you’ll never feel like you are a part of something unless you fly to England.
MLS has been content in recent years with being a “selling league.” That means young players, both American and foreign, come to MLS and use it as a springboard to get to Europe. As a result, MLS has gained wider recognition on the global stage.
Nonetheless, MLS remains an entertaining product despite the salary caps and complicated ways players come and go. U.S. legend Landon Donovan caught a lot of heat for saying that Christian Pulisic, who recently went from Chelsea to AC Milan, should have opted for a move to MLS.
“The World Cup is coming in three years. This is once in a lifetime. He’s going to be in the prime of his career, his life as a soccer player, his earning potential — I’m sure he’s making plenty of money — but the ability to come to MLS kind of like Messi did,” Donovan said. “I’m not so sure that wasn’t a big reason for Messi, the World Cup coming here.”
Donovan went on to say Pulisic should have looked at coming to the Los Angeles Galaxy, the team he once played for.
“Bring him here! Pay whatever you have to pay him,” he added. “Bring an American superstar who has global recognition back to MLS ahead of the World Cup. I think it would have been a great move and I can hear the Twitterverse going crazy.”
It did go crazy — but Donovan did have a point. Why sit on a bench in Europe, like Pulisic did at Chelsea, when he could be playing in Los Angeles?
MLS does want to be one of the world’s best leagues. It isn’t there yet. With more support, it could very well be someday.