How the MLS can take the next step:

The MLS has grown immensely over the past decade. It has turned into a league that is truly in the American sports scene, something that it never fully was until recently, but there is still more growth in its future.

The league will be expanding from 19 to 24 teams by 2020 with the introduction of NYCFC (officially), Orlando City (on the verge), Miami and Atlanta (reportedly), and one yet to be determined.

14 of the 19 teams now play in soccer specific stadiums, compared to zero of 10 in the MLS’ inaugural season. These stadiums provide a much better atmosphere than the huge and unfilled football stadiums of the past. Additionally, San Jose and D.C. United are both on their way to having brand new soccer specific stadiums (San Jose’s to open in 2015, D.C.’s projected for 2016).

The attendance figures are another great example of the growth of the league. The MLS is now ahead of both the NBA and NHL in average attendance at 18807 (in 2012), which is up 2,800 from 2009. The openings of San Jose and D.C.’s stadiums in the coming years will also certainly help those numbers, as both these teams are in the bottom three of attendance this year. This past weekend (October 5^th and 6^th) saw an average of 20,478 fans in MLS stadiums across the country even though three of the top four teams (in terms of attendance) were on the road.

In terms of parity, the MLS rivals any league in any sport in the world.

-The current separation between 1^st and 16^th is only 12 points. 

-12 teams are separated by 8 points in the race for the Supporters Shield

-The league’s “worst” team (D.C. United) just won the US Open Cup.

-74% of the league is currently sitting in a playoff spot or within three points (one win) of playing November soccer.

All of this is unparalleled in the soccer world. Spain’s La Liga is a two-team race between Barcelona and Real Madrid for the title every year, Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga by 25 points last year and were a ridiculous 70 points ahead of last place SpVgg Greuther Furth, France’s Ligue 1 has a nine point differential between 1^st and 8^th through only nine games while Italy’s Serie A has an 11 point gap between 1^st and 8^th. The World’s most popular league, the English Premier League, has a clear top five in contention and then everyone else. European leagues “drama” is hindered without a playoff system, while the MLS only gets more exciting as the season finishes up. The tight playoff races mean that every game truly matters for almost every single team in the league.

The MLS is doing a lot of things right and is certainly moving in the right direction. The league is very healthy and is definitely growing in popularity and talent. The money going into the league and US Soccer are at all time highs, which allow for things such as the 9 million dollar Clint Dempsey transfer. Salaries are getting higher (Dempsey just set a new record with his 8 million per year contract), which lets the MLS keep young (American) talent as well as bring in more expensive foreign talent. However, I believe there are a couple of things that could truly push the league even higher.

The first thing that the MLS should do is drop the majority of the friendlies they play against “big name” European clubs. It’s great to see teams such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Juventus come to America over the summers. I think having these teams come to the US helps to grow the game of soccer in this country, as it lets fans see the superstars they watch all fall, winter, and spring up close and in person. The casual fan can get excited over Mario Balotelli and Christiano Ronaldo playing a game at MetLife Stadium in New York and it certainly generates hype. But these games mean nothing to these teams, as they can sleepwalk through a game against a MLS team and still see a four-goal victory. The talent disparity is massive and doesn’t lead to exciting soccer, even if it showcases skill that Americans rarely get to see in person. These teams will still come to play against each other; Manchester City and Chelsea played twice this past May, so the sport can still get the benefit of the big names. But please, just leave MLS teams out of the equation.

Having said this, I am strongly against MLS teams completely dropping European teams from their schedules. I think organizing some kind of a tournament/challenge (a la the Big 10-ACC challenge in NCAA Basketball) with the English League Championship could do wonders for the league. Have a random drawing of the 20 MLS teams and top 20 from the English League Championship, and either play 10 games in England, 10 in America or do a home/home series for each matchup. Whichever league gets more points wins the cup that year. Obviously these matchups wouldn’t be as “sexy” as playing the top European teams, but these games would do so much more for the league and its reputation. There is definitely a perception that the MLS is weaker than the lower European leagues, and the best way for American soccer players to develop is to leave for Europe. If the MLS can match up with and even beat teams such as Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United, Bolton, Nottingham Forest, Reading, Wigan Athletic and others it will go a huge way for getting and keeping talent. The English League Championship is still ahead of the MLS in salaries, but salaries in the MLS are increasing and with the growth of the league that will only continue. Currently, the average salary in the English League Championship is $336,000 while the MLS is a little more than half of this at $180,000. However, the New York Red Bulls average salary is $360,000, showing that some of the MLS is already able to compete financially with second tier European leagues, and the rest are hopefully on their way. Proving that the MLS is in this second level of leagues worldwide should be priority number one for the league.

Another thing to help push the MLS forward is to start taking CONCACAF Champions League games as seriously as they can. Having success in the CCL will lead to regional superiority, which is hugely important. Very similarly to playing the lower level European league teams, if the top MLS teams can beat the top Mexican league teams, it will only strengthen the league. Players like Joe Corona, DeMarcus Beasley, Herculez Gomez, Paul Arreola (who all play in Liga MX) would be much more inclined to stay in the US for their club soccer if the MLS offers similar salaries and proves itself against the top teams in Mexico.

These first two things are geared towards making the MLS more attractive to younger talent. But in order for these to work, the league will have to alter its transfer rules. The league missed out on getting a very marketable and very talented potential star in Mix Diskerud because of the league’s transfer and contract rules. Diskerud was in negotiations with the MLS to come over from Rosenborg this past January, but couldn’t come to an agreement. He didn’t like the thought of belonging to the league and not to a specific city and team (Portland for him). He also stated, which is much more worrisome, that "as far as I'm concerned - I think the MLS policies of today are tailored to a little older players who accept to limit themselves to end their careers in the U.S./Canada and MLS." The MLS has to change these rules and this perception in order to accomplish the goal of making the league more attractive to younger talent.

The final thing that I think the MLS must do to strengthen the league is a basic one. They have to stop playing games during FIFA international dates. Losing players in important league games severely hurts the league and its legitimacy. This wouldn’t be a hard thing to accomplish at all. To do it, all the schedule makers would have to do is change three or four games for each team from the weekend to midweek. Not only would this eliminate teams missing their best players during these games, but also I personally love the idea of having MLS games every Wednesday night in the summer. It allows for more television exposure and also gives soccer fans more opportunities to watch the sport they love and learn about the league they follow.

The MLS has come a very long way in its short history. The league is becoming more legitimate worldwide with every passing season. It is becoming a great asset for US Soccer and the national team, and as soccer continues to grow in this country, so will the league. These are just a few things that I believe can give it a push to the next level. It still has a long way to go to match the popularity and skill level of the top European leagues (and who knows if it will ever reach that platform), but transitioning into almost a “feeder” league for them is the next step. The MLS’ goal should be to become the NCAA of the NFL, and if they can accomplish that it will only mean good things for the future of the beautiful game in this country.