SUMMARY
- Soccer in America has grown significantly in the last decade, aided by signing high-profile superstars for revenue.
- The league's single-entity structure requires players to sign contracts with the MLS, who then distributes them to clubs according to guidelines.
Soccer in America has seen major growth in the last decade. The signing of high-profile superstars was an effective tool for revenue-building. From the LA Galaxy’s signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Lionel Messi’s joining Inter Miami, fans outside the United States have started to follow the soccer league.
However, compared to the other top European soccer leagues, it is somewhat different. The first and foremost difference can be noted when it comes to relegation and promotion of the teams. Well, the reason has to do with the entire structure of the soccer league.
The league is based on a single-entity structure. The structure allows the players to first sign an official contract with the MLS. After the contracts are made, the MLS then allot the available players to each club. However, the distribution is based on specific guidelines that state at what time a team can sign a player. The structure was mainly imposed in order to bring suitable investors to the league.
MLS CEO Don Garber once said in an interview, “Just because there is promotion or relegation in other leagues that were founded on different principles doesn’t mean that it would make sense in Major League Soccer.”
Just because the teams are managed centrally, large investments are being made every year. And this eventually doesn’t go well with the stakeholders of different teams, who carry a fear of losing out on millions if the rule of promotion and relegation gets implemented.
MLS is looking forward to implementing promotion and relegation before the 2026 World Cup
According to reports, MLS is eyeing introducing promotion and relegation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The next Soccer World event is scheduled to take place in the United States, with Mexico and Canada as co-hosts.
The league is currently making strides to increase the number of teams, thus creating a second division alongside it. This will be done keeping in mind the reserve teams that currently feature in the MLS Next Pro.
WE GOT THE CUP! 🇺🇸🇲🇽🇨🇦
The united USA-Mexico-Canada bid has won the hosting rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup! pic.twitter.com/M7Fx8Ftmzz
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 13, 2018
In an interview with AFP, the President of the MLS Next Pro League, Charles Altchek, said, “There’s a lot of opportunity, a lot of open markets, and a lot of great cities that don’t have professional soccer in the US. We are a little way from that, but when you start to have 40 teams playing, you’ve got some scale there.”
In order to get as many teams to participate in the MLS, the addition of relegation and promotion might come along the way. Currently, MLS has 29 teams, three of which are from Canada.
When was the MLS established?
The Major League Soccer was established in 1993. The creation of the league is said to be part of hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. Efforts were undertaken to popularise the game within the country right before the mega event.
Columbus Crew, MLS Cup winners for their third time 🏆🏆🏆🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/OWhc1zI1pP
— Emilio Sansolini (@EmilioSansolini) December 10, 2023
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s former club, LA Galaxy, currently holds the record for winning the most titles. The Los Angeles-based side won the competition five times, followed by D.C. United four times. The recent winners of the competition were the Columbus Crew, who lifted the trophy for the third time.