What the MLS Needs to Do

                With the MLS struggling to have its popularity reach the levels of the NBA, MLB, NFL or even NHL. It cannot be argued though, that the MLS hasn’t found a nice niche in the middle of the American sports scene. The MLS has die hard fans that show up to almost every game just as any other sport does, but it lacks the attendance of the so called casual fan. In the past, the MLS would have tried to tinker with the rules of soccer in ways such as having  the clock run down, altering the number of substitutions allowed in a game, or going through many ways of resolving tie. For the MLS to become immensely popular in the United States it needs to change a few simple things and most of them revolve around one thing; a mass influx of money into the league.

                The MLS has depended on the college and high school American players as long as Southern and Central American players to fill rosters since their inception which works well but they could improve that talent pool as well as expanding their roster bases. By pouring money into the youth development process in the United States players will be able to get better coaching as well as have more time to develop their skills. Most teams already have U23 teams and have academy set up but they need to adjust how they are run. The MLS draft should become the main way for players to enter the MLS, no more homegrown talent contracts. A team can enter anyone in the CONCACAF soccer region that is at least 16 years of age and once selected a player can choose between not signing, signing an amateur contract, or signing a professional contract. Teams will possess the rights of any player that doesn’t sign until that player becomes 23 or until they sign with a professional club outside of the United States. Players that sign amateur contract will still be able to play high school and college soccer but over the summer they will play for the MLS team’s amateur development team. Draftees that sign professional contracts will start playing for either the club’s U23, U18, or first team. The best high school soccer and college players that are not professionally signed could all be moved to a central location where they could play together for high school. They would stay with host families in a program similar to the US Hockey Development program.

                Now that the MLS has a solid foundation for developing US talent they need to find away to bring not only the best American players but the best players from around the world. By setting up youth academies in soccer hotbeds across the world the MLS will be able bring in International players that it wasn’t able to in the past. Now just because they have scouts and academies in other countries doesn’t mean that they will get the players, they need to be able to offer more money for those players than teams in Europe would be able to. Now once the MLS starts bringing in young international players the United States can start to give them citizenship so that they can one day play for the US national team. Instead of bringing in old European talent the MLS should try to loan young European players that are having trouble making their clubs first team. This would not only increase the talent level of the MLS but it would also bring European interest into the league as well.

                The MLS should differentiate its game from the International game by including overtime in the rules. Now they don’t need to go back to their shootout idea from the past but they should play a standard 2 halve, 15 minute overtime to try to resolve a tie after 90 minutes. If after the overtime periods there is a tie, then the game ends in a tie. In the playoffs, the MLS should avoid having shootouts by developing an alternative way to end the game. One way would be to have 20 minute periods of sudden death overtime with each team allowed one extra sub per overtime period. Another way the MLS can separate itself in a good way would be to include technology to help the officials out. The use of goal line technology to make sure that the ball actually crosses the line could help prevent controversy as well as having the game decided by the players. Replay could also be used to review each goal to make sure offsides or any other offense did not happen. Offsides calls could not be reversed once called unless the call was made after the ball has entered the net.

                Another thing the MLS should do is not change. The MLS should not change its schedule so that it agrees with that of Europe and should continue its summer season because that is the most appropriate time for an outdoor sport in North America. Promotion and Relegation has been called for before but the MLS needs strong franchises with fan bases in order to survive. Once the league becomes successful no one would want to see a major league team demoted in favor of a team of scrubs. In fact, it would make more sense if teams would create development contracts with some of the minor US soccer teams.

                The MLS isn’t far away from being a top soccer league in terms of time but the talent is well off. If the MLS can find billionaires to back teams the United States could become the hum for club soccer. Football is dying in the US as more and more players are suffering the long term consequences of soccer and soccer could fill the void. All they would have to do is become a summer-fall sport instead of a spring-summer sport and they would be the only league in town. Soccer can be appreciated in the US if there is good soccer in the US to watch.