I'm a bit later on this than I'd hoped, but here's a
Major League Soccer (MLS) Primer
Why? Or at least, why now? The MLS playoffs kick up again this weekend (after the international break), and quite a few things have been shaking up the League over the past year.
A Short History of MLS
MLS was formed in '93 as part of the US's promise to FIFA when they were awarded the '94 World Cup. Previous to that, a number of leagues came and went, typically just showing up occasionally on a Saturday afternoon "Wide World of Sports" slot, alongside things like curling, Aussie Football, etc.
MLS kicked off in 96 with 10 clubs. Most had strong ties (often the same owners) as NFL or other pro sports owners. Of this initial group, DC Unitied and LA Galaxy saw initial success. Of the initial 10 teams, 2 folded within 5 years (Miami and Tampa Bay). The other 8 remain in the league, although some have rebranded (KC Wizards are Sporting KC), some moved, some were bought by other owners. A lot of the initial MLS logos were very ... 90s.
By 2000, the league focused on trying to get teams into soccer-specific stadiums. Playing in half-empty (or worse) NFL stadiums was not great optics and not great for fans, and the terms of sharing stadiums was often not kind wrt revenue for MLS teams. The league started to see benefits from this shift, especially in terms of game-day revenue, and fans began to organically form ultras sections. This natural growth led to league expansion (in teams) and ... David Beckham.
The MLS is under an odd salary cap, which prevented generally big names from joining the league. When it became a possibility that Beckham could come to LA in the mid 2000s, the League quickly shifted the rules to allow for a Designated Player, whose salary could come from other sources and wouldn't entirely/mostly hit the salary cap. This sparked a wave of players retiring in the US - Henry, Ibrahimovic, et al.
The League continued to expand across the 10's and into the 20s. San Diego was the newest team to join, marking 30 teams in the league. They paid $500m to join (which gets distributed across the other teams). Designated Players continue to come in- Messi has obviously been huge for (David Beckham's) Inter Miami club, and several high profile signings even happened this year in Atlanta, LAFC, and Vancouver.
MLS is still young, the average team's age (for the org) is around ~17 years old, but it seems to be here to stay in the US, which was more than could be said of all the previous attempts.
Soccer? FC? Mutiny?
In the US and Canada, football generally refers to American football. Soccer is the common term domestically, including in MLS official documents. Soccer apparently came as a name for football from England, but fell out of favor.
But then you get to the club names. A lot of the early names were rubbish, and the quality on the pitch equally bad (The Mutiny). St. Louis SC (29th team in the league), where the SC is soccer club, is more common in the south. FC is also used, as with San Diego FC (30th team in the league). You also see CF (Inter Miami, Montreal), following the naming conventions on the continent (Club de Fútbol / Club de Foot). Most of the other names (Union, United, Dynamo) are just branding, rather than showing any unique qualities of the organization, often to give a European feel (DC United, Philly Union). There's also just, wtf, as with Chicago Fire (which does throw back to an incident in the city's past).
But what's it like to see a "soccer" match in MLS? Most of the teams now are in soccer specific stadiums, typically between 20k-30k, but some do still play in "football" stadiums. Tailgating is a thing for MLS games (a unique American tradition of grilling/cooking/barbecuing out of the tailgate of your truck), and while not as huge as American football tailgates, it is still widely done. A number of teams try to create "fan zones", where you'll see a mix of food trucks, local businesses promoting their services (commonly car dealers, banks, etc.), and some games and maybe a beer tent.
The ultras are there, but in general aren't as fanatical as in Europe. Part of the issue is the lack of history, part of it is distance between teams. A game in Vancouver is well over 3000km for a visiting Inter Miami, and a trip of that length necessitates flying. That said, the ultras that are there are loud- even San Diego's Azures will put to shame many fans covered in body paint in the NFL. Part of this is the influx of Mexican, Central and South American immigrants, who commonly form the backbone of those ultras. (That said, Liga MX [or their domestic leagues] tends to be more popular for many immigrants than MLS. The same goes for the National Teams - Mexico playing in the US is way more popular than most USMNT matches.)
Ok, but what about the quality of the pitch? Well due to the weather, the pitch can be up or down, and they even allow turf.... OH, the game! The league has some enforced parity due to the salary cap, so it's difficult these days for a team to truly dominate. The influx of foreign players, particular late 20s and 30s, has brought up the level of play, but it still lags the big leagues. (More on that below.) In general, expect the better teams to play around 2nd division quality in Europe, with the lesser teams maybe going into 3rd division.
One last note is about fan experience from home. A few years ago, the league signed a world-wide exclusivity deal with AppleTV+. In exchange, Apple dumped a truckload of money off for MLS. You can watch the games with a season pass of around $100 (reduced as the season progresses). Next year, they've dropped the league packaging, and it only requires an AppleTV subscription. The deal has been lambasted by soccer fans in the US. While the quality has generally been good, a lot of people don't have AppleTV or refuse to get it just for MLS. As a result, the league and Apple have allowed some games to be simulcast, played on other networks in the US, and I think the cup final has been free to watch (with an Apple account). Somehow the viewership numbers aren't as forthcoming as you would think it should be, since Apple is a public company, but the general consensus is it's not going great for the league nor for Apple, especially given the changed terms recently included shortening the length of the TV/streaming contract.
League Structure & Season
There is no pyramid. The league was formed by a lot of US sports owners, so they imposed that view of sport onto the league. They can also charge ridiculous expansion fees as a result. While that may increase club valuation, it does mean that lesser clubs aren't punished for continued mediocrity.
Another outcome of the old money, US sports ownership, is structure. Divisions, playoffs, regular season trophies, at least 3 different verities of cup play... it's a bit of a mess. The league is divided into two conferences, and teams play home and away against all the teams in their conference, and a selection of games against teams in the opposite conference. The schedule for this year (and next) is spring to fall (well, winter), but that's changing in '27, when the MLS will switch to a European calendar. (A short ~14 game '27 season will occur in the spring, and then a '27-'28 season to follow.) There may also be a division / scheduling realignment that
The playoffs are, a mess. First, there is a Supporter's Shield, awarded to the team with the best record in the regular season. This gets used to shoehorn in teams like Inter Miami into something like the Club World Cup.
But to the league, it's all about the playoffs, and they've messed with them a lot. Some of this was driven by league expansion (going from 10 to 30 teams in 25 years), in part because of changes with FIFA's international window often conflicting in the fall, and in part because of demands from TV partners, and in part I think because they're just idiots. There have been home and aways, single-games, play-ins...
At present, the brackets are determined by standings in the conference (east and west, roughly geographic). The top 9 teams from each conference make the playoffs. Here are the rounds:
- Play-in: Seeds 8 and 9 in each conference have a single game play-off, at the home team's grounds. Winner goes on to play the 1 seed in their conference.
- Round 1: Typical 1-8(/9) seeding for the first round. in a best of three format, higher seed getting the two home games. (This round happened before the international break this year).
- Conference Semifinals: (This weekend) Single game played at the higher seed's stadium. Commonly spread out to maximize tv viewing, typically later in the day.
- Conference Finals: (Next weekend) Single game played at higher seed's grounds.
- MLS Cup: (Dec 6) Single game, to be played at the home stadium of the club with the better record. (Philly would play at home if they advance.)
Why the mix of formats? Who knows honestly at this point. The playoffs will continue on the Fall-> Spring schedule, but it's possible the conferences may either re-align or switch to 5 or 6 team divisions. which will require a reconfiguration of the playoffs.
Player Landscape
MLS probably skews slightly older than most top flights. The average player age is between 27-28 years, and a mix of young home-grown (and more often, academy) talent, mid-career international signings (commonly upper 20s or 30s), and 30+ 'ers finishing out their careers. More recent expansion teams tend to be a few years younger, as they often draft (yes there's a draft, and an expansion draft) younger talents in the hopes of developing them.
As mentioned, Beckham required the introduction of a Designated Player (DP) rule to bring in high-profile talent, typically a bit past their prime. The hope is that the big names help to elevate the league's presence, and it worked for LA Galaxy to some extent with Beckham, and it has certainly worked for Inter Miami with Messi. The biggest signing this year was LAFC signing Son Heung-min from Tottenham for $20m plus. Atlanta has brought in several talents through the DP, but the results have been more mixed for them.
In general, MLS seems to be a bit more physical than Europe, but not as physical as South America. The officials do allow a bit of contact, but the influx of players from south of the border has raised the level of play overall, rather than just the occasional signing of a name from Europe.
There is a hard salary cap, but there are more and more rules to skirt around it (although only for 3 players). Teams can sign international players but have to have a minimum of domestic players (22 of 30 must be domestic).
Other Competitions and Leagues
Much like in Europe, there's a host of cups and other competitions for MLS teams to compete in. Unlike Europe, there's another Soccer League in the US (USL not affiliated with MLS, but still sanctioned by US Soccer), as well as in Canada. Let's look at the schedule and TV congestion!
- US Open Cup
The oldest soccer competition in the US, going back to 1914, is open to MLS, USL, and amateur clubs. MLS often chooses to rotate what clubs play in this, in part to help with schedule congestion. The winner gets a ticket to the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
- Canadian Championship
Canada’s domestic cup, featuring MLS teams, CPL (Canadian Premier League) clubs, and top semi-pro provincial sides, with the winner earning a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
- Leagues Cup
A more recent (since 2019) competition between MLS and Liga MX teams, in some ways creating a "Champions League, but in North America" feel. The winner gets a CONCACAF Champions Cup slot.
- CONCACAF Champions Cup (formerly CONCACAF Champions League)
An international club knockout tournament for North American, Central American teams, and Caribbean teams. Only three US teams have won it (or its predecessors) in 60+ years of competition - DC United in 98, LA Galaxy in 2000, and the Seattle Sounders in '22; Liga MX has dominated. For MLS teams, they can qualify via winning the MLS Cup, winning the Supporter's Shield, winning the US Open (for US teams), or by winning the Canadian Championship (for Canuck teams).
- There are other larger competitions like the Club World Cup, but there's not much to report on MLS success there.
So much mediocrity, but there are also other leagues? Yup! Canada created the CPL and kicked off play 6 years ago. It's a part of a pyramid in Canada, and the CPL is the only professional level on the pyramid in Canada. It was notable this year for playing their championship in the snow.
In the US, there's the USL. It honestly could be its own lengthy post, but I'll do my best to keep it short. Operating even before the MLS at various level of semi-pro to (semi-)pro soccer, They operate a semipro league (USL League Two), a Division 3 league (USL League One), a Division 2 League (USL Championship), and have announced the intent to create a Division 1 League by 2028 (equivalent to MLS, to be called possibly USL Division One). Teams in Championship do compete in the U.S. Cup (others have to play-in).
Typically these teams are in cities not represented by MLS, and some clubs have folded when MLS moves in. These are much smaller affairs, most clubs attracting numbers in the thousands (rather than tens of thousands), though successful clubs in Championship do average above 10,000 fans in attendance. There has been some movement of clubs between divisions, but at present no pyramid. With the advent of USL D1, there will be a pyramid with promotion/relegation between USL leagues, pending approval from US Soccer.
While labeled as professional, the salaries are not there for soccer to be a full-time job for players in the USL. It will be interesting to see if D1 changes that. There was some speculation that MLS's schedule change was in part a reaction to the USL pyramid (which has also discussed a calendar shift, as they play spring to fall).
MLS also has a development league called MLS Next Pro, which peeled a few squads off of USL League One and USL Championship (and previously MLS development teams played in the USL). There's no pyramid for clubs in MLS Next Pro.
Global Context & League Strength
That's all great, but how is the play on the pitch, really? I'd guess it's top 15 in the world. Just in my opinion, if you look across the board, MLS lags the big leagues in Europe, even the Championship in Britain. Probably somewhere around the level of play in Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Turkey (pending Turkey's deep clean right now). I would say top to bottom, it still lags Liga MX slightly, and it's certainly not better than Argentina or Brazil's top leagues. In spite of the talk of parity, IMHO comparing to England, the top sides in MLS could probably compete in the Championship, but the bottom teams would probably struggle in League One. There's a drop-off in the quality of depth on teams, and that's in large part due to US Soccer's fractured approach to youth development. (There's also the nonsense around the draft in MLS which... I just can't today.)
That said, MLS is becoming more and more attractive for players who are maybe done with Europe. The pressure on players in the US is considerably lower, there's significantly less (fanatical) press, and one or two big signings can change the trajectory of a team.
Conclusion (and what to watch in the next few weeks)
MLS is young, but it looks to be here to stay, so in that aspect, it's a win for football around the world (and soccer in the US and Canada). It is working to develop domestic young talent, and raising the profile of the sport across the country... even with a few missteps like the Apple broadcasting deal. You generally will see a rougher, at times more open game (in part due to the talent parity, but also depth disparity).
If you want to jump in, it's at least manageable right now... If you're ok with AppleTV. (Or yo ho ho, maybe? I've not bothered to look.) The conference semi-finals (one and done) start tonight with an interesting match-up.
Tonight (9:30pm EST) LAFC (#3) at Vancouver Whitecaps (#2) Vancouver ) signed Bayern Munich legend Thomas Müller on a free this summer, and he's already announced he plans to return next season (as a DP). Since playing for the squad, they were undefeated (until the last game of the season, when a questionable early red card ended up with them losing the #1 seed in the west). They easily handled Dallas in the first round in two and have been awaiting. Vancouver faces LAFC (#3), who had a huge signing this summer with Son Heung-Min, and he helped them out to get into contention, but not with the same winning pattern Müller brought to Vancouver. LAFC also handled their first-round opponent (Austin) in straight games. LAFC's Denis Bouanga has been lethal against Vancouver. LAFC had a Cup win in '22 over Philly and a cup loss in '23, so they've been here before. Winner will face the winner of San Diego FC vs Minnesota United FC.
Tomorrow the eastern sides all play, first at 5pm EST featuring Inter Miami CF (#3) at FC Cincinnati (#2). Both teams took three games to get out of the first round. Cincy has relied heavily on the dynamism of Evander, whose 18 goals and 15 assists powered them through the regular season. But facing a star-studded Miami side led by Lionel Messi, supported by veterans Sergio Busquets and Rodrigo De Paul, some may wonder if a fix is in. Cincinnati have dominated recent head-to-heads (especially at home), but Miami bring a potent attack, and I still don't think you can count Messi out.
The late game features NYC FC (#5) at Philadelphia Union (#1). NYC FC are the only team to have broken chalk in these playoffs, Philly won the Supporter's Shield and have home-field throughout the playoffs. Philly looked strong under Bradley Carnell in his first year with the squad, and the famous Philly "hospitality" has carried over to Subaru Park. (I don't think the fans have hucked batteries at Santa Claus there... yet.) NYCFC, with first year in the MLS coach Pascal Jansen, are maybe most notable for ... not having a home stadium. (One is being built next to Citi Field in Queens, but they've bounced around between Yankee Stadium, the NY/NJ Red Bulls Stadium, occasionally at Citi Field. But this game is in Philly.) NYCFC took three games to beat Charlotte, whereas Philly took only needed two games to dispatch Chicago in the first round. Philly's looking for the double and has a "no stars" attitude, but NYCFC's Alonso Martinez had 10 game winning goals this season.
Finally Monday night at 10pm EST, Minnesota United FC (#4) come out to face expansion team San Diego FC (#1). Both teams went to three games in the first round. San Diego was in the hunt for the Supporter's Shield as late as September, but a run of middling results down the stretch forced them to settle for just first in the west. Anders Dreyer won Newcomer of the Year (19 goals and assists), whereas Minnesota United have the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in Dayne St. Clair. There's some ... oddities... going around the SDFC locker room, as fan favorite Chucky Lozano was benched for "disciplinary reason". He still came off the bench in the 2 first round games against Portland, but a concern in a single-game elimination playoff.
Edit to add: Conference Finals follow next weekend, and the MLS Cup is December 6th. </edit>
Anything else? Oh, the officiating still sucks, and yes, there's still VAR.
