It is well known that soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world. In fact, the U.S. seems to be the only country that really just doesn’t care about “the beautiful game.”
Sports have always been an important part of America’s fabric. From our country’s “national pastime” of baseball to the rise of the NFL, U.S. citizens and international audiences have always been enthralled by fierce competition played at a high level.
However, things could be shifting around in the near future.
The MLS started with 10 teams and has seen rapid expansion in the past decade. In 2015 alone, two new teams will join the MLS, and three more expansion teams will see their inaugural game played in 2017.
The league started in 1993, and was founded as an agreement with FIFA to establish a professional soccer league to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Soccer has always been on the outside looking in on the U.S.’s so-called “Big 4” American sports. These four sports include baseball, football, basketball and hockey. The lack of soccer’s popularity has always been attributed to the fact that athletes who are born and raised on American soil typically choose one of the big four sports to focus on. Pair that with is the historically atrocious play of the U.S. men’s national team.
But with each passing year and each World Cup, the U.S. takes a step, albeit a small one, towards international prominence.
The men’s team has reached the knockout round of the World Cup in consecutive competitions for the first time in our nation’s history and currently holds the 25th ranking in the world of 209 nations that are FIFA associates.
The U.S. men’s team has done a lot to increase the popularity of the sport, but other U.S. sports are helping the MLS’s intrigue as well.
Each year, baseball is losing popularity among its young supporters. In a 2014 poll taken by SportsNation, children between the ages of 12 and 17 are just as interested in the MLS as they are the MLB. This is a huge shift, as baseball was the most popular sport in the nation for some time.
Baseball is notoriously slow, and in today’s fast-paced world, many people say they do not have the time to sit and watch a game that can run for more than three hours. Though soccer is a relatively slower sport as well, games only last about two hours including halftime.
Along with baseball’s rapid decline in popularity, football is seeing major changes as well.
Though the NFL is the most popular of American sports, the recent concussion data and domestic violence scandals have caused people to view the game in a new light.
In the last three years, two former NFL players committed suicide, and an autopsy diagnosed CTE, a disease linked with excessive and repetitive brain trauma, postmortem. In response to these tragedies and many other players with trauma-related brain injuries, the NFL is drastically changing its rules in attempts to limit brain damage. This has taken a lot of the violent contact that fans love out of the game.
Despite the valiant attempts, concussions still occur nearly every game, leading parents to question their children’s desire to play football.
Many people have come out and said they will not let their children play football. This list includes former 49er Ben Lynch and LeBron James, the face of the NBA, if not the face of American professional sports.
Many soccer team owners like Stan Kroenke, involved in both the MLS and English Premier League, want to establish good competition and transfer between the two leagues who have historically been at opposite ends of the talent spectrum.
Recently, many big-name stars have signed with MLS teams. Though these men are looking to get one big contract before their retirement, their star power is something the MLS has rarely seen.
Some of these players include David Villa, the all-time scorer of the Spanish national team; Jermaine Defoe, Tottenham legend; Frank Lampard and Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry.
One of the major problems remains the competition, as most prominent American-born players choose to take their talents overseas to Spain or England. However, as Major League Soccer’s popularity continues to rise, young stars will likely choose to stay home and establish something that has never existed before: a very good American soccer league.
Only time will tell just how popular the MLS may become. The expansion will continue to go on as long as the fandom increases.