Wherefore MLS?

During this downtime while the team prepares for the season and there is little action to discuss, I thought I’d bring up a deeper topic that I’ve pontificated on from time to time. Specifically, the purpose of the MLS. I’m not talking about the profit motive that exists in MLS just as it does in any business. But, rather, what it can and should hope to achieve beyond turning a profit for its investors. I often hear people saying the goal of MLS should be simply to produce more entertaining soccer. But I think the value of the organization is much more fundamental to the sport in this country and that entertainment alone should not be its driving force. Really, the entire future of soccer in this country rests on MLS’ shoulders.

Despite the wide spread criticism of our beloved sport, soccer is already well established in this country. Millions of kids play it. You don’t hear us talking about baseball moms, it’s soccer moms. MLS has existed for 15 years and is growing. The US is one of only six countries in the entire world to have been at each of the last six world cups and have made it to the quarterfinals in one of those. But true success is fostering it to the point where we are consistently turning out quality players on the global stage. When we can do that, the sport will be self sustaining here.

The answer is not, as I have sometimes heard said, that MLS needs to be as entertaining as European soccer. Trying to make the MLS like the EPL will not work. We don’t have the domestic talent. We can’t afford the foreign talent. And the failure of the NASL proved that just importing stars into big markets is short lived. Instead, MLS should be an incubator. It should be a starting point for American players to develop and show their skills as a stepping stone to bigger leagues. And the statistics show that’s exactly what it is doing. Only four players on the US’ 2010 World Cup squad came from MLS teams. But 17 players on that roster got their start in MLS. If it wasn’t for MLS, Clint Dempsey would be a UPS driver in Texas right now.

15 years ago, maybe a dozen Americans played professional soccer at a high level. If you were a high school athlete picking a sport, there was no future in the sport. Only the lucky few could make careers of it. Thanks to MLS, there are now hundreds of professional American soccer players. Thanks to MLS, its teams now all have youth academies to begin consistently training players at a younger age and feeding them into the professional system. And it is becoming more and more common for American players to transition from MLS to high paid jobs in Europe. The more young players stick with the sport, the more talent we’re going to see rise through the ranks. The more talent that rises, the more players moving overseas and improving the national program. The more players getting lucrative deals overseas and exposure through the national program, the more young kids who are going to feel like they have a chance to get somewhere if they stick with soccer. In this way, with each generation the pool of talent grows. With each generation the national team becomes stronger. Within a couple of generations we have a realistic shot at winning a world cup.

Maybe down the road there is enough domestic talent or enough money behind soccer that the MLS can be one of the elite leagues in the world. Until then, it’s owners are right to protect and nurture it. They are right to force teams to foster domestic talent and prevent on onslaught of foreign retirees. MLS is not in it for the short term. They know that this is a long slow process. But they have survived this long. Attendance is up. The league is expanding. Investors are clamoring to get in. They are moving in the right direction.

I’ve also noticed one very important fact. People, even soccer fans, are very quick to dismiss MLS soccer as poor quality. You watch it on tv and there is no question that it is ugly compared to Europe. It is hardly worth watching. But bring those same people to a game and they have fun. They come back again. Because the fact is that even with mediocre quality, there is something special about seeing it live with friends. So long as MLS survives, the audience will grow and we will build on the success we have already achieved.

So, do you agree? Should MLS be content to be an incubator or do you think it should be fighting to keep young talent and preventing good players from going overseas? Is MLS right to limit international superstars or should it let teams bring in whoever they can afford? Is MLS right to cap salaries, limiting teams’ ability to attract and retain talent or should they drop the salary cap so more exciting players can be brought in? Do you agree that MLS is key to the future of soccer in this country or is it just a sideshow to the real deal overseas?

[Twitter: @dschnider]

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