The U.S. league system that lasted one season

[@TheLessonless]

10:48 “Can they do it on a cold, wet night in Cleveland?” does have a certain feel to it. Another great piece of content!

[@RouteNone]

Put Pulis in charge, give him a big man up front and Ryan Shawcross, and he'll turn the Lakefront Stadium into a fortress.

[@mainmansentertainment]

“Can they do it on a cold, wet night in Cleveland?” Isn't that every night?!?

[@barmanitan]

​@@mainmansentertainmentYes but the idea is it's not always a cold wet night elsewhere, so away teams might not be prepared

[@mainmansentertainment]

@@barmanitan 🤦‍♂

[@barmanitan]

@@mainmansentertainment I don't really understand what the joke was though when the cliche already says you can assume every night is a cold wet night

[@3vans186]

I feel like as an American, the MLS has grown in spite of its self. I think though MLS will succeed just because the amount of people that have started watching in the last 5 years is insane

[@Ssweis23]

They keeps saying that soccer is the fastest growing sport in America but neglect to mention that the most watched leagues are the Prem and Liga MX. MLS is just riding the wave and picking up retirees. The sad thing for me is that they were starting to shake off the retirement league accusations until Messi arrived

[@nateworkman4317]

Also as an American I think the apple tv deal is hurting MLS for me. The local tv channels did a great job of making the games accessible to local audiences while also keeping it affordable (for my team at least). Now the $90 pay wall for all of MLS even though I'm only going to watch 1 team is way too expensive. For me, I'm not there to see Messi. I'm there to root for my local team. As a result, I'm following the EPL and NWSL much more than MLS and I am actively hoping the apple tv deal doesn't go the full 10 years so I can actually be invested again

[@drmythbusters]

The MLS has grown because it imposed strict rules to keep itself solvent, and because, as a summer league, the only main competition it has is baseball. Its schedule also means it doesnt have to compete with Prem viewership for a good chunk of the season, and MLX is effectively an insular bubble unto itself with enough can of worms where if you werent already into MLX, you probably wont start anytime soon

[@whypick1_]

@@nateworkman4317 You must be in one of the outlier markets where the local TV coverage was actually decent. Seemed to be more common for teams to only be carried by the Regional Sports Network (which recently went through a slew of bankruptcies) that were in never-ending contract disputes with the carriers that would leave fans unable to watch for months on end (I know the Galaxy and the Rapids seemed to deal with that every year). I _haaaaaaaaate_ Apple, but between the >$250M/yr they're paying MLS and having honest-to-goodness global access with zero blackouts, I don't blame the league for taking that deal...now if they could just do something about finding the single most annoying ad play during every single break for the entire year...

[@clickbait3753]

part of that is aligned with demographic changes in the U.S. Latino populations have exploded over recent years and continue to grow, and most of those people watch soccer.

[@yes3_3amir]

Referees fixing ad breaks throughout the game by encouraging simulation sounds about American. I wonder if Peter Rhodes got paid for it too.

[@ILikedGooglePlus]

That's honestly the most American thing I've ever heard

[@tempejkl]

@@ILikedGooglePlusI’d say capitalism. Profit over people. Although capitalism is pretty american

[@georgehh2574]

​​@@tempejkl I think the problem is that football in other countries was a passion of the country to begin with and was built up from there. American football (soccer) was a capitalist enterprise from the beginning, as many things are in the USA. Even America's beloved American Foot(hand)ball suffers from the scourge of capitalism with its awful advertising system and all that surrounds it.

[@psvmjohn]

@@georgehh2574 Watching an American football game without ads is about the same experience as watching it with them. The game has a ton of breaks regardless. But the reason people love it over here is because it has been built up in the USA over generations. People live or die by their team, whereas in soccer the teams and sport itself just aren't old and well rooted enough to have any real culture of its own.

[@antoinesilva1527]

@@psvmjohn To be fair, the US is a giant country, so the recruitment pool for local fans is insane.

[@ethanwalshe766]

Really feels like this channel is primed to take off. Definitely fills a niche in the football community that’s been missing since Tifo’s shift within The Athletic. Well researched, humorous, informative, and visually appealing. This is outstanding work so far and I look forward to more of it!

[@RouteNone]

Really appreciate that, for me it felt like lift off happened when the channel hit 1,000 subscribers, but all relative I guess! Glad you're enjoying the channel and hopefully more of the same on the way

[@Blockhead-lc6fr]

15:09 the fact that as you were writing this you had 7 thousand less subscribers than when you released the video is crazy, the growth is insane and deserved

[@RouteNone]

It's a bit silly really - people keep mixing up the dislike button with the subscribe button ... Nevertheless thank you for the support!

[@Barça_Fanidk]

@@RouteNonebro- you cannot be serious. The content is great! Keep it up!

[@mrshrimpeugene]

F***ing pele i love that

[@neiana]

I never knew his first name until this video...

[@markoplayz6894]

@@neiana Same

[@jamesdrummond7684]

@@neiana even if you're a kid, you can't seriously claim that you're a football (soccer) fan and not have heard the name of Pele. come off it.

[@neiana]

@@jamesdrummond7684 joke //// you

[@GandWizard]

12:11 Your nods to The IT Crowd are much appreciated! Another interesting video, keep up the good work.

[@RouteNone]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by and watching

[@robertcarlson8867]

Mislabeling the Washington Diplomats as the Washington Generals is either a hilarious mistake or a world-class trolling job, lmao

[@RickImus]

Washington Generals being the team that played basketball's Harlem Globetrotters....

[@markolitvic6981]

Same with "Roger Moore"

[@GarkKahn]

So stupid that it seems to be actually on purpose 😅

[@DWEEB-FIX]

Route None continuing to throw in little pro-wrestling references in each of their videos warms my heart whenever I see them.

[@RouteNone]

Stay tuned for the launch of my sister channel - 'Route "One" Billy Gunn'

[@jacobsimpson7483]

My neighbor played for the Golden Bay Earthquakes, and my dad (who doesn't like or even watch soccer) LOVED Pele, so I was pretty familiar with the NASL growing up I still learned SO MUCH from this video. Excellent work

[@mactheknife7049]

The United States relationship with soccer has been, and shall forever be, summed up in one sentence: "Soccer is the sport of the future here... and it always will be."

[@Tylar122]

No way MLS is booming. What you just described is rugby

[@sirstewartwallace3917]

You described e-sports. Billionaires poured lots of money into Overwatch League and it no longer exists.

[@Ben_the_Rosafan]

@@Tylar122 Booming so much I can't even name a single player besides Messi.

[@morange492]

@@Ben_the_Rosafan Well there's Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba who tagged along with Messi who you might be familiar with, but that's not really detracting from your point haha

[@UbuntuPersonNoMint]

​@@Tylar122did you know rugby is also football?

[@5allum]

Presenting the NPSL as the nWo is hilarious. That's a good one.

[@RouteNone]

Glad it didn't go unnoticed. Thanks for watching!

[@za_ka_ria]

I noticed it a first and did a too sweet then I was confused I said wait myb it's literally theirs lmao

[@will_from_pa]

Can you imagine a world where the ASL wasn’t folded thanks to FIFA picking favorites and the Great Depression? We’d be such a powerhouse man

[@1stutterafter]

With great history and possibly promotion and relegation.

[@TheRoseBoy11]

Damn you FIFA!!!

[@GarkKahn]

Maybe, maybe not Whatever, if they take the right decisions it may happen in the future

[@elverdaderojavier]

If you watch the video with 20/20 hindsight I think the problem is clear. In 1966 the US federation negotiated with 3 different ***leagues*** instead of organizing the league itself and then negotiating with individual clubs to join a pyramid established by the federation. It's still the same problem the US faces today. MLS, UPSL, USL, NASL... for some reason Americans can't imagine a world where clubs are independent and the federation doesn't have to deal with competing leagues.

[@kazikader]

The fact that MLS has lasted a lot longer would suggest it’s here to stay. But until US Soccer goes through a hierarchy shuffle, the national team nor the sport in the US in general will grow nor get better.

[@Pantalaimon91]

US Soccer has been holding the development of the game in the US back for a while now. The game (women's and men's) basically continues to grow in spite of the efforts of the USSF. There's some signs at shifts in behavior and attitude from the federation, but personally I won't get my hopes up just yet.

[@TheRoseBoy11]

​@@Pantalaimon91 Patience??? Hopefully??????

[@senseiadam-brawlstars9465]

The MLS lasted so long because of the financial restrictions they placed on their teams to not overspend. Previous leagues basically kept buying super expensive players from Europe hoping to make the league grow by just spending too much money (and going bust.)

[@TommyBuskulic-u2k]

​@@senseiadam-brawlstars9465 Another reason the MLS succeeded where the original NASL failed, is that whenever MLS expanded, the league added one or teams each time. The original NASL once expanded from 18 teams in 1977 to 24 teams in 1978. The original NASL split those 24 teams into two conferences (the American Soccer Conference & the National Soccer Conference). Each conference was split into three geographic divisions (East, Central, & West). This alignment was for the 1978 through 1980 seasons. The league was reduced to 21 teams in 1981; 14 teams in 1982; 12 teams in 1983; & 9 teams in 1984. Afterwards, there were only two teams still willing to play, but it was pointless.

[@alexandermantooth185]

​@@senseiadam-brawlstars9465And we are seeing the overspending finally taking effect in Europe. I'd expect every league in Europe to have a salary cap in the next 15 years. Unless we want to watch the same 5 teams dominate over and over again.

[@BigBoyDanny123]

Love the initial line up of the USA league and their Americanised names

[@niksutliff]

*Americanized

[@batraptor4]

The stroker a d whips

[@Cascade365]

0:13 That match cut is unreal. You’re quickly becoming one of my favourite channels

[@RouteNone]

Cheers! Hopefully there's more fun transitions with a little bit of silly football nonsense sprinkled in on the way

[@shomnke]

Love these videos, great channel!

[@RouteNone]

Much appreciated! Glad you're enjoying the content

[@drewekstrum2637]

St Louis is pronounced with a s at the end, Personal pet peeve aside, great video and as an American i am utterly unsurprised that the attempt to do soccer here didn't go well for the reasons provided. Seattle Pilots failed for similar reasons.

[@kleptrep94]

So Meet Me In St Louis is pronounced Meet Me In St Lewis? Well I never knew that.

[@MouseDrink]

Yep, it’s pronounced Lewis. American English is kind of dumb 😅😅

[@jong3754]

It isn’t dumb, just not derived from French

[@kleptrep94]

@@jong3754 And the difference is???

[@barmanitan]

I also went to correct this, but am now considering whether it's on purpose to get pedants to comment lol (or maybe I give him too much credit)

[@thehylianloach9473]

That piss-take at the end asking if a league that's existed for almost 30 years now will survive not withstanding, excellent work and research on this. Love hearing about the beautiful game in 'Murica

[@glassowaterful]

you never know honestly, to me MLS has never shaken its planted and too polished image. I mean have you ever seen vids of MLS soccer ultras? it’s tough to watch

[@alexdunker5344]

This was my first video of yours and I love your style! I just recently started paying attention to the beautiful game, and this history is great to learn!

[@colepetersonmusic]

US Soccer will finally be at full form when either the MLS and USL leagues merge and begin promotion/relegation or when the USL starts promotion relegation on its own. My city has a tier 3 USL team and I’ll hitch my wagon to that team more than the MLS team I grew up with.

[@redm91]

Unfortunately, MLS is both too scared of itself to make it happen, and the "Owners" of MLS teams have spent WAY too much money for the possibility of relegation in the future. MLS is soccer, Americanized, with franchising and a minor league/major league system over a pyramid.

[@dania201]

Sounds way too capitalistic-in the US, ironically sports are the only area we seem to assume needs to operate like a welfare state

[@SubmachineOP]

We do not need to be like the European leagues to be a full form league. We don't need pro/rel Any mls club would go straight back up and the usl team would almost certainly go down immediately. The funding difference is way too much and it can also cause a conference balance issue if too many west Coast teams go up or vice versa. It would cost so much and be unfair to investors that paid to join MLS. This is what makes our league unique, you don't see the other sports in America switch to pro/rel why should we? Why should we try to be similar to Europe when we can succeed being unique and refreshing twist on the sport. This is America not England I'm sorry, but promotion relehation wouldn't ever work for MLS and it doesnt need too either.

[@frontrowviews]

@@SubmachineOPthis is completely backwards. The funding difference is huge BECAUSE there is no pro/rel. If there was pro/rel the investment in football would be much more spread out over the entire country

[@bnb6868]

Will never happen cause US sports is built upon owners making money of the franchises they've created or bought. A relegation system would be counterproductive to that endeavour.

[@joelaraujo4642]

I knew nothing of this chapter in US soccer history until this video. Well done!

[@paulberry2884]

Nice history. As an Englishman who lived in the US for 25 years I studied the history of US association football and it's more storied than most people imagine. It also explains why MLS is the way it is and operating in the only way it would be successful. On gripe, you said at the end that women's soccer has had it's act together for decades.... that's only true at college and international level. The WPSL failed and the NWSL was only formed in 2011. 10 years ago NWSL mainly consisted of teams playing in suburban soccer parks in front of 3,000 people. Where its come since then is worth a whole video. Big downtown stadiums, an average attendance of 11,500 this season, a national TV contract and a team selling shares at a higher value than some Premier League clubs.

[@TommyBuskulic-u2k]

I'm relieved to see somebody who has a solid understanding of why MLS operates as it does today. There are too many people, outside & inside the United States who are ignorant about it. These certain fans demand that MLS should operate like foreign leagues, but still would never watch MLS games even if it didn't interfere with games of their favorite teams. Notice that the foreign teams that most American fans support are superclubs who have no realistic chance of being relegated.

[@samarpsp]

This is just genuinely my favorite channel right now. Incredible content, incredible topics, the pacing, graphics, everything. I'll be rooting for you you deserve so much more.

[@RouteNone]

Thanks for that! Glad you're enjoying the content, and appreciate the support!

[@AS90AS90____]

Been great watching your channel grow - the videos are really good, BROTHER! 💪

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

the mls has definitely done alot of positive work growing the league and the talent level i really think they would benefit from adding a relegation promotion system in the near future but it seems impossible with how things work with sports franchises in the usa

[@Somerandomblokefromreading]

Love the channel, keep up the work you're doing. You'll be blowing up soon enough with content like this.

[@RouteNone]

Really appreciate that! Thanks for watching

[@cfcluan]

You sir are incredible at what you do. Your delivery is hilarious and the depth of the research is as refreshing as it is informative. Keep up the amazing work.

[@RouteNone]

Really appreciate the kind words! Thanks for stopping by and watching

[@Trargent_08]

Another video, another short and entertaning football documentary Keep going

[@warrenmcgreevy4590]

well it seems like the popularity of the game world wide has grown exponentially (maybe due to more international players being transferred around the globe, the access being very easy due to services, KZbin, podcast, etc) and with so many people emigrating to different countries for personal or professional reasons a lot more nowadays and bringing their hobbies with them would definitely help grow the interest of a sport/hobby. I think this new MLS “hype” will plateau eventually when Messi retires in 2/3 years but there will inevitably be a lot of retention

[@SubmachineOP]

Yeah, We MLS fans can use it as an opportunity to attempt to hook as many of those Miami plastic messj fans as possible to try MLS with another club and perhaps support them and/or watch them frequently.

[@darkknight9991]

Awesome video. Glad to be recommended your channel :)

[@RouteNone]

And happy to have you on board! Thanks for watching

[@cam4top]

Another great video. Enjoyed following football in America from a distance for many years but my knowledge of history before NASL was very minimal so it’s great to know more. IT Crowd references too!

[@RouteNone]

Cheers! Glad you're enjoying the channel. I was researching another subject when I stumbled across the NPSL / USA - really is a fascinating story!

[@----xo2bm]

these videos are so high quality i love it man keep it up! youre gonna get big for sure

[@abdullahaanawaleh]

Great video. Love the way you look back on history and your humour. Keep it up!

[@offbrandurbanism]

Love your channel, another great video for the hot streak! Excited to see a video on the US and our wacky history with the sport. Can't wait for the Soccer Wars video and 100k subscriber celebration! If you end up doing a video on your thoughts on MLS, I hope you take an expansive view on it from an American's point of view. I'm jaded from the 100th Englishmen telling me the problem with MLS is pro/rel without digging deeper on either 1) Why we don't have it beyond just greed and 2) What that would look like. Also God I wish I was a 10th as good of a visual editor as you.

[@RouteNone]

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment! I would love to do a video on the MLS, but it'd have to be the right angle ... probably the formative years. Then again, as you say the last thing MLS needs is another opinion from a Brit. Anyway, thanks for watching!

[@ContextFootball_]

For me its not your editing, but your narration and clarity. Lot to learn from you. Great video, as always!

[@lazyboy300]

i always feel like american soccer leagues try to jump steps. while most soccer leagues across the world and even the 4 major american sports leagues started as semi-professional regional leagues, with teams slowly growing with each sport growth in popularity as family leisure and collegiate competitions. soccer leagues always tried to start as big business before developing roots and a culture around the game. baseball had it and easily survived the depression. the nfl slowly grown from the 20s to the 60s until reaching the superbowl era. and so on. in soccer, even the asl tried to go too fast, stealing players under contract from countries with more tradition on the sport and refusing to participate in the international structure of the sport that was already well established in europe and south america. first you need sunday league neighborhood teams and kids playing the game in school. then you need pro teams with local retail sponsors playing in small stadiums with cheap tickets for a while, with a growing culture of supporters going to games every weekend and listening on local radio and TV. then, when you make the jump to national TV, you already have a few generations of fans who grew up playing the game and going to stadiums with their dads to rely on. if you have all that, supporters will endure bad quality games and cheap stadiums. if you try to create nicknames and rivalries and chants and passion out of thin air from one day to the next, and it all feels as artificial as going to a medieval show at disneyland...

[@zimbase]

Truly the best footy content on youtube. Hope you get all the growth you deserve and more

[@nnekaichoku1743]

It annoys me so much when a British person calls it st. Loo-Ey when it's st. Loo-is, and as a local I would know

[@joeyjoejoe1394]

Now I want to hear him talk about Louisville

[@Luis.Alberto.Suárez]

That's what we English feel abt u guys all the time haha

[@ColchesterPT]

I love the I.T Crowd reference!

[@jmarch8]

One of the best football animation channels out there, keep it up bro! 💪

[@the1HLT]

Football animation? What do you mean? It’s a mini documentary, my guy

[@weilerharmon4824]

Really great video but disappointed in the portrayal of the NASL towards the end. The league ran pretty successfully for 10+ years and was a huge help in securing the United States’ bid to host the 1996 World Cup. From 1975 to 1980 a majority of games were broadcast on network TV. Also averaged over 10k in attendance from 1975 until it folded. 107 matches had over 40k fans in attendance.

[@RouteNone]

Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment! I think that's a very fair point; my final comments in hindsight are probably a bit too damning of the NASL, it had many positive moments. I'll hopefully get the chance to cover them in more detail down the line

[@RobMcDougall]

At first glance I thought you had put the green dot at 1:22 on Oneonta, NY - the former (and first) home of the US Soccer Hall of Fame; but it looks like your dot is more near Syracuse.

[@RainXbox]

Glentoran fan here. We as a club remember our time as the Detroit cougars fondly and every 10 years a reunion dinner would take place the most recent one being the 50th anniversary in 2017. We also travelled back over for a friendly with Detroit city with some of the original cougar's making the journey. Detroit was a very welcoming club and we have made new friends in them.

[@RouteNone]

Absolutely love that. Thank you for sharing!

[@alliedatheistalliance6776]

Detroit City is a nice club, and they have similar colours to my team Heart of Midlothian (PS went to a pre season friendly against the Glens, good times!)

[@RainXbox]

@@alliedatheistalliance6776 I was at that match too

[@ΌνομαΕπώνυμο-ο1τ]

They can't wrap their heads around the most popular game in the world but they whip out new ones just so they can be wOrLd ChAMpIoNs

[@oppenz3723]

Hope to see more of this. Your video has insane production quality and the content itself is very educational on top of being very interesting.

[@RouteNone]

Really appreciate that! Thanks for taking the time to watch and hopefully there's more that you'll enjoy down the way

[@sirstewartwallace3917]

The St. Louis team also had to compete with the Cardinals, who won the World Series that year.

[@streamJesuss]

“Buy me a coffee” the equivalent of a homeless man asking for cash

[@pannekeboem]

I love your videos mate, they're really class, might be a cool idea to do a similar video about the failures and successes of women's football in the US? Obviously the USWNT has been great for a while but they've had similar issues with domestic leagues starting and folding just like the men. Or another video about women's football in general, such an untapped market on youtube I feel

[@kukatahansa]

US still today lacks still a real league pyramid with promotion and relegation.

[@moodys9855]

The day these weirdos stop calling it soccer will be the day football has a chance in the US

[@CSLucasEpic]

2:45 reminds me of when the Colombian league did the same thing and a lot of European and South American players left their clubs to sign a contract with the Colombian teams, who ignored any previous contract the players had with their current teams.

[@sorrynotsorry8224]

I was about to make a comment about the NWSL but you beat me to it. That league is far more enjoyable to watch as well (and doesn't require two subscriptions).

[@jmal]

Fascinating moment in American soccer history. Well done!

[@moodys9855]

Americans: "Let's make a football league but let's call it something different, let's call it a word everyone hates. Oh and make all new rules, like completely different than they have in successful European leagues. Yeah nice, that should work!"

[@hsthatzo8063]

Americans: "But Briddish people invented the word dhude!" Brits: It hasn't been called soccer here since we actually had an empire Americans: **Brain malfunction**

[@wolfie-1812]

already becoming one of my fav youtube channel.. keep up the great work, love your videos!

[@RouteNone]

Very flattered by that! Glad you're enjoying the content and hopefully more on the way soon

[@jesuisunstroopwafel]

Didn't know it wasn’t just European teams dressed up as American ones. Wolverhampton as LA Wolves was cute.

[@TBustah]

You're right, not having local guys play is a bit of a turnoff. It looks like the USA at least tried to match some of the nationalities of the loaner teams to fairly appropriate cities (the Irish team in Boston, the Italian team in Chicago, an English team in British Columbia, etc.), but we're talking about the late 20th century (by which point the diaspora had been American/Canadian for generations), not when their ancestors were fresh off the boat at Ellis Island. The MLS tried something similar, adding a Chivas chapter to Los Angeles for a while. 🤣

[@BassManSTS]

Soccer also had a hand in the invention of basketball in 1894. Canadian-born American Dr James Naismith originally used a soccer ball and a pair of peach baskets to invent the sport at a YMCA in Springfield, MA.

[@warrior_365chess]

Hey route none, your channel is one of the best channels ive seen so far, if you want i can help voice a french channel!

[@horstborscht7401]

The 6-point for a win rule sounds insane. But I remember Franz Beckenbauer speaking very fondly of this in an interview in the 1990s (in the run-up to the 1994 World Cup, when the 3-point rule was introduced). I can see that it‘s encouraging more attack-minded football, but 6 was probably more of an attempt to attract a points-hungry American audience. I remember someone suggesting that you‘d have to abolish the offside law for a successful US league, as it prevents goals and 1-0 results are too boring for the average American TV viewers, who are used to the average amount of points made in basketball, American football and baseball. But you gotta admit that they sort of got it right this time, as the MLS is now running for almost 3 decades. And it‘s definitely more competitive as a „retirement haven“ than the Saudi league.

[@shabaanmarijani8447]

the 'Mega Powers' references between 13:58 and 14:18 are just *chef's kiss*... the cream will always rise to the top, brother OH! YyEeAah!

[@igrnge2883]

Absolutely in love this channel, reminds me of early UmaxIt

[@itsa11good23]

US soccer has had a very complicated history. And I know the MLS gets all the media buzz today, but I really think the best stuff happening in the US is happening in the USL. Yes the markets are smaller, but there’s a lot more homegrown talent in there. The games are affordable to go to and they’re much more exciting to be at. I think it’s much more community driven versus the very commercialized MLS. If that makes any sense. I should note I have some bias where a USL one team is moving to my home city. But I have been a fan of the MLS my entire life and I can say the USL haven’t gotten into it over the past. Few years is just a lot more exciting. Quality may not be as high as in Europe, but it’s still pretty fun to watch because again it feels more community than MLS.

[@itsa11good23]

Plus, there has been conversation of making the USL a promotion relegation league which I think is super cool and the MLS could never lol

[@paulberry2884]

I agree that USL is marketed at being community driven and there are a couple of teams like Detroit City and Oakland Roots that were founded by the community and teams like Sacramento and Louisville that were founded by businessmen with strong ties to the community. However, USL is a franchise league that is 100% owned by a real estate company, that takes $10 million from each new team (the rest goes into the the league) and a cut of revenue, as opposed to MLS where the league is owned by the clubs. Most of the expension bids in USL are tied into real estate deals or they're an attempt to get lucrative real estate deals "sell us that land and we'll bring a soccer team". Fresno moved to Monterrey after they didn't get the real estate they were after, San Diego were considering moving 40 miles north after failing to get the land around the ice rink downtown, until MLS gave them an excuse to fold, Rio Grande folded and the shenanigans in Indianapolis are all to do with a stadium tied into a real estate deal where the owner keeps asking the city for more tax dollars. So be careful what you ask for.

[@paulberry2884]

​@@itsa11good23promotion and relegation was taken off the agenda because the owners didn't even want to talk about it. That's how far it got.

[@VillaFanDan92]

This was really interesting, good job once again!

[@RouteNone]

Cheers! Thanks for taking the time to watch. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jngobngo]

MLS has isolated its supporters with nonsense prices and disrespecting the open cup. If they could sell fewer tickets for more I'm sure they would

[@packan2640]

This was a fantastic video, good job.

[@RouteNone]

Cheers! Thanks for watching

[@Nafiz13]

I love your content. feeling grate to be the first time subscriber

[@RouteNone]

Delighted to have you along for the ride! Thanks for watching and the support

[@Nafiz13]

@@RouteNone Thank you for your reply

[@ContextFootball_]

Until last year I disliked MLS because I thought it's a closed league and its difference from European club football . But after knowing the old system, I kinda appreciate MLS, at least it is actually promoting football in US and making their national team better

[@philipmcniel4908]

Yeah, and as you can see, the risk of _the entire league_ shutting down (which could drag down even a successful team like the New York Cosmos due to lack of a league to play in) was already enough, so an additional risk of relegation would've made team ownership a non-starter. For owners to be willing to risk owning an MLS club in the 1990s, they had to be guaranteed that their teams wouldn't be relegated to "minor leagues" (a term that in US sporting culture is associated with reserve leagues, since that's what non-top-flight leagues in e.g. baseball are). Even so, few wealthy individuals were willing to risk their fortunes on owning an MLS club, so early on, it was common for multiple MLS teams to be owned by the same owner. Before you cry "conflict of interest," recall that these owners were literally keeping the professional game afloat in the US, and were taking significant risks in order to do it.

[@TommyBuskulic-u2k]

​@@philipmcniel4908Philip Anschutz was especially critical in that respect. Lamar Hunt, the founder, was also important. So was Bob Kraft, but to a lesser extent.

[@Not_Sal]

U.S. Soccer has come a long way and still has a long way to go

[@TommyBuskulic-u2k]

​@@Not_Sal Exactly. However, some will take every opportunity to dump on MLS & U.S. Soccer, even if MLS & U.S. Soccer do exactly what these particular people have recommend. This is why I say that MLS in particular need to disregard those people. I have some criticisms of MLS, but they are constructive instead of pure bashing.

[@NegaRenGenX2gay2lift]

America has a better chance of implementing Pro/Rel now than in 1996 when MLS was first created. a majority of fans in the country want pro/rel but there needs intense restructuring to make it viable in a big country. i can only think of a Brazilian state league-like structure to make this work

[@andrewkunkel468]

Would love a soccer wars video - Its an event and period of time that has not been nearly covered enough

[@bryannacaldwellsoccer]

Thank you for the video!

[@timothytumusiime2903]

It's been proposed by many internet dudes that the US is too big for a league system so divide it into regions that play each other and the best, say 4 of each region would have a play offs like thing towards the end of the season What about say, Northeast region which would have New England and the Mid Atlantic down to Virginia. The South, self explanatory. The Midwest And the West I have no bloody clue how that would work in practice especially with the US' obsession with individual states. But the Russians manage it so....

[@philipmcniel4908]

What we have is kind of a hybrid system _within MLS_ that's similar to that: Teams play an unbalanced schedule, with more games against teams from their own region (Western vs. Eastern Conference in soccer, but usually a three- or four-part division in other American sports) than against teams from other regions. Then, the playoffs take the best teams from each division.

[@mainmansentertainment]

"But the Russians manage it so...." I was just about to say that. Most Russian Premier League teams play in the west of Russia. Every now and then, Vladivostok plays in the RPL. Every away game for them was 10 hours away! As much as I couldn't give a f** about American soccer, I think you have a good idea there, best I've heard so far.

[@NATAFOOTBALL135]

Great video as always, keep up the good work

[@mementoyshobby]

Am i the only one who gets the "Peter, not related to 'Cody' Rhodes" joke?? at 9:58 ??

[@ElPerroBigoton]

😁 I was thinking the same thing. Had to rewind it to make sure I heard that right.

[@ryansmith1044]

The women's game hasn't "got it together for decades" either. Sure the national team has been great but the tale of rising and failing leagues is similar. In the timeframe that MLS has existed in the men's game, two different women's leagues have been created and subsequently folded: WUSA and WPS. Luckily, the third attempt, the NWSL, seems to be succeeding, but we'll see how long that will continue, especially as another top-tier league (USL Super League) is attempting to establish a foothold, plus there are also reports that MLS may be attempting to start a women's league as well.

[@sharkiboi8167]

Can’t believe you only got 30k subs, like this is an absolute crime

[@musaabahmed3431]

certified banger! keep up the great work

[@RouteNone]

Thank you once again! Appreciate your continued support

[@tombarr949]

Association football, aka soccer, is the world's default sport. The US has the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL as its four major sports plus it has NCAA football, NCAA basketball. The MLS makes less revenue than all six of those sports showing soccer's appeal is just less than competing sports. Soccer starts with a huge advantage in youth sports due to its simple play and low equipment cost and it results in very large competition but US youth soccer players tend to move away from soccer when they hit high school. My daughter was on a national championship team at age 13 and while she was in high school she and her teammates had become volleyball, hurdling, lacrosse, pole vaulting, and cross country stars. A few teammates went on to play soccer in college and one went on to play for the national soccer team....of Mexico. If soccer has no competition which tends to exist in poor countries than it can do well. But if there is an existing sports culture with sports that adjust there rules to improve their game rather than drive their sport toward nil-nil matches with lots of obvious but uncalled simulation, than soccer won't do so well.

[@mussy9387]

Nice vid! Saint Louis is pronounced "Lewis" though :)

[@RouteNone]

Cheers! And my apologies to the fine people of St. Louis Missouri.

[@cmucodemonkey]

I feel like the big problem right now with the MLS is the lack of money in the system compared to other domestic sports leagues or their peers in Europe. As a result MLS roster construction is overly complex and sometimes results in the majority of a big star's salary not counting against a salary cap in the name of fair play.

[@mowvu]

the usa football lore is as cursed as the Caribbeans lol. having said that, the mls as a business is thriving but the best american players all play abroad. at teams where they're mostly squad and bit-part players. it helps young players come through in the mls. but it hurts the national team as their players are slow and rarely match fit. almost the opposite of England's issue with so many foreigners

[@eintrachtnyeaheh]

Could you maybe do a video on Canada right now? We got our new league a few years ago, and I would say we're gaining popularity.

[@ProbablySteven]

A funny footnote is that the NASL tried to re-launch in 2011 with the intention of being the top division in the USA and Canada again. They threw money at it, launched a number of teams, but only lasted about 7 years this time before ultimately losing their sanctioning from the USSF.

[@1stutterafter]

Really hope the USL starts pro/rel. would love to see UPSL/NPSL/USL2 clubs get a chance at funding small proper stadiums and promoting up the ladder one day.

[@ThePalerider12]

The MLS is here to stay, and it has done so simply because it took its time with the league's development. Though it went through hard times early on, it managed to stabilize its finances and not overextend til it was safe to move forward. It began to slowly integrate itself into American sports culture and build interest, and once able was able to expand, build new teams, and construct new proper soccer stadiums that helped create a better environment for fans.

[@TopicGaming50]

I love the little details :)

[@OneDayinDubai]

how’s this channel don’t have more subscribers ?!

[@OsmarMty]

The main problem is: it never got the chance to develop organically until recently with international live broadcast and the internet age

[@justboschma5047]

Effing hell as an Dutchmen I had no clue about the ADO Den Haag playing in America under an different name for an period lol

[@notasquiremario3299]

Route None posted, peak has returned!

[@klebersousa.]

What a effing amazing video!! Had no idea Bangu played in an american league lol

[@Ramtamtama]

4:29 you missed a trick with his name. Jack Kent Cooke, but his wife can. The MLS seems to be doing ok. It's getting on for 30 years old and still has expansion teams joining in the next few years. I think part of what helped is that clubs could only use a limited number of foreign players, following the J-League model. It meant that Americans got to see American players alongside some big names they may have seen or heard of from the World Cup 2 years prior.

[@RouteNone]

Absolutely kicking myself, it was right there!

[@tcteun]

Fun fact: If you pause the video on 4:06 it looks like japan

[@nkululekondhlovu4020]

One South African player went to the states in 1968, he came back and started what would be South Africa's most successful team in history, in terms of trophy count. Kaizer Chiefs.

[@quartzer4008]

Keep this quality and you will be rich in 2 years

[@socks2]

gotta mention it you remind me of tifo back when they first started albeit less serious and more relaxed which I like

[@RouteNone]

Tifo create some great work, so I am very flattered! Glad you're enjoying the content and hopefully more of the same coming soon

[@user-sw5wn8go3k]

The amount of typos on that USSFA supposed certification requirements document 😭

[@officialmcdeath]

They think it's all over, it isn't quite yet \m/

[@Dutchology]

Its good if football in countries grow, we always like to see that. But personally i wouldn't watch a league that has a system without relegation.

[@islandman7694]

These videos make my week