Why Isn't The MLS Rivalling Europe's Biggest Leagues Yet?

After a rough few years following its creation, Major League Soccer has gone from strength to strength over the last 20 years, now boasting 28 competitive teams / franchises, some star names, and plenty of packed out stadiums.
Nonetheless, America's top flight is still some way behind the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and others, leading some people to ponder why that is the case.
So in this video, HITC Sevens takes a deep dive into what is holding the MLS back, what can be done about it ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, and whether it is cause for concern.

[@J-K-A]

I might be in the minority here, but I don’t think the MLS needs to rival Europe. I just want it to stay healthy financially, and find a way to keep developing young players. As long as it stays viable to continue to operate and in a way that allows young players can develop their skills and, if possible, find a career then the MLS is everything I want it to be. I don’t want to see teams buying big names. I want to see kids from my hometown get a shot at a career.

[@sunrae3971]

Finances are part of the Game. If Clubs like Barcelona had their Super League closed shop like MLS, they would not struggle, money would be safe every year, and they would not be forced to sell players. But the Problem is not "financially healthy" but rather Greed and Entitlement. If you spend more than you earn, your can not demand afterwards others to stay out and robbed their money. Clubs should earn their spot in the League based on sporting success and not because its "god given".

[@ribbo1]

So much this, clubs serve the community they represent first, everything else is a multiplier of that solid base.

[@RynoZ]

I like what you said, but it comes with a cost. Your ideal suits the profitability of the MLS's own unique identity in North America. The playoff format sees more variety of teams winning championships which is a winning formula for American viewership. A growing resentment of bought championships and your like-demand for homegrown glory is the example of America's individualism where everyone has a chance to shine and be celebrated rather than the same stars or the same teams winning every tournament. We don't have such a long history in professional soccer where families hail their domestic team throughout generations. A growing number of our graduates travel the country and settle in multiple states which makes having a hometown allegiance more difficult to uphold. I live in Florida and support three MLS teams: *_Orlando City, Inter Miami, and Atlanta FC_* based on my travels through that region...and i'll cheer for all three teams equally as my peers would for other teams as well for their own reasons. Mainly, it's a sport for casual fans who love to see the sport represented here! Of course we have die-hard ultras and financial supporters for their one team, but they are the minority. I truly believe all of our best talents will not be seen domestically, at least not for long, until the demand for more competitive experience suits them well in North America.

[@prod.twnt2153]

so a shittier ligue 1?

[@jeffrey.a.hanson]

Amen. It’s right where it needs to be. In every other sport it’s the opposite. Only the elite athletes get to play in their own country. Second tier ‘hometown’ players have to go overseas to play other sports like basketball.

[@mikexstad1121]

I will tell you, in the past 10 years, the sport's popularity has gone through the roof. Most are younger. The popular of MLS varies a lot by market. Thankfully teams are moving post signing old former stars and towards signing the Almirons

[@davidmarwood775]

But Almiron is a championship level player at best.

[@ryanharris6850]

@@davidmarwood775 nah tbf almiron you can see has some ability about him, maybe England isn't the league for small tricky players who aren't elite but I reckon he could do well in any country outside England.

[@mikexstad1121]

Don't mean literally Almiron, but what he represents. A young player who can see himself improving in the league using it as a stepping stone. Those are the most exciting players. The washed up European guys don't dominate like you think they would. Everyone talks about the ones who do, nobody talks about the more numerous flops

[@yetekt8025]

And developing our own players like Gabriel Slonina, Ricardo Pepi, or Efrain Alvarez

[@_12346.]

It’s kind of funny I think Almiron would do well in Bundesliga and Pepi would do well in England (albeit the Championship for now as he doesn’t look ready for the PL) but they ended up going to the opposite leagues (Pepi struggling early at Augsburg, Almiron never really settled at Newcastle)

[@Nephewblue509]

As a fan of one of the more prominent MLS clubs (Seattle Sounders), I find it difficult to catch a game broadcast on TV and streaming services. I can only imagine how much difficulty it must cause for fans from smaller, less marketed Clubs.

[@anarwally]

I live in Ohio and root for the Crew. They rarely show the games on local TV and they are blacked out on ESPN+. It's very frustrating. How are you supposed to grow the sport and support for your local team when people can't watch the matches?

[@anthony7960]

That sucks man. Luckily as a Charlotte fan, locals get every game streamed free on the app and they’re almost always on local TV.

[@bridgetk944]

@@anthony7960 yeah, the streaming option is great for charlotte, i was able to watch our away game vs new england without issue, but that's not going to grow the game for people who might casually tune in on tv. idk what it was like for the local charlotte channels as i split my time between charlotte and columbia and was in columbia for that game. i saw the post from charlotte fc's twitter on how to watch that game and it said it would be on my local fox channel, which it was not. like i said, the stream was great, but if the goal is to grow the game, you need to get more people interested and to do that you have to be easily accessible, ESPECIALLY in your market area. for casual fans or people just looking for something to watch, if its not on tv, they're not going to go out of their way to look up a stream of it.

[@isaachenry5692]

@@anarwally Put a VPN on your laptop and you'll be able to get around the blackouts.

[@anarwally]

@@isaachenry5692 I'm sure I can do that. The point is that if they want to grow the MLS I shouldn't have to.

[@jjmaczilla]

i remember when beckham came to the us when I was a kid. it was like a alien had visited us from outerspace. my mom drove me all the way out to see him play and its a core memory to this day. he scored two goals

[@DoctorCJDM]

As an American and an MLS fan, I think this video is 100% spot on. I think one of the biggest things MLS has going against it currently is just how new it is for many teams. In contrast to the rest of the league, here in the Pacific Northwest, the Portland Timbers (of whom I am a supporter) The Seattle Sounders, and Vancouver Whitecaps have been battling each other across various leagues for almost 50 years now. These rivalries are ingrained in Cascadian soccer for generations at this point. So long as the MLS continues it’s sustained growth, the rest of the league will eventually obtain the same generational passion for the sport as it is here in Cascadia. MLS is in a good place and I’m excited to see it continue to grow. One additional point I would make is that this year, there’s a good chance we’ll see an MLS team finally win the CCL and putting a team on the world stage. This can help build the sport here as well.

[@904hattrick8]

Cascadia dominance is so good in the Western Conference, that only the Timbers and the Sounders have won the Western Conference final since 2015

[@alternatehistorysports]

Fuck the Timbers, go LAFC, just to get that out of the way :D but yeah that's true. I think the MLS will inevitably be the biggest/ best league in the World within 20, maybe even ten years. The reason is pretty simple, money. The reason the EPL is currently the best league in the World (according to most) isn't because England naturally produces the best players, or they might have a World cup in the last 50 years, but rather because of the money involved. There's so much money in the US they will eventually be able to buy the best players. They're building up to it the right way though, carefully and responsibly, rather than just gambling everything to buy big stars. Just keep doing it the right way, focus on the youth and the fans, and the community. To me the MLS as a whole earned my respect with Save the Crew, that showed it wasn't just another sports franchise but was building something bigger and historical. Respect to the MLS, yeah even the Timbers :P

[@franohmsford7548]

Seattle, Vancouver and Portland are much closer together than most MLS franchises and even then it's 315 miles from Vancouver to Portland. Charlotte's closest rival is Atlanta 247 miles away and the next closest DC 400 miles away. Minnesota's closest rival is Chicago 407 miles away. Montreal's closest rival is Boston 308 miles away with Toronto their second closest rival 337 miles away. Salt Lake City is 534 miles from Denver, over 750 miles from San Jose or Portland and 1000+ miles from Kansas City.

[@a-walgames1350]

@@alternatehistorysports You think the mls could overtake the premier league, in ten years? LMFAO!🤣

[@sdot5389]

Cascadia forever! Much love to our brothers and sisters in Portland and Seattle from up here in Vancouver. We’re waiting for our owners to get it together. Love the rivalry.

[@seandelap6268]

Its worth mentioning that football is often referred to as soccer here in Ireland because we have our own form of football and thats Gaelic football and so the word soccer is often used to distinguish from it from Gaelic football which is primarily called football by GAA fans.

[@3dsaulgoodman43]

I've also heard that the east of the country, for example Dublin calls it football while the west, like Galway calls it soccer. Is that true?

[@seandelap6268]

@@3dsaulgoodman43 basically yes outside the bigger urban areas where GAA is a way of life soccer would tend to be the word used most frequently to describe the sport.

[@bleedingpepper]

Historically, the term "football" goes back hundreds of years ago in the UK in the 1400s and used to be a very general term for any sport played on foot - as opposed to sports played on horseback. If I remember correctly, the term soccer was actually first used in the UK in the early 1900s as a way of differentiating it from other "football" sports like rugby, but later the term "football" became popular and replaced "soccer".

[@bleedingpepper]

@Chaos this is factually incorrect. The word "soccer" originated on England, as I always explained.

[@maverickhunter24]

Yes! Please tell the English that and that Australia and Canada have their own "footballs as well. I find it so fucking stupid that English folks FORGET they gave us the word "soccer"

[@glory2christcmj702]

I think that the sport is becoming more popular here in the United States. I do not think that the MLS has to try and match, replicate, or compete with Europe's top leagues to gain popularity, but I feel that if the league grows its own way and develops its own culture and identity, it could certainly develop an intimacy for the sport here in the US.

[@StrongKickMan]

The MLS might wanna copy some things. Otherwise you might still use that goofy penalty system xD

[@seththomas6350]

It’s been absolutely amazing to watch the transformation of soccer/football in the American market over the last 15-20 years. The next 15-20 should be equally as interesting.

[@me56ize]

2026 will be explosive for football in the us

[@orlandomartinez4085]

@@me56ize i think we started early with Inter Miami signing Messi, but I agree none of it will comprare when the World Cup gets here. And also let’s not forget copa American is coming next year too. It’s gonna be interesting to say the least

[@nicholasbondurant]

Well.... until we have inner city reaching out in America it will never be anything but what it is. Maybe getting a soccer ball into young Lebron's hands over a basketball would be beneficial to the MLS?

[@nicholasbondurant]

We had the World Cup before.... and we have gotten worse each World Cup since 1994. Shocker when a sport only tried to reach out to white suburbs and not inner cities..... no wonder we have second rate talent.... all our athletes are doing other shit because those sports actually get involved in their lives at an early age. @@orlandomartinez4085

[@andyknowsball]

An emerging problem that may become more apparent soon is the idea of ownership groups taking players from their MLS teams for their European teams. Especially as a Red Bulls fan myself, we have seen a good amount of our emerging talent, such as Tyler Adams and Caden Clark, get shipped over to Leipzig when it wouldn’t make much sense for the team to do so. As more large owners who want a piece of the MLS pie come in bringing their overseas ties with them, this may create a feeder status of some teams in the league which would definitely hinder the growth of the league overall.

[@23_CM]

The MLS being a feeder league to Europe isn’t necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. If you do it right, it’s a sustainable model. I’ve said before that MLS teams should continue to focus on investing in young Americans as well as young CONCACAF and South American talent to sell at a profit. However, I’m not a fan of an MLS team like you, so my perspective may be different. I’m not seeing my young local talent being sold early like you may be.

[@jczura5602]

the league might not benefit from the young talent going to play in Europe ,but the US national team will

[@GoTPLATANOS]

@@23_CM that is what the MLS should do it. Feeder league sounds terrible, so I'll say that they should sell their best talent for big money. This in turn allows them to play the best week in and out to make the National Team better...

[@valpix7007]

@@23_CM It's less the feeder league idea and more the feeling of being a minor league team. A team like Dallas for example can sell to anyone, but RBNY tends to be used to shuffle players to Salzburg/Leipzig, same with Montreal with Bologna.

[@Not_Sal]

@@jczura5602 any benefit for the usmnt by default is good for MLS

[@dylanwolf]

I think another issue is that European clubs have been traditionally a huge presence in their local communities. The grounds (pre-the new build stadia) were tucked away in working class residential areas and supporting the local team by going to the match a well-established ritual even for the lower income citizens. Travel to away matches for fans is also a big feature of European club football, where opponents are often based within two hours of terrestrial travel. In America the huge distances between cities means that local derby vibe doesn't exist - thousands of fans are not going to travel 1,000 miles from Los Angeles to Denver to watch a football match. Difficult then for American clubs to generate that obsessive and dedicated support for the team that is commonly found in Europe.

[@CardsTricks42]

​@Rest in peace bro For a Tournament game. Not a random league game.

[@proudofyourroots9575]

Split the regions. Or by state.

[@r2dad282]

Garber's model is NFL, which doesn't have derbies. But derbies are what can save the sport in this country. So far there is Florida, New York, LA & PNW. SF Bay Area is a missed opportunity because the Teflon Don wants $500M as an entry fee to MLS. Greed is stifling growth, so American investors go to Europe to buy much cheaper teams. Well done, Garber.

[@nathanellis622]

Personally, as a MLS fan, MLS needs to simplify its roster rules. Keep the DP rule and make the salary cap $20 million for now. That allows teams a lot more flexibility in terms of spending while allowing the bigger teams to spend a bit more. Also, this upcoming TV Deal needs to be good. 150-300 million would be great tbh and they need to work with the Hispanic networks more as well. The fixes are doable. The game is growing and we will see another new team in St. Louis City join next year! But teams need simpler roster building rules and the league needs a better TV deal. Those 2 things would go a long way with getting MLS specifically, to grow even more than it has been!

[@tobiogunsina8426]

20 mill is a lot. Probably safer around 8- 10 since it’s 4 right now

[@violinfanatickamraz1403]

To be honest I'd rather watch MLS over USFL, NFL and NBA. I'd watch baseball but hockey, baseball and soccer are all on cable and I'm not paying over a 100 just to watch them.

[@jacoblau3795]

You dont need more teams in the same league. It doesn't make it interesting. You need a relegation/promotion system and abolish the playoff system.

[@mmonkeyman1403]

@@jacoblau3795 As if relegation would do ANYTHING to help the MLS. The American tier system is not the same as the other countries and it doesn't have to be.

[@jacoblau3795]

@mmonkeyman1403 oh it does. Relegation makes things interesting at the bottom as well and it makes teams not to give up. It definitely does make the whole league more interesting when teams are fighting for their lives. That's why leagues that do not have a promotion relegation system does not have global recognition. At least from a big country. It also allows other teams from the lower tiers have a shot at the top tier.

[@randallbestrcb]

It'll be really interesting to see how MLS does over the next 2 to 4 years, now that Apple has pumped something like $10bil into broadcast rights for the next decade. Really hope you'll do a follow up on this. And you're definitely right, we're more team based than league based; I'm definitely a Seattle Sounders >>> MLS kind of fan.

[@Golfnut_2099]

Apple+ drove the wedge between me and MLS. It was tapped in by the shit refs last season. (Match fixing!!!)

[@marvinsulzer8258]

$2.5 billion

[@Trillaxey]

The apple deal is definitely killing it rn

[@JaviFuego93]

Even though removing the salary cap would benefit my team(LA Galaxy) I still think it would be a bad idea. The fact that smaller markets like Portland, Kansas City, Columbus and RSL can complete with NY and LA is great can keeps things competitive. League revenue is the most important thing to increase the salary cap and make signs at the salary of Insigne possible.

[@Porkcylinder]

Salary cap? That’s not very free market economy ,sounds more like communism.

[@venetoxyt8332]

@@Porkcylinder Its still a more competitive system than the European leagues.

[@lobachevscki]

Yeah, i agree.

[@jamonnaranjo]

Communism

[@isaachenry5692]

I'm also an LA Galaxy fan and I agree with you. I can't imagine having the misfortune of being born in Norwich instead of London, Manchester, or Liverpool and having nothing more to aspire to than working for/against promotion/relegation and seeing how deep we could get in the FA cup with no real chance of ever lifting the trophy. There's a reason Chelsea fans chant: "You'll never sing that, you'll never sing that, champions of Europe, you'll never sing that," vs lower level Premier League teams: Because they'll never sing that. And it's because there's no salary cap - they'll never compete. Americans won't find interest in a league that only has 5 teams that win all trophies.

[@justinwear1591]

Was at that Charlotte FC game and am glad you shouted us out. It was cool to see the sport of soccer grow in the country and in my home state of North Carolina. I think another reason why the MLS is being held back is because of how different it s from every other league. Our manager and sporting director have already shown their frustrations in the rules for tranfers and our transfer window was abysmal.

[@matttyce903]

I think also the playoff model in competitions is holding it back too

[@dirheist]

It's football

[@dixienormous4157]

As an American getting into futbol, it’s much easier to watch PL games than MLS games. I live in the Bay Area but even the local NBC stations don’t play earthquake games. But they do play Leeds United games, so as a 49er fan I’ve adopted them as my team. It’s just easier to find the games on TV to be put simply

[@ryanz486]

Overall when factoring in other leagues for competition, the fact that MLS clubs can pull in anywhere from 12-40,000 regularly when not having the world's best players...is pretty good. NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA are the obvious"big boys". But here in Canada you also have CFL, junior hockey. In the USA you have things like NASCAR and college sports drawing in massive crowds. I live in Southern Ontario (about 90ish minutes from Toronto) and I see far more people wearing shirts or hats from clubs in England, Spain or Italy than I do TFC. Still a massive European population here, parents or grandparents that moved to Canada and kids raised on their parents clubs. Also do to the ridiculous cost of youth hockey, youth football (soccer) has as far as I know, always been number one in Canada. Back when I was in school in the 90s, only one friend played hockey, the rest all played football.

[@marvinsulzer8258]

If you live in downtown Toronto, TFC gear is very prominent. It's basically become the downtown Toronto team. Some supporters literally buy homes based on proximity to stadium....lol

[@Pantalaimon91]

I find a lot of people that call for a huge pyramid in the US don't recognize a couple fundamental problems with its implementation here. 1) The country is genuinely massive. Travel costs get ridiculous fairly quick. You would need to divisionalize the sport rapidly as every single on of our professional leagues already does. This would make the pyramid system a mess and/or make the development of stable rivalries challenging depending on promoted and relegates teams. 2) The interest in a small local professional team would never override the local high school or college team. There is a genuine love affair with high school and college sport in this country and they will bankrupt most lower league systems overnight. There would never be any competition, because even if there was the same level of soccer fervor here that exists in other countries, the lower league teams would get destroyed by the college and high school system. The NCAA (the National Collegiate Athletics Association for my foreign friends) is one of the most powerful organizations in this entire country and has made the NBA and NFL bend to it before with college requirements before draft. A pyramid is genuinely unrealistic in my opinion no matter how much I would love to see it happen, there's just too much standing in its way here, not even mentioning the franchise system.

[@MrBlazemaster525]

Point 2 can easily be remedied by establishing links between the local clubs and the high school sport communities

[@OlieWoli]

Point 1 can easily be solved by splitting it up into regions the further down you do, like in England tier 5 is split north south, wheereas for example in the US you could have tier 1 be east west as it is already, then tier 2 split those north south etc etc until tier say 5 is state wide only and tier 8/9 is only city wide like in england, so getting wider the further you go donw the tiers, a bit like a pyramid you could say

[@lewisblackwiththenicehair]

Would there not be a way to include those college teams in the league structure? There are a few universities in the UK with teams (all in non-league admittedly) but they could reasonably play in the Premier League if they were good enough, and given how good some of the college teams usually are in the US that seems like it probably would happen. Also I imagine it'd help develop younger players in the college system by getting them ready for competitive top level football ahead of time, I do think the current college soccer system let's players down a little bit there, while Mbappe was making his debut at 16 most US players have at least a couple years of college ahead still at that point, hence most the best talents end up moving to Europe (i.e Pulisic and Reyna)

[@MrBlazemaster525]

@@lewisblackwiththenicehair Not with the US NCAA around - they block any compensation for student-athletes playing, and used to not give ANYTHING to student-athletes until the O'Bannon NIL case was ruled on and allowed athlete NIL rights to be sold Also weren't Team Bath forced to disband in the mid-2000s because the FA(or the Conference, can't recall) wouldn't allow them promotion past Conference South because of their student-athlete model?

[@Pantalaimon91]

@@lewisblackwiththenicehair The NCAA would never allow that. They have worked to keep a strangle hold on the college system and rake in immense profits doing so. They wouldn't allow a school to have their team leave the system in any sport, whether it's one they "care about" currently or not. The US teams have academies, they're just smaller and newer than European ones. Most kids in the US currently enroll in "club teams," which are teams that play in private leagues with membership fees if they think they will be good enough to play professionally. If you can't afford membership now you can join an academy (hopefully they kill the club teams), but you have to get in. Otherwise, you go through the high school and college system. They still produce good players but yeah, we get a large percentage of talent leaving because of the system.

[@callmedavid9696]

The lack of relegation and importance of european spots means even if there is more variety in who wins leagues there is zero reason to even play for teams with no chance to win the league. It's all focused on winning.

[@DequanClarke]

This model isn’t the be all end all, especially for a young league that is only finally finding its footing now after the debacle that was NASL. Comparing this league to those in other countries that have 100 + years of functioning doesn’t make sense.

[@colehutchinson5963]

@@DequanClarke yes it does. The half of the league that has nothing to play for draws less interest to begin with and therefore less money. You see the massive success that promotion relegation has over the entire world and I see no reason why we shouldn’t adopt it here. It gives everyone a reason to play for something and for fans to show up

[@xpotatohamster7051]

@@colehutchinson5963 from what I've seen in the other major us leagues, fans do find a reason to support their mid tier team, such as making the playoffs,getting somewhere further than the last year, or the rebuilding process the nba has a new play in thing which is probably the closest to a relegation type thing we have a hybrid of pro/rel and what we have here might be the solution, but I think we should just focus on expanding the sport, assimilating it into american culture, and improving hs/college/academies (maybe the ncaa taps into soccers money potential in the future)

[@jackjude]

European spots arent neccessary. PL would do fine without it. The Premier League rose up without any real focus on Europe. Clubs which are not in the CL attract very good players. Relegation however is key,

[@carltonharvey]

​@@colehutchinson5963 dude, America has the most popular basketball, football (the not soccer sport), hockey and baseball leagues in the world. None of which have pro/rel and none of which would benefit from pro/rel MLS has roughly the same amount of teams playing for postseason spots as your average European league. Right now MLS has 28 teams with 14 playoff spots (50%) (bloated but that's the way it is) EPL has 6 European Champs League/Europa League spots and then you include the 3 relegation spots and that makes for 9 slots in a 20 team league (45%). So essentially MLS has a higher percentage of spots to play for in comparison to the EPL Also, I've watched the Championship division below the EPL and attendance suffers massively when teams receive the drop even in a country where soccer is the sole passion. What do you think would happen to the attendance and passion for teams in a country like America where you have massively more sporting/league competitive interests (MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, College Football, College BBall)? Everyone always focuses on the top portion of the pyramid and never think about how teams on the bottom half would suffer big time to generate any sort of support or interests whatsoever in a competitive sports market

[@gutika113]

Channels like yours covering the MLS has a bigger effect on the leagues growth than you probably think. Love your channel - please consider doing more MLS/USMNT content, even if it’s smaller production stuff that’s easier for you to research and less comprehensive than league spanning ones like this. Cheers brotha 🍻

[@HUNTtheTRUTH1]

MLS needs to be expanded. Think of it like this: 40 teams. 20 in each conference. There’s a regular season just like those in Europe. Team at the top of the table of each conference gets their league title(supporters shield). Winners of each conference face eachother in an MLS Supercup. Top 8 teams of each conference advance to the MLS Cup which starts with a Round of 16. DONT PAY ME JUST DO IT!

[@HUNTtheTRUTH1]

Also the MLS Supercup could basically be branded like the super bowl of Soccer in America :)

[@rantreact6678]

Just make the half time performance shorter than the NFL or else the players momentum and adrenaline will collapse. And that will affect the flow of the second half

[@anggasurbakti8269]

no relegation?

[@RonnyWelles]

That won't change anything 🤷

[@shawngillogly6873]

I think this will happen eventually. I think it would work with 32 or 36 teams even. Since MLS executives are clinically incapable of accepting a balanced schedule for the entire league, this allows the benefits of one. It also adds an element of mystery about the relative strength of the "leagues." Like baseball had in the days before interleague play. To be able to debate that during the season, and see the question "answered" in the playoffs, would add narrative the league needs.

[@collin8915]

Love the video Alfie, and appreciate that you're one of the few European channels that will cover the MLS and more broadly soccer in North America without any condescension. On an unrelated note in Regard to the Video Darryl Dike's name is actually just pronounced like the letters D K, learned that when he played at the same club as my younger brother. Thanks for always putting out great content so consistently, it is appreciated worldwide.

[@Denzera]

yes, Daryl DEE-kay is one that Brits seem to get wrong quite often; another was "Tuck-son Arizona" (it's TOO-sahn). But minor quibbles they are, because lord knows we'd get plenty wrong in the other direction, even just about people and places in England.

[@kem1233]

That globally people see mls as retirement league and their fans are british wanaabees

[@ConorCC]

Fùtbal*

[@kem1233]

@Channel Name canadians do suck up to americans as gods. Mls is retirement league. What fans? Americans dont even watch futbol. Most viewed league is mexican league. That says alot

[@simonbutterfield4860]

@@Denzera Well Tuscon is French in origin and Americans can't pronounce Orleans correctly either (laughs).

[@yusufkassim8236]

Hey Alfie, I just thought of a cracking idea for a video you could do on the turbulent recent history of Goztepe in the Super Lig. They’re one of the Super Lig’s most well supported clubs (a bit like a Newcastle United, Sunderland or Strasbourg if you may). In the 2001/02 season, they finished seventh in the top flight, however from 2002 to 2008, they were relegated five times in six seasons, due to their inability to reduce their outstanding debt which resulted in the football club being banned from signing new players during that time. In August of 2007, a business based in Istanbul, vowed to take them back to the top flight making them one of the top five clubs in the country, but they were met with lots of suspicions from the fan base, and then they handed over the ownership to another bloke called Mehmet Sepil in 2014. Anyway, they’re back in the Super Lig as a solid mid table/weaker top half team. Why am I bringing all this up? Because apparently Abramovich is looking to possibly buy the club himself, after being sanctioned from the UK. It’s a crazy crazy story and may you could look into this, not to mention, they are not only a rare example of a club that is considered a neighbourhood club, as well as the fact that they’ve played in 3 different stadiums since 2011, but also in 1969, they became the first Turkish football team to play a semi-final of a European competition.

[@21hazza]

Could you please do a video about what is going in Bordeaux ? 6th largest city in France yet, bottom of Ligue 1 and suffered a humiliating 2-0 home defeat at home to Troyes at the weekend. I've read a bit into and basically they have American owners who have stopped investing.

[@exotiiique3231]

Bordeaux, Toulouse, St Étienne.. A few big French clubs have been in trouble for the past few years. Unlike Nantes who can co back to Europe and have a Cup final in May like it's the 90's again

[@Dave01611]

american billionaires are genuinely the scourge of football, and the world in general tbf

[@mastertrams]

@@exotiiique3231 St Etienne have been on a bit of a revival the past couple of weeks. At least, on the pitch they have. They are no longer in the relegation zone for example.

[@mastertrams]

@@exotiiique3231 Ummm... Nantes had to win the relegation playoff last year, and boy was it nerve-racking to watch. We even took the ball to the corner flag in the 70th minute... But yeah, our revival this season under Kombouare has been magnificent to watch. Though I wouldn't go comparing it to the 90s just yet. For that to happen, we have to overcome PSG first.

[@lukashradecky5492]

@@Dave01611 Billionares are in general tbf since they’re either killing the competition or the club

[@DrewPflaumer]

This is a great video. I do think one point worth mentioning is history. Not in the sense that history for the sake of history is important but rather in the sense that most European teams were "born" at a time when professionalization was new (or still to come) and thus were cheap to run, accessible, and a genuine part of the community as the teams contained almost exclusively locals. Many more popular American sports teams started the same way, growing alongside their communities and the nation as a whole. It's relatively intangible but gives a sense of connection that I think is lacking in the US. Oh, and as an MLS fan living in Boston, it would be great if our stadium weren't 30 miles from Boston with no transit connection for MLS matches.

[@pjkerrigan20]

The thing is I don’t see the Krafts moving the Revs out of Foxborough anytime soon. I think Boston would almost just be better off with their own team, except that New England probably doesn’t yet have the fanbase necessary to host two teams. A lot of New England’s new USL teams are looking quite promising tho. I’m originally from central Connecticut, so Hartford Athletic has been a project I’ve followed closely, but additionally Pawtucket and Burlington are getting USL teams that look primed for success. I think Portland, Maine could probably sustain a USL team as well. I’ve spent several years living in the glorious city of Worcester (better than Boston don’t even @ me) so I’ve had similar annoyances with the Revs being in Foxborough. If I wanna see the Celtics, I can just take the train in from Woo and it’s quite easy, but there’s obviously no option for that to get to Gillette. If I wanna see pro baseball I don’t even have to leave Worcester lol. I think the USL is what’s going to grow the game the most in our region, since most of our cities aren’t MLS-sized markets. In that vein, I think Worcester is absolutely perfect for a minor league soccer team, and other cities like Springfield, New Haven, and Portsmouth/Lowell could likely sustain minor league teams as well.

[@DrewPflaumer]

@@pjkerrigan20 Oh man do I hear you on all of this. I actually spent 5 years in Providence before this move so I am familiar with the hassle from both directions! I did really enjoy watching the Revs play an open cup match at PC while I was living there, which was super cool though! (Full disclosure, I've also been to Gillette a number of times but ditched cars when I moved up here so... It's been a few years. Just in time for them to be worth watching.)

[@asnark7115]

Dallas made that same massive stadium location mistake early on as well. I remember as far back as 1994, the USSF and MLS actually built its earliest marketing strategies and tv ads around soccer moms. I remember thinking then that a bunch of commercials and live commentary aimed at kiddies and mommies was about as likely to succeed as turd in a punchbowl. When I moved to Houston and we got a team- which I worked for- there weren't many people in the stadium lower level seating aside from 20-40 year olds going nuts by the thousands by halftime. Things got really crazy. Nobody was sitting down after the opening goal or shots, so the 'burban units had to slide up higher if there was room.

[@pjkerrigan20]

@@asnark7115 true, but I’d say New England’s situation is a little different than FC Dallas playing in Frisco or the Fire playing (up until recently) in Bridgeview IL. I think those suburban stadiums are definitely mistakes, don’t get me wrong, but Foxborough is a little different. Foxborough isn’t really a suburb of anything, it’s just kinda an hour away from Boston, Worcester, and Hartford and about a half hour away from Providence. Kinda in the middle of nowhere. The intention was to get as many new englanders as possible to be equidistant to it, and that definitely works for NFL, but obviously I think we’d agree it doesn’t work for MLS. Not a suburban stadium, but it definitely has some of the same disadvantages.

[@user-vt2rl9sp3c]

@@asnark7115 brother England’s clubs go as far back as the 1800s

[@kylefinfrock5411]

I am an Fc Cincinnati fan in the MLS. If there was promotion and relegation (which I'm not against) in the MLS we would have been relegated 3 times now. But I feel like our club is very unique they started the club from scratch in 2015 and were put in the 2nd division the USL. And the FANS made the club so special, our attendance for matches in the USL is how the club attracted the attention from Don Garber and the MLS. If it weren't for the fans, FC Cincinnati wouldn't be in the MLS, and Cincinnati wouldn't be hosting World Cup qualifiers against our biggest rival Mexico. Although we as a club haven't seen success in the MLS yet, I think the short history of the club is truly special and very unique compared to any other club across the globe. The FANS took this club to the top flight and that is something to be proud of.

[@Good100]

To be fair, Cincinnati is no stranger to supporting bad football teams, lol. I kid. The Bengals did win the AFC last year, after all.

[@Norien711]

I ended up on this video randomly a bit late, but as a revs fan I figured I’d congratulate you on your team’s incredible season this year! Truly historical!

[@terryfox9344]

Very informative and fair. As a season ticket holder of a USL-Championship team and a NWSL team, I am shocked at the lack of news coverage by US soccer publications that promote European football. Also, there are fantasy soccer leagues in America, but only Premier League games, not MLS games.

[@foozballguy]

It's pronounced Too-sawn. Also, there needs to be more done to unite the NCAA collegiate level with the pro league so we can be excited about young players and brew some homegrown stars for people to follow

[@brandoncapone4345]

As soon as I heard the pronunciation of Tucson I rushed to the comments to see if anyone called it out

[@timbrechopper]

@@brandoncapone4345 haha same

[@bridgetk944]

I totally agree, but it seems they're trying to have the best of both worlds with upcoming youth since most clubs have an academy, but there's still a draft. idk, its kind of too much to keep up with and i don't think keeping both is the best way to develop youth and generate excitement about young players.

[@davidday2373]

Its TOO-sawn... not TUCK-son Its MLS... not The MLS

[@Leonhavenify]

It's pronounced football, not soccer.

[@DavidsSkillsandStuff]

I gotta say that when Giovinco was here in Toronto it was probably the most popular the MLS had been here in Canada. Was at both Finals in Toronto. The one in 2017 was probably the closest I'd ever get to experiencing what a ucl final would be like

[@SirSayakaMikiThe3rd]

Now with Apple TV and Messi, the leagues prospects have never looked brighter imo. Of course, the news that Suarez is joing Barca FC in Miami is amazing.

[@Trillaxey]

No Apple TV was a horrible deal

[@genericuser6023]

I live in MN. 8-10 yrs ago we had nothing, now we have a beautiful modern stadium packed to watch a competitive team. That’s big time growth. Super accessible high-level soccer. And every week some kid from MN signs for either an academy somewhere or an actual MLS club. MLS is just right for the amount of enthusiasm for soccer in America. Lovely.

[@_deaconstar003_9]

I was at the Charlotte FC game last Saturday. We had a better crowd than for the Panthers (NFL) games, and that’s really saying something. People are excited about soccer over here.

[@Orinap]

@Josh Cahill ur part of the problem my guy. I'm not even american but british chauvinism is so fucking annoying to read. NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU CALL IT. And besides that, soccer is a term created by the british to separate "aSSOCiation football" and football (now rugby).

[@samuelschmitt853]

Doesn’t soccer mean football association?

[@whosaidthat84]

How has the crowd been since? What was the ticket cost?

[@turnupthesun81]

I hope it lasts but let’s see how it looks when the shine wears off.

[@bridgetk944]

@@whosaidthat84 i was at the charlotte fc game on april 10 (i was also at the home opener), and the crowd was great! they don't open the upper bowl for the mls games here except for the home opener and they might open it during select games later in the season if there are big enough games that they think they can sell more tickets for, i'm assuming like if we make it to the playoffs. anyways, for the april 10 game, the attendance was 32,496, with the lower bowl being about 90% full. as for ticket prices, it obviously depends on the game, if its a resale, and where you like to sit. not including resales, because those can go for pretty much any price, behind the goals can cost between $30-$60, first tier on sidelines can be $75-140, supporter's section behind one of the goals is about $75, and second tier on sidelines (aka "club level") are $140. these prices don't include taxes or fees, but depending on where you want to sit and how much extra money you have to spend, it can be pretty affordable. much, much cheaper than nfl games here though!

[@GeliCarlosJ]

Most of Europe's favorite sport/past time is football and it's not even close against other sports. In the US it's still the 4th behind basketball, american football, baseball and none of those sports have the same huge gap against the others. I really feel that's the main thing causing the ceiling for the MLS.

[@DequanClarke]

Thank you! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@Dave-Shearer]

Is it 4th? Ice Hockey is very popular in some regions. Nascar is talking about an attendance crisis with "only"110,000 fans showing up. One could argue even mma beats football in some metrics.

[@MiklosHajma]

@@Dave-Shearer I think he means that people are spending their time playing these games as their past time, not only watching it. Which is realistic, as it's harder to play a hockey game properly with your friends, let alone a nice Nascar race :)

[@rwalker0130]

I agree, thinking how crazy it would be if guys like Lebron and Tyreek Hill played soccer. But then I thought how BIG the US is, like Belgium only has 12 million people, the Netherlands has 18 million - there are more people in the US that PLAY soccer than those two countries whole population combined! But obviously they are way better than us.

[@neilferguson2389]

Aye, but think about the size of America. They should be better

[@patrickracer43]

I think the MLS is actually doing well, as the 2022 MLS Cup final between the Philadelphia Union and LAFC drew an audience of 1.487 million viewers on Fox, and it was on a Saturday afternoon meaning that it had heavy competition from College Football and was basically the lead-in for game six of the MLB World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros... A problem that I see with the MLS is that whenever a big star from Europe comes over it seems like the MLS only wants them to go to the teams in the New York and Los Angeles markets

[@davepazz580]

Big European stars are the ones who usually want to stay in the largest, most glamorous cities...

[@patrickracer43]

@@davepazz580 true, but I want a big star to play for Philadelphia Union

[@sbs330]

@@patrickracer43 its goint to be difficult. 1) the top players that goes to MLS is at there end off their career which mean they probably wanna be at a city where they can be somewhat anonymous or go under the radar...

[@karljennerjahn1378]

A lot of interesting things in this video, which is a good one. One thing that I think the MLS needs to copy the Premier League and NFL on is a MOTD/Sunday Night football equivalent, at least during games in the NFL offseason. I think another key part of growing soccer here is youth products from MLS moving to Europe and having success there. So many people know Pulisic but if people from their town/state make it in Europe it would grow the game. Also Tucson is pronounced TOO-sahn

[@krishammond272]

You should do a video on Detroit City FC, probably the most successful independent team on the states whose fan base openly is anti MLS and their fan base is absolutely rabid. Would be interesting to hear an outsiders perspective on them.

[@jeffcombs1238]

I want to see how they do in USL Championship. They have done amazing in the lower leagues.

[@remowilliams7029]

Never heard if em.

[@javiermoreno5898]

As a soccer fan non US international living in the US you are absolutely spot on. This might be your best current analysis video and that is saying something. The salary cap as Rooney said once is what is limiting the league heavily, since I know that if teams could invest in real starpower viewership would rise not only in the US but also worldwide. In addition, not only for MLS but for American soccer in general, they need a villain. THey need a powerful team better than everyone else and some creative or talented minds to challenge them, which would bring fans who would polarize the sport, some sort of Kevin Durant to the Warriors in recent times, this attracts popular interest, creates stars and develop narratives, is just that every opportunity American players can they are encouraged to jump the ship to Europe (And righfullly so) which hinders the development of exciting talent. It is the same problem that Brazil has but without the sustained club history and culture, also without commanding the same transfer fees.

[@DBrunoAraujo]

Amazingly written and well thought. 👏

[@davidday2373]

THAT FAILED in the NASL in the 1970's. MLS is smarter than that. MLS will grow gradually. There's a saying (ay un dicho que dice:) "You can not put the cart before the horse"

[@javiermoreno5898]

@@davidday2373 I think this is fair and MLS as today is a better league than when I did this comment, but the main reason for this comment at the time was because the MLS base level is good, the problem was that they had the same problem as the old school MLS and everybody copied it: Have old star players who are in the end of their careers, which did not translate to product on the pitch, now hold players come to the MLS and those players are recognized but they aren’t immediate successes just because of where they come from, which used to be the problem. As some MLS teams have made their recruiting and grassroots efforts vetter the league has increased, now they need a team to show up and shake the overall perception of MLS’s level

[@MarioSantos-zx4bj]

@@javiermoreno5898 They have a lot of former stars, and that gives them the image of a retirement league making top level players not wanting to go

[@dirheist]

It's football not soccer

[@brianstefans9108]

Being able to view games on the internet has also been a great boon to MLS. It would impossible to negotiate with other sports leagues in the US to schedule games not on top of other sports, but being able to view highlights, pipe in games from ESPN+ and not have to deal with TV commercials really had helped out.

[@jacksonsmith9795]

I actually think that the salary cap the MLS has is one of their BEST features. Having THAT competitive of a league, where any given club could win on any given match day, keeps things much more interesting than watching one of: MUFC, MCFC, LVPOOL, CFC win the prem every year.

[@obama_yo_mama4653]

TRUE who the fuck knew FCC would be this good this year, plus with Messi MAYBE coming over to inter miami, the league could SNOWBALL, become very big. MLS is growing its own homegrown stars, and eventually well at least be somewhat competitive for world stars.

[@nert-13]

One plus of mls is that our VAR system is much faster and more accurate than anywhere else, with less fans groaning about it since our sports have had video review since the mid-1990s

[@ricardocima]

It sucks.

[@nert-13]

@@ricardocima mls or var?

[@ricardocima]

@@nert-13 VAR. The potential for football in US is huge. It's like Saudi Arabia & oil. Hope it takes a while until you really explore it, cause when you do it....

[@nert-13]

@@ricardocima Once "soccer fever" as it is marketed catches fully as the biggest sport in the US, our youth system will produce more talent than anywhere, partly because of resources and partly because we have 330 million people

[@tvd-theremedy2515]

Excellent! This is a very well researched and informative video. You make great points throughout, and you clearly know what you’re talking about. This video more than earned my sub, and a mental note to keep an eye out for your new videos while I catch up on the backlog for your channel. Well done!

[@shawngillogly6873]

It's not just the TV Networks here "Don't get it." It's that they actively refuse to get it. There is still a very strong old guard in the networks and sports media that actively sneers at the sport, let alone MLS. So until that generation of Youth grows up, I agree, there will be resistance to anything like Monday Night Football, or even a designated day to watch MLS, in this country. This ties into the ingrained sports issue. Baseball may be waning. But the executives and media elite still love it. Ditto the NHL in Canada. And the NFL is a media behemoth it's own stupidity can't stifle. So this will always affect MLS to a degree. As for Pro/Rel, I agree it's not the silver bullet Europhiles think it is. At some point, MLS will not be able to expand further. I think 32 teams is a good number, given the size of the country. Furthermore, the #SaveTheCrew movement, and the SportingKC revival before that, shows that at least in the Original MLS cities (NYC and Dallas excepted), and places like Seattle and Portland, there is a real tie to the community. At some point. MLS will have to divide in some way. How that works is probably a discussion for after my lifetime, however. The real frustration for me is the idea, almost unique to American "fans," that one can run their domestic league through the mud, actively oppose it no matter what it does, never go to a game, and still claim to support the sport because they watch the Premier League. One would never see a Dutch fan trash the Eresdivisie because it's not the EPL. But American "fans" have no problem trashing MLS. And not just legitimate discussions/critique. But outright claiming it would be better to not have a domestic league. As someone who lived in the days between NASL and MLS. And who remembers what it was like to have no attachment to a sport I loved. No. It wouldn't be.

[@brownboyyy]

You sir, have my respect.

[@jonenslin3379]

MLB had nearly 10 times the TV audience for the World Series as the MLS did for the MLS Cup. And attendance in MLB is still higher on per game average, with MLB playing a 162 game season. I like MLS, but MLB is still way larger so I understand why executives still love it.

[@pjkerrigan20]

Fantastic insight!

[@ColonelGreen]

The NHL isn't waning in the least.

[@pjkerrigan20]

@@ColonelGreen probably true, but the NHL’s audience has always been more limited than North America’s other big sports leagues. The nhl isn’t waning, and attending an nhl game has never been a disappointment for me, but hockey’s audience is definitely a little more niche than nfl or nba. So nhl isn’t really growing very much, but the audience isn’t likely to shrink

[@mikehunt5637]

I think it's a process that continues to grow and evolve and in the grand scheme of things, MLS is still a very young league. MLS has grown by leaps and bounds not just in the number of teams, but in its youth development. As the league has grown, it has improved the quality on the field, which has led to better TV contracts, which eventually is used to increase the salary cap, which is used to increase the quality on the field, which has led to better TV contracts, and so on. One of the aspects of this improvement has been the recent competitiveness against Liga MX teams in inter-league contests. We are also seeing a growing number of MLS academy products being picked up by European clubs. Let's put a pin in this and revisit it in about another 15 to 20 years.

[@BigSleepyOx]

Ironically, I saw a England sports panel show last year, and the panel was talking about the dynamics of different soccer leagues, and the majority of that panel said that if England could start their league system over from scratch, they'd favor having a salary cap like the MLS does (and some on the panel even said they'd not have pro/rel). Due to "Tradition" (Fiddler On The Roof begins playing in my head), that will never happen, but they said that if they could start over from scratch, that's what that panel favored.

[@Good100]

I feel as if the best system would have both promotion/relegation and a salary cap to perhaps make the Cinderella stories more possible. European soccer has much more in common with American college football than professional sports, since they also grew up largely as local phenomena, though obviously college players are technically amateurs.

[@ziadbushnaq3750]

@@Good100imagine integrating d1 college teams with usl teams in the lower divisions of the pyramid

[@ayushtripathi5357]

Love your videos and research mate, keep it up 🙌

[@MonzennCarloMallari]

"Tucson" being pronounced like that brought physical pain lol Otherwise, great video per usual, highlighting the issues specific to MLS

[@PaulBeenisYourFriend]

Classic, I thought the same thing, although I know way too many people who say "Tucson"

[@BroadwayJoe99]

I'm glad I wasn't drinking something when I heard that. If I was, I'd be royally pissed at Alfie because I'd have just spit it all over my desktop and might have ruined it.

[@mcorriette1]

We feel the same when Americans pronounce aluminium…or suddenly drop U’s from words and use Z not S in words.

[@danpreston564]

@@mcorriette1 no, no we don’t. American English uses a Z where we use an S, that’s their spelling, same with the removed U, which was done in a simplification of the spelling may years ago. They don’t pronounce the I in aluminium because they don’t spell it like us. It’s spelled aluminum. None of these are anything like not being able to pronounce Tucson.

[@PUSB_96]

@@danpreston564 calm down getting a bit emotional

[@ParadoxalDream]

As a Montreal Impact (I mean CF Montreal...) fan, I still can't believe Drogba came over here to play for us. What a positive impact (pun intended) his presence has made for the sport in Quebec!

[@davepazzaglia8294]

The Impact name is *much* better... with they would change it back!

[@AAblade7]

The tile is a little insulting. The league isn’t even 30 yers old. On the other hand I feel like it’s made great strides. 1. For the past 15 years they’ve done a better job of understanding markets. It’s not a coincidence that teams since Seattle sounded have usually been the better selling teams 2. I know some people hate the fact that we are losing more and more young talent to Europe, but this is also a good sign. It means the league isn doing a amazing job at raising the product in general. 3. Marketing has greatly improved to the point that people in the eastern hemisphere actually know the MLS exists and do know some teams. 4. The financial and popularity of the league actually was able to convince Messi to give up a huge upfront payday from the SPL for a large and more long term financial gain from the MLS Now what do I think needs to happen to improve the league? 1. Get higher end guys with top 5 league coaching experience here. 2. Be willing to take losses to ensure they don’t cut corners with ensuring MLS next and next pro is a solid option for anyone with dreams of being a pro.

[@Jdkieddj]

I've just found your channel through recommends. Directed here from football manager and now football news guy Zealand FM lol. Really great stuff, glad I found it!

[@yhctower]

Very well thought out video. As a fan of Atlanta United I agree with a lot of your points. I do think the league is trending in the right direction but growth is limited until they are able to get a big TV contract which would enable to league to drastically increase the salary cap

[@andrewwatkins4852]

Fan of the five stripes as well

[@finnwil56]

MLS is definitely a growing league, especially with the downfall of baseball in the last few years. In regards to the salary cap, I think that it is a useful tool that helps small market teams to compete better and more often. The club I support in the MLS, Sporting KC, is definitely a smaller market team that has benefited from the salary cap. Look at the baseball team in KC, the Royals, who have made the play offs a grand total of 3 times since 1985. This is due to the lack of a salary cap in baseball and in inability for smaller teams to sign the big name players. But I'm still in favor of expanding the salary cap, so the league can grow as a whole The youth development system in the US is also terrible because you need to pay to play. This leads to some of the best athletes not being able to play because their family can't afford to send them to a youth academy. I am a big fan of MLS and I want to see it grow. I would do anything for it to become a top 3 sport in the US

[@alexanderbrundin7620]

if you support wage cap you cant say you support the league...

[@golfer435]

Nashville supporter here. It's the exact same. Though MLS Acadamies are completely paid for my the club

[@SuperSirianRigel]

Yeah pay to play has to go in youth soccer.

[@appolonius5468]

@@alexanderbrundin7620 Nah, you're wrong. MLS is still in the growth phase, the wage cap would stifle it and the Americans would abandon it for other sports. Don't apply the same logic that works for established leagues.

[@7srchoed]

The salary cap is why the Royals haven been competitive? Then how do you explain the Tampa Bay Rays, a smaller market team than Kansas City being consistently competitive. Or Oakland; or San Diego willing to spend money.

[@lonktehero]

Great video. Really wish soccer/football would take off here in the US. It was so disregarded in my home state that I grew up never even seeing a school with a pitch until I was in college. It is a game I wish I could have grown up playing for my school. I've grown to love it as I got older and watched it on my own. Also, Tucson in Arizona is pronounced Two-son or Two-sun.

[@abc-hp1bf]

Tuxon was great

[@lonktehero]

@abc123321 I chuckled a bit. I also understand that Native spoken names or words are super hard to break down phonetically if you don't know them or haven't seen them. Luckily, I was raised in the deep south in a very indigenous area. Maybe not the same languages and tribes, but being around indigenous people does help. Heck, one town in my home county is spelled Wedowee. Pronounced we-dow-wee, but most people say we-do-weee or wed-o-wee when they see it.

[@Tadaia]

Thoroughly enjoyed this. I've been a fan of the game since the mid 80's while living in Italy and am now a season ticket holder for my local MLS club. Whether people like to think so or not, there's the issue of "demand" when creating a market for soccer in the US. I applaud MLS for doing a great job of fast-tracking the league while not overextending itself as failed leagues have done in the past. They've carefully plotted out a future and required a huge risk investment from franchise owners (with assurances) to create a firm foundation for growth. But you cant just create an audience out of thin air or overnight just by throwing tons of money at it. The popularity of the sport in the US has to grow organically over time at a grassroots level to earn the respect and interest of the local teams' audiences and gain a consistent level of "fan loyalty" that will sustain itself through success and failures. That quite simply, takes time. I'll also add that the inherent competitiveness of MLS due to salary caps is what will ultimately be its advantage in the future in terms of competing with other leagues globally. FFP is a strong indication that Europe also knows this.

[@StateOfSoccer]

Big ups to your videos, HITC Sevens. Always love how you dig into each video following thorough context. It is impossible to discuss MLS without mentioning the other major leagues in the United States, and I hope that this episode shed more light to global football fans on why MLS operates the way that it does/how it operates. I did an episode on my channel feat. the most famous owners in MLS and I truly believe that this league is in the beginning stages of maturation. It's notable to mention that the NBA & NFL took years to become established...and even had competitors. MLS is top-dog in the soccer pyramid here in the United States...and with it being founded in 1996...you could argue that it's already ahead of those leagues in its current lifespan. I only expect major things out of Major League Soccer in the future. Stay tuned!

[@Good100]

It's funny how foreigners don't understand that the MLS simply can't operate like the Premier League when the sports market is already so saturated here. In England, you have the Premier League, and I think the next biggest team sport is cricket and then rugby. Most others are fairly minor. Instead of comparing MLS to the Premier League, foreign fans should compare the Premier League with the NFL, and MLS with something like the British Elite Ice Hockey League, which has a decent following for the country's size, but awful media exposure.

[@leomendoza450]

i think the biggest issue for the mls and US soccer in general is the youth talent development strategy in the country. The coaching is sub par and borderline half assed in my experience, only until reaching the elite academies of your region or USA regional odp facilities; furthermore, many are underpaid and take on responsibility of multiple teams at once or outside work . Not to mention the pay wall into youth 'club' and 'academy' teams as they have monthly club dues/fees, totaling at approximately $5K US (circa 2015 @ california). For the exception of 2-5 individuals on scholarship in a 200+ youth club (ages 7-17), funds are typically used by youth clubs for the maintenance of facilities in the aim of meeting requirements for 3rd party events such as hosting a regional/state tournament or collegiate exhibitions rather than resources/development for their youth... Something about showing up for a college tryout/eval and seeing all the uni coaches huddled around the cash box collecting their cut while running warm ups really drives the nail in the coffin for me lmao

[@hawkinsstern5356]

about coaching, USSF does a horrible job with accessibility to get higher badges and the experience to qualify, theres probably a lot of politics behind this I dont understand. Coaches might have to travel hundreds of miles on some semi-annual date for these things and pay exorbitant fees relative to the grade of badge

[@DanielBowens]

what academy did you play for? I played for CASL Chelsea FC in Raleigh, NC. The lower levels required payment, but the actual academy like the teams that played in the premier development league was free for the players. Dudes from other academies in the league didn't have to pay anything either

[@loganshimko7484]

Little does he know Messi is now here 1 year later🎉!

[@brendanbillingsley9723]

I've started watching more over the last 10 years and my son plays more. However, watching MLS is a lot more difficult (and expensive) then watching Europe. I can follow many of the leagues and watch every Champions league game on streaming pretty simply. Living in Colorado I can't even find a reasonable option to follow the rapids on TV and although I would probably watch major clashes eventually, having a team to cheer for is usually the entry point to a league for me.

[@SanFranFan30]

The reasoning for the change in the fantasy MLS format is because daily and weekly fantasy games are very popular in the US for Basketball, Baseball and American Football.

[@rodrigomorales4340]

Europeans be like “football is a beautiful sport that everybody on earth should be able to enjoy… except Americans because they call it something else”

[@captainyank138]

And they call Americans ignorant

[@Fringes007]

Italians call it calcio not football

[@Good100]

@@Fringes007 And the Italians beat the English, so they must be doing something right.

[@Birick]

Great video mate!

[@kenny1514]

On the broadcasting issue, the MLS could also do a better job in terms of distribution. For example, some team games are available through Dazn, while other games are through traditional cable providers. I have sometimes tried to follow an entire season of MLS, just to realize that my service provider for sports (currently DAZN) only has a few games!

[@jakekramer7664]

Totally rad video, Alfie, and a couple things were interesting to me: 1) I think there’s definitely a longer piece to be done specifically on the impact of NBC’s PL broadcast deal in 2013 on US football’s growth (between much better on-air talent and showing vastly more matches, it was a huge game-changer) 2) You touched a little bit on the salary cap in MLS. It’s something that I see many European fans bring up aspirationally, and it’s not usually covered this way overseas (or very much here, given traditional sports media’s heavy anti-labor slant), but the purpose of the salary cap in US sports is to drive player wages down. One of the big issues in the just-resolved MLB lockout were changes to the luxury tax system that the players felt came too close to a de facto cap (baseball is the only US sport without one, and it’s players are the best-compensated).

[@Good100]

Salary caps do drive salaries down, but they guarantee more salaries overall by ensuring that smaller markets rarely fold, protecting the jobs of the small markets' players, managers, staff, and vendors. (Granted, some of the smaller markets probably are going to move, like Oakland and Tampa Bay, but they won't fold.)

[@SM-ys8lw]

thats not why salary caps exist, however it is a side effect of it, it also increases salary for your worse players, the split is still 50% from what i know, players get 50% of revenue in most salary capped leagues. the reason for them is a increase in parity that attracts more viewers especially from smaller markets. americans wont watch a team like the Blackburn rovers because they arent going to win, one thing matters in American sports winning. and also the whole its players are best compensated is flat out wrong. both steph curry and russel wilson make more money per year then the highest paid MLB players, besides you make it sound like they are getting scammed they are all being paid millions of dollars a year to play a sport, trust me they arent being under compensated for it.

[@seanm3463]

Baseball players are overpaid lol

[@seanm3463]

@@SM-ys8lw tell that to cubs fans, they had no problem with a losing team

[@SM-ys8lw]

@@seanm3463 they won the world series 6 years ago...

[@anthonyjudeaggabao2302]

I do think when it comes to broadcasting the game that the MLS has to outgrow it’s obsession to be European since the US does such an amazing job in sports media since it’s the place where the 24/7 sports channels were born. They manage to make the pre and post game coverage of all sports fun with ex pros that welcome reading stats, good hosts and a nice understanding of what the fans want to watch. Baseball games are boring but analysts manages to make it fun by telling stories out of numbers which is a far cry from sky sports spending hours talking about a club’s future all because the manager’s body language isnt “nice” that one time

[@SuperSirianRigel]

Yes. MLS needs to stop making itself into something Americans don't recognize at all. Like the guy said in this video, the MLS still needs to retain some semblance of being "American." Or they will lose out on the market of fans that is the most critical for them to reach. Americans. Especially Americans they have yet to reach. Those are the fans they need to earn the respect of. Not some random guy in France or England. lol.

[@SuperSirianRigel]

@@ryansmith-jr4gn No. It will be better. But if you don't agree... Well then maybe the USA doesn't need it. Soccer will always be second fiddle to our main sports in this country anyways. I don't know why everyone thinks soccer should "take over America" and America should just adapt to it and be more European or South American or something. There is a reason the USA is still the greatest country on this Earth. Greatest economy. Greatest military. The most influence throughout the world. In fact even a Huge majority of Christian missionaries come from the USA. Just some of the reasons that we are still the main thing everyone thinks of when you think "America." And A Lot of people in the USA still feel it to be a great country and capable of amazing things. Even if a bunch of people want to tear it apart from the inside out... Doesn't matter. So maybe Europe and South America should consider adapting to the USA's cultures and customs... Instead of the other way around.

[@kem1233]

@@SuperSirianRigel AMERICANS ARE EMBARASSED OF BEING AMERICANS. WHY YOU THINK THEY SUCK UP TO BRITISH.

[@SuperSirianRigel]

@@kem1233 Nope. I'm proud to be American. The one's that aren't don't understand what it means to be American. lol

[@SuperSirianRigel]

@Tidan888 Yep. As a whole we are. We have the greatest economy on Earth. We have the most powerful military on Earth. Our missionaries reach to the far corners of the world. We invented the automobile, which is everywhere. We invented the airplane, and they fly all over the earth. We invented AC power and the light bulb. Which no modern country can live without. No outside country can touch us, attack us... And ever hope to fully succeed. Our only downfall is people living in our own country that don't see all that and don't care. If the USA ever falls apart... It will be from within. God help us all on that day.

[@trystel]

Any chance we can do revisit with the emergence of the Apple TV deal?

[@snow1679]

As a fan of Minnesota United which is considered a "small market team" would hate the lose of salary caps. In Baseball teams like the Yankees even with the caps still run over smaller market teams. The reason for caps is just to make sure teams that teams from NY, LA and other huge cities. Can't control the game. As a Minnesota Twins (Baseball) fan we have won the World Series. But it is still hard against the big market teams. But it does happen thanks to the caps.

[@Madroxwannabe]

Great video, one thing that European football should implement is a salary cap. I think (like noted in the video) it will increase the competitiveness of world football and avoid teams being liquidated or get in Barcelona like trouble

[@DavyRo]

I think European & UK football has survived & thrived well enough for 140 years without any US rules or being implemented upon it. The promotion & relegation of teams is something that is paramount to success. As for using the excuse that the US is massive so it couldn't work. Russia is far bigger than the US & it works just fine there.

[@nendoakuma7451]

@@DavyRo Russia only has teams in the Western part.

[@CraigABuchanan]

As an ex Brit living in the neighboring state that Tucson is in, I have to say I love the mispronunciation of Tucson here!

[@GlassJoe1337]

Late comment here but it's a combination of a bad TV deal for both the league and club tournament (us open cup) and salary cap. It's hard to find games on TV and with a cap on spending hurts drawing players to MLS. We also still draft players instead of having a good academy systems to have internal growth. The reserve teams are blocked from the US open cup due to the major clubs withholding good reserve players from the reserve clubs.

[@theentitledsiriowlsx]

Imagine 200 years in the future, where MLS is the most competitive and compelling league and European leagues just big names destroying newly promoted side 5-0 and won domestic titles more than 5 in a row. I mean, it happens right now tbh, but it wasn't that very clear. But FM23 tells it all.

[@rz1165]

Imagine people watching the Saudi Pro League or the Premier League in the future only because all the best players are there delivering curb-stomps to every other team every other day and for nothing else 😂

[@olympic-ass-eater]

​@@rz1165Europeans have more talent players

[@jamesa5155]

If the MLS/US style wage caps where adopted across football in general (a total none starter I know) but the effect would be mind boggling. The gap between big and small clubs and one to league and another would shrink and football as a whole would be come so much more competitive. Take the "Champions" League how many of the teams in the quarter finals are actually their leagues champions? And look at the perspective of say the champions of Belgium or Sweden. The best they can hope for is a couple of games against one of the European big boys and a financial pay day to keep the team going and maybe keep a star player or two. We all know this will never happen as FIFA and UEFA chase bigger revenues and inflate the big clubs. As a football fan what would you rather watch Man City steam roller Sporting 5-0 or two more evenly matched teams play out a 3-2 thriller?

[@BroadwayJoe99]

There's something else holding back MLS - Americans. There is legitimate antipathy towards MLS from large sections of the American public and even from within the sports media. Some people merely think that MLS is an inferior product to the elite European leagues (which isn't incorrect) and prefer to fawn over leagues that they'll never be able to watch play a meaningful game in person without a passport and investment of several thousand dollars per trip. Others think that MLS should be burned to the ground and replaced with an exact replica of the English pyramid (Anglophilia is a real problem with this lot, not to mention avoidance of reality), and others still think that only effeminate commie socialist foreigners play soccer, and "real men" play American Football or other "real" American sports, never mind that the only truly "American" sports are lacrosse and monster-truck racing. Everything else is an adaption of British sports (football, cricket, golf) or otherwise uses the classic English field-sports model (basketball and hockey). Media figures used to actually mock MLS along those lines, and although prime offenders like Keith Olbermann and Jim Rome have large faded off into relative obscurity, their still exists a sort of "why do we have to talk about this?" mentality within the world of sports broadcasting. You still hear talking heads mispronouncing team and player names - just like how Alfie can't pronounce "Tuscon" - with disturbing frequency. Things are changing, however slowly, and while the haters will continue to whine incessantly, they're gradually being drowned out by MLS fans cheering for their home sides.

[@jonpata9869]

You're spot on. It's a catch 22. People don't respect mls because it's not respected. And mls is not respected because people won't respect it. Euro snobs need to recognize It's okay to admit the quality isn't as good and still support your local squad. Same way we root for team USA even tho they aren't the best National team. But even if they never will, the sports media figures in the country at least should be pretending to respect it... It's literally their damn job

[@BroadwayJoe99]

@@jonpata9869 MLS is part of the continental, regional, and global ecosystems of soccer. All paths eventually lead to the elite European leagues, but how one gets from point A to point B is always unique.

[@Eibarwoman]

@@jonpata9869 The problem is there's not enough local squads of quality in the US. One would probably get better soccer from NCAA D1 than from independent leagues in the US away from the MLS. The problem? Many people's loyalties to colleges are often to the most competitive gridiron rival (see University of Michigan or Ohio State fans when Ohio and Michigan have many smaller colleges both in D1 gridiron and soccer)

[@BroadwayJoe99]

@@Eibarwoman This is where the "the US is seventy years behind the rest of the world" comes in, and is most appropriate and accurate. It takes time for this amount and quality of infrastructure to be built - club, scholastic, collegiate and so on - and the snobs refuse to see it for what it is.

[@Eibarwoman]

@@BroadwayJoe99 I'd say given certain aspects of the lower league financial decay, that the US has already been 50-70 years ahead of the world. As in there's too much money at the top and thus a perverse incentive to spend beyond their means to get promoted. So even at the Vanarama National, you have players paid the same as Premier Leaguers of the early 1990s. In most other aspects, the US is 70 years behind because of the same reason that the decay of the lower leagues is 70 years ahead in the US whether it's baseball or soccer. As in you used have a baseball pyramid 8 levels deep and thriving independent leagues. Now it's almost all directly under the MLB's umbrella. The unchecked Reaganomics type of capitalism has eaten away far more in the US than elsewhere.

[@cuseyeti_one8three]

The idea that Americans "don't get soccer" is absurd. We get hockey and lacrosse which have similar setups and rules at their core; we get basketball which is similarly constructed: one goal on each side of a playing surface, score by putting a ball or puck into the goal opposite of the goal you are trying to prevent the other team from scoring on. It's not that complicated, outside of offsides restrictions, everything is fairly straightforward. American football and baseball are infinitely more convoluted in terms of strategies, rules and objectives.

[@Ese96Agoaye]

Could videos on the FAWSL be possible? There's a lot going on there I'd like to be talked about.

[@Xelor69]

The World Series is named such bc The World, a news paper, was the first sponsor of the championship series. Nothing to do with earth as a whole.

[@andrewwatkins4852]

What my braves won it twice when I was little in 95 and just last year in 2021 and we are good scary good our biggest win was against Miami in the playoffs a 29-4 no joke that was the actual score if there was a champions league for pro baseball and a world cup that would be exciting

[@Xelor69]

@@andrewwatkins4852 champions league would be sick, and go Mets! Lol

[@Good100]

@@andrewwatkins4852 The problem with a champions league for baseball is that it would be uncompetitive. NPB, KBO, and whatever the Latin American leagues are called would be crushed by MLB champions.

[@BALHAM69]

It’s a good League, it is rising and Good teams in the league.

[@leonwoodford]

Is it though?

[@Chronicthekid]

Went to a MLS game back In 2007, stadium was half full. Went last season and it was packed. So yeah it’s rising.

[@leonwoodford]

It’s a meh league filled with old timers and younger players no one cares about. Why would any fans, even MLS fans watch this over any Premiership game? Where a the higher league like the Champions League to aim for? Where’s the domestic cups that produce major dramas? The salary cap needs to go but we know it won’t as that will be a major risk that teams will spend silly money without a major tv deal and go bust.

[@TheNotoriousNemo]

@@leonwoodford brah mls is at or close to mexicos liga now, its getting better and there is some crazy shit that happens in the games lmao, like redoing a penalty 3 times, roldan getting bodyslammed by the keeper, shits wild

[@leonwoodford]

@@TheNotoriousNemo crazy shit? Personally I prefer actual quality football from the best players on the planet from the European leagues. But if body slamming goal keepers is what you like, you do you.

[@TheRman32]

Watching this now in June 2023 knowing that Messi went to Miami is crazy

[@juliusbuck6354]

With the Canadian Premiere League (CPL) and the United States Soccer League (USSL) building healthy sources of clubs and markets. Relegation is very much possible. As a Canadian who lives in Montreal and supports his local team. We actually have 2 teams here in Montreal in 2 different leagues now. It would be cool concept to think of derby games, though "Outremont F.C" getting to a level to make that derby both possible and competitive. Relegation/Promotion would almost be needed. CPL even just gained a team slot in the CONCACAF Champions league. Which features all the tops teams from Mexico, which MLS now (talent wise) has proven to be surpassing in many forms.

[@dustinb1359]

I'm a relatively newer soccer fan here in the US and I'd agree with pretty much everything you said. I don't watch many MLS games if they compete with some other major sporting event. And my local team, FC Tulsa, aren't joining the top league unless one of the oil barons in town ponies up some serious money.

[@Good100]

It's even worse for those with no pro team at all. There's apparently an amateur team in my area, but they don't even have a website, so I didn't even know they existed until recently.

[@danielmurphy8262]

From a personal standpoint, the main reason I struggle to watch not only the MLS but any American sport is the time difference. Most of the games start at late times in Europe which probably does impact viewing figures. And if you arent regularly watching something, it will be harder to keep interest in it. Edit: just on the point about the League of Ireland, while games are typically shown on Fridays to avoid clashes with the Premier League, there are scarce amount of games on television anyway so it is either go out to watch the game or watch a Premier League game on TV.

[@tobiogunsina8426]

I’m not sure they need international eyes. They’re pretty focused on fully penetrating the local market before moving onto international like the NBA are doing

[@matpk]

@@tobiogunsina8426 Merge CONMEBOL And Concacaf NOW🎉The only way to challenge evil UEFA

[@julesverne4561]

Europeans don't watch MLS cus it's shit mate

[@amigos7851]

hi hitc,have you played football manager?

[@davidday2373]

The U.S. audience has a lot on its plate: NFL, MLB, NBA, College 🏈, NHL, College 🏀, LIGA-MX 🇲🇽, Euro ⚽️, MLS... not to mention Golf, Tennis, Boxing, MMA...

[@tcbobb1613]

Also, we have Ice Hockey (NHL) which has a huge Fan Base it's on popularity par or bigger than baseball MLB.

[@Good100]

@@tcbobb1613 If you don't count Canada, baseball is definitely bigger. With Canada it's a little fuzzier.

[@davidday2373]

@@tcbobb1613 NHL is not bigger than MLB. The NBA is still behind MLB in more than one measure.

[@depekthegreat359]

I like the Major League Soccer extremely so much daily and ever and hoping the league to produce the relegation and promotion system from the lower men's American leagues as soon as possible,good friends!!!By the way,I like all the respective men's soccer teams daily and ever as well and slowly watching some of the respective matches,good friends!!!:-D

[@nolanlyle4084]

I'm from Phoenix and my local club is Rising FC. We compete in the 2nd division, and are one of, if not the best sides in the league, most every year. Your point about promotion/relegation in the US has a lot of truth to it, as I personally would feel much more connection to my club knowing that we could potentially earn our way to the top flight, playing against the best in the country. I can see how that would be detrimental too, but I think that the positives will outweigh the negatives in that respect.

[@jakecortez4795]

Promotion and relegation would be great but you have to remember currently if mls teams were to get relegated it would be most likely to the usl but what happens to canandian teams in that regard because they can go into the usl

[@ryanjohnson6272]

If any team in USL deserves to be in MLS, it's Phoenix Rising

[@nolanlyle4084]

@@jakecortez4795 that’s very true, is it just against the usl policies? i’m not familiar

[@nolanlyle4084]

@@ryanjohnson6272 100% they do. they show constantly how they are the best in the league and can compete against the best. plus the football culture in phoenix is phenomenal

[@jacobbeal843]

You missed one huge point, advertising. American sports TV deals are MASSIVE but just not as good for a sport with no built in commercial breaks

[@TheStaticJedi]

It’s crazy you brought up CLTFC because I was at that game!! What are the odds?!

[@GoTPLATANOS]

MLS needs to keep the course it's on in emphasizing youth development and growth within the States. It needs to eventually go the way of Brasil in that their best players go to Europe for big money which in turn fuels the National team. MLS doesn't need to be better than the Premier League or La Liga, it just needs to be profitable and successful in the States while at the same time hoping it gives the National team the players to compete for a World Cup... About the broadcasting bit, I've always believed that the NFL actively coerces broadcaster to not support the MLS. I believe broadcasters want to, but are more afraid of losing the NFL money. The NFL has the leverage and they exploit it. ESPN is a perfect example as their NFL content is constant including the offseason. ESPN has to recoup the money they spent to broadcast the NFL so it leaves little time for other sports to get the same coverage.

[@Eibarwoman]

I could see the MLS being more like Portugal producing both players for the national team and CONCACAF countries. The wage caps in the US behave more like a mid-table Portuguese club.

[@GoTPLATANOS]

@@Eibarwoman I can see that; however, Portugal is very small in both economy and population. The US should try to emulate Brasil in regards to the amount of players it can produce compared to population, and how competitive their respective leagues can be as shown by the variety of winners. The end goal for MLS should be to help the US win a World Cup while also allowing the best players to move to the best European leagues. The more kids see soccer as a viable economic outlet the more they'll be willing to take the chance over the traditional American sports....

[@Eibarwoman]

@@GoTPLATANOS The US can't be like Brazil as Brazil only has a one sport mind, the US has their talent split between 5 to the point it'd be more like Colombia, Belgium, or Portugal. The NFL in particular is likely syphoning many of the best athlete candidates for footballers by both paying kickers and punters more than the MLS as league minimum and any pacy wingers etc being turned into cornerbacks and wide receivers.

[@GoTPLATANOS]

@@Eibarwoman I think you need to reread my response. Cheers.

[@shawngillogly6873]

There is definitely an element of the NFL, and MLB (perhaps even more here, given their seasons compete more directly), that actively promotes the old stereotypes in media. I remember when the NFL was promoting CRT investigations about soccer, while denying the link in its own sport.

[@bobbyheylmun]

Did I just hear “Tuck-son Arizona”

[@joshcosker8015]

The biggest reason the different leagues have not joined into a tier system like in England is that MLS is still in expansion mode. I don't know how many teams they want to build to but expansion owners don't want relegation as it's a massive business risk to starting a new team. I think it does need to come around in the future once the league is filled out like the NBA, MLB, and NFL in terms of a healthy number of teams because that's the only way to provide the local connection with the USL division clubs in the other cities. I used to live in a city that had a USL club and now live in Charlotte which also had a USL club and now a MLS club. Even a connection where some USL clubs become B teams for the MLS club like in Spain or Italy may be an option to unite and organize better. The sustainability is important as many European clubs have displayed in recent years.

[@davepazzaglia8294]

If the other leagues don't need it, neither does MLS... Plus it's legally impossible since MLS teams are owned by the league... they can only exist as top league teams and not "leave" to play elsewhere.

[@DabDabGoose]

The most obvious answer is just popularity which can change overtime, but the US also has the issue of being in North america, they don't have a good champions league system unlike basically every other continent. Like if they where in UEFA i think given the budgets they are playing with(ofcourse salary caps would have to go) they could easily have teams playing in the UCL group stage atleast, and playing against the biggest teams in the world would do wonders.

[@abheekdasgupta7079]

There's only so much they can do without the UCL

[@willlemond5007]

Another issue with the MLS is the sheer size of the country with the demanding schedule along with poor travel amenities. From what i remember teams are limited to the number of charter flights per season so there's a lot of cross country flights on commercial involved. I remember seeing Bastian Schweinsteiger at the airport in Chicago with the Fire. A world cup winner like him shouldn't have to do that

[@turnupthesun81]

Didn’t Landon Donovan say that he would pay for some meals etc for lower paid players while they were on the road?

[@latdamon3602]

Lmao. So funny you should say this. I was in Chicago on business a few years ago, having lunch at O'Hare with a coworker and awaiting our return flight to Philly. We spotted several players from the Fire; I first noticed Alan Gordon waiting in line at a taco stand. Nearby, sure enough, was Basti, trying (poorly) to keep a low profile with a cap pulled down low over his face. Could still tell it was him. We said the same thing - Schweinsteiger milling around the airport like a random shmuck, flying commercial???

[@NazriB]

Lies again? MLS NFL

[@michaelkaine9452]

They changed it, every flight is charter now due to there partnership with sun country airlines.

[@michaelmayer4289]

I love that you featured a picture of the pistons they’ll be great soon

[@cindersofcreation]

I know it would be bordering on impossible but I would still like to see relegation and promotion rules be applied to U.S. Soccer; the idea of taking your hometown up and up in greatness is so compatable to the American Dream mentality that some still feel exists. Maybe Ted Lasso's popularity and showing of how it works for a team to go through could help it out? Idk lol

[@phatso26]

As a San Antonio FC fan I would absolutely love for USA to get Pro/Rel and see SAFC get promoted while Austin FC get relegated.

[@krystopherscroggins3044]

I'm here for that

[@yohane2487]

As a Rising supporter, I'd rather see USL Premier before any invitation into MLS

[@phatso26]

@@yohane2487 I'll agree to that!

[@leftiequixote]

As an LA Galaxy fan who now lives in San Antonio, I would LOVE this.

[@noelnantais5154]

I wish there would be a regulation system as well. Seems difficult now with all the new teams and owners likely not wanting anything to do with it in regard to their investment

[@weaselwag]

also giovinco is a household name in toronto. and tfc ratings from like 2014 to now have grown like CRAZY. and are edging closer to the other major sports. still far away, but like a big TFC game can outdraw a jays game on tv

[@qwertyuiop123453993]

the mls can outdraw jays games in years like 2018 when the team is in the tank lol. Otherwise theres no chance but to be fair some of that is down to the fact there are 3 times more mls teams than mlb teams in canada.

[@RonnyWelles]

Being a household name in Toronto, is like being the thinnest kid at fat camp.

[@qwertyuiop123453993]

@@RonnyWelles Toronto has a huge population and is the biggest city in the second biggest country on earth. You must be slow.

[@alexburky9124]

Well yeah, BMO is a fantastic stadium and the Jays play in a dump.

[@qwertyuiop123453993]

@U Betcha sure maybe, there still not nearly as big as the bluejays at the moment which is my point.

[@hzzzzz1]

This video is spot on. The type of competition the league has is unique to other US leagues. Soccer can have cross continental cups and attract media in different avenues. Local teams can play at halftime shows. The atmosphere of the ultras makes the sport a showcase thanks to the fans. The diversity of broadcast helps the sport. I could turn to three different channels to hear MLS games broadcast in different languages. The reach is different yet similar. I think the game would benefit from cross promotion as I have seen watching other sports and having the athletes shown on talk shows or other media to promote games and the sport.

[@LibertyOrBust]

Good video. Thanks.

[@alecryan7559]

My dad started watching liverpool in the 80's and I was born into premier league love, but I did still grow up in Kansas and I can say in my life alone the MLS has grown significantly. When our local team sporting kc was pre-rebrand and known as the wizards they played in arrowhead stadium (the chiefs NFL stadium) we would fill about 300 of an 80,000 seat arena and now sporting has their own park which they sell out regularly. Along with the best generation our national team has ever seen there is real reason to be optimistic about the direction of American soccer.

[@nycfcawaydays3259]

MLS isn't up there with other leagues yet because most of our clubs don't have that history yet that inspire kids to want to play for their local team. While there are a handful of homegrown players, such as Jordan Morris, who chose playing for their local childhood club over going to Europe, the pay in Europe is obviously much more rewarding. Keep in mind MLS has only been around since 1995, unlike the other top 4 professional sports leagues in America that have been around since the 1960s. Give it a few more years and MLS will be one of the most prestigious leagues in the world. We may never be THE best league in the world but we have been exporting so much young homegrown talent lately, we are no longer the stereotypical retirement league we once were in the early 2000s.

[@williamcross210]

The other top 4 professional leagues are much older than the 1960s, MLB goes back to the 1870s, NFL 1920s, NBA 1940s. Almost no one in these leagues play for their local childhood clubs

[@TheLeechaolan15]

MLS sucks Pulisic sucks Soccer is not football, soccer is foottennis in USA at wheelchair level

[@alis6581]

I agree with the young talent stuff, but I don't think you guys will ever stop being the stereotypical retirement league. Not for a very very long time.

[@MagicalWoodchip]

The low salary cap definitely hinders it a little bit as well as the inability to hold onto the young talent in the league. It’s a great stepping stone league for young players to get experience before heading to Europe tho

[@McCloudious]

This video is the most radical one I've watched all day