MLS 2014 (2 Viewers)

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Mark

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Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league representing the sport's highest level in both the United States and Canada. MLS constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada. Sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer), the league is composed of 19 teams—16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada. The MLS regular season runs from March to October, with each team playing 34 games; the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters' Shield. Ten teams compete in the postseason MLS Cup Playoffs in November and December, culminating in the championship game, the MLS Cup. MLS teams also play in other competitions against teams from other divisions and countries, such as the U.S. Open Cup, the Canadian Championship, and the CONCACAF Champions League.

Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The first season took place in 1996 beginning with ten teams. MLS had financial and operational struggles in its first few years. The league lost millions of dollars in the early years, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and when two teams folded rumors of MLS' demise were circulating.[8] Since then, MLS has expanded to 19 teams (to 21 teams in 2015), owners have built soccer-specific stadiums, average attendance exceeds that of the NBA and NHL, MLS has national TV contracts, and the league is now profitable.

Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is a single entity where each team is owned and controlled by the league's investors. The league's closed membership makes it one of the world's few soccer leagues not using promotion and relegation, which is normally not common in North America. MLS headquarters are in New York City.

Competition format

Major League Soccer's regular season runs from March to October with its 19 teams playing 34 games in an unbalanced schedule. Teams are divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. Midway through the season, teams break for the annual All-Star Game, a friendly game between the league's finest players and a major club from a different league. At the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters' Shield.

The regular season is followed by the 10-team MLS Cup Playoffs in November, ending with the MLS Cup championship final in early December. Although some fans have argued that playoffs reduce the importance of the regular season, Commissioner Garber has explained "Our purpose is to have a valuable competition, and that includes having playoffs that are more meaningful."

MLS has three automatic berths in the CONCACAF Champions League for its American clubs, with an additional spot available via the U.S. Open Cup; Canadian clubs can qualify for a single berth via the Canadian Championship.

Major League Soccer's spring-to-fall schedule results in scheduling conflicts with the FIFA calendar and with summertime international tournaments such as the World Cup and the Gold Cup, causing several players to miss some MLS matches. MLS has looked into changing to a fall-to-spring format, but there are no current plans to do so. If the league were to change its schedule, a winter break would be needed, especially with several teams in colder climates.

History

Major League Soccer is the most recent of a series of professional men's premier national professional soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which played from 1968 until 1984.

Establishment

In 1988, in exchange for FIFA awarding the right to host the 1994 World Cup, U.S. Soccer promised to establish a Division 1 professional soccer league. In 1993, the USSF selected Major League Professional Soccer (the precursor to MLS) as the exclusive Division 1 professional soccer league. Major League Soccer was officially formed in February 1995 as a limited liability company. MLS began play in 1996 with ten teams. The league had generated some buzz by managing to lure some marquee players from the 1994 World Cup to play in MLS—including U.S. stars such as Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola and Eric Wynalda, and foreign players such as Mexico's Jorge Campos and Colombia's Carlos Valderrama.

In 1996, the players filed an antitrust lawsuit, Fraser v. Major League Soccer, challenging MLS's policy of centrally contracting players and limiting player salaries through a salary cap. The court ruled that the salary cap and other restrictions were a legal method for the league to maintain solvency and competitive parity.

The early years of the league gave rise to D.C. United winning the MLS Cup in three of the league's first four seasons. The league added its first two expansion teams in 1998—the Miami Fusion and the Chicago Fire, with the Chicago Fire winning its first title in 1998. After its first season, MLS suffered from a decline in attendance. The league's low attendance was all the more apparent in light of the fact that eight of the original ten teams began playing in large American football stadiums.

MLS experimented with rules deviations in its early years in an attempt to "Americanize" the sport. MLS implemented the use of shootouts to resolve tie games. MLS also used a countdown clock and halves ended when the clock reached 0:00. MLS realized that the rule changes had alienated some traditional soccer fans while failing to draw new American sports fans, and the shootout and countdown clock were eliminated after the 1999 season.

The league's quality was cast into doubt when the U.S. men's national team, which was made up largely of MLS players, finished in last place at the 1998 World Cup. The league's financial problems led to the departure of then-Commissioner Doug Logan in August 1999. Don Garber, a former National Football League executive, was hired as commissioner that same month.

Columbus Crew Stadium was built in 1999, becoming MLS's first soccer-specific stadium. This began a trend among MLS teams to construct their own venues instead of leasing American football stadiums.

Major League Soccer lost an estimated $250 million during its first five years, and lost more than $350 million between its founding and the year 2004. MLS announced in January 2002 that it had decided to contract the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion. This left the league with 10 teams, the same number as when MLS began.

Resurgence

The 2002 World Cup, in which the United States unexpectedly made the quarterfinals, coincided with a resurgence in American soccer and MLS. MLS Cup 2002 drew 61,316 spectators to Gillette Stadium, the largest attendance in an MLS Cup final.

MLS adopted the IFAB rules and standards in 2003, which included changes such as limiting teams to three substitutions per game.

MLS underwent a transition in the years leading up to the 2006 World Cup. After marketing itself on the talents of American players, the league saw some of its homegrown stars depart for prominent leagues in Europe. For example, Tim Howard was transferred to Manchester United in one of the most lucrative contract deals in league history. Many more American players did make an impact in MLS. In 2005, Jason Kreis became the first player to score 100 career MLS goals.

The league's financial stabilization plan included teams moving out of large American football stadiums and into soccer-specific stadiums. From 2003 to 2008, the league saw the construction of six additional soccer-specific stadiums, largely funded by owners such as Lamar Hunt and Phil Anschutz, so that by the end of 2008, a majority of MLS teams were now in soccer-specific stadiums.

It was also in this era that MLS expanded for the first time since 1998. Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA began play in 2005, with Chivas USA becoming the second club in Los Angeles. By 2006 the San Jose Earthquakes owners, players and a few coaches moved to Texas to become the expansion Houston Dynamo, after failing to build a stadium in San Jose. The Dynamo became an expansion team, leaving their history behind for a new San Jose ownership group that would materialize in 2007.

2007–present

The 2007 season saw expansion reach beyond the United States' borders into Canada, beginning with Toronto FC.

Major League Soccer took steps to further raise the level of play in the league by adopting the Designated Player Rule, which helped MLS bring international stars into the league. The 2007 season witnessed the MLS debut of David Beckham. Beckham's signing had been seen as a coup for American soccer, and was made possible by the Designated Player Rule. Players such as Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) and Juan Pablo Ángel (New York Red Bulls), are some of the first Designated Players who made major contributions to their clubs. The departures of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, coupled with the return of former U.S. national team stars Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride, highlighted the exchange of top prospects to Europe for experienced veterans to MLS.

By 2008, San Jose had returned to the league under new ownership, and in 2009, the expansion side Seattle Sounders FC began play in MLS. The 2010 season ushered in an expansion franchise in the Philadelphia Union and their new PPL Park stadium. The 2010 season also saw the opening of the New York Red Bulls' soccer-specific stadium, Red Bull Arena, and the debut of French striker Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls).

The start of the 2011 season saw further expansion with the addition of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the second Canadian MLS franchise, and the Portland Timbers. The 2011 season saw Real Salt Lake reach the finals of the CONCACAF Champions League. During the 2011 season, the Galaxy signed another international star in Republic of Ireland all-time leading goalscorer Robbie Keane. The 2011 season drew an average attendance of 17,872, higher than the average attendances of the NBA and NHL.

In 2012, the Montreal Impact became the league's 19th franchise and the third located in Canada, and made their home debut in front of a crowd of 58,912.

In 2013, MLS introduced New York City FC as the league's 20th team, and Orlando City Soccer Club as the league's 21st team, both to begin playing in 2015. Beginning in summer of 2013 and continuing in the run up to the 2014 World Cup, MLS began signing U.S. stars based in Europe, including Clint Dempsey and Maurice Edu from the English Premier League, and Michael Bradley from Italy's Serie A.

In 2014, MLS announced the league's 22nd team see the league return to Miami. The team will begin play in 2017 at the earliest depending on the completion of a new stadium.

Teams

Revolution
Red Bulls
Impact
Union
D.C. United
Toronto FC
Rapids
Sporting
Crew
FC Dallas
Dynamo
Fire
Real Salt Lake
Sounders
Earthquakes
Galaxy
Chivas USA
Whitecaps
Timbers

The 19 MLS clubs are divided among the Eastern and Western Conference. Each club is allowed up to 30 players on its first team roster. All 30 players are eligible for selection to each 18-player game-day squad during the regular season and playoffs.

Since the 2005 season, MLS has added nine new clubs. This period of expansion saw Los Angeles become the first two-team market, and the league's push into Canada in 2007. The league will expand to 21 teams with the addition of New York City FC and Orlando City SC in 2015. The league plans to expand to 24 teams by 2020.

Throughout MLS history, twenty one different clubs have competed in the league with nine having won at least one MLS Cup and eight winning at least one Supporters' Shield. Of the league's seventeen completed seasons, only six have witnessed the same club win both trophies.

Several teams compete annually for secondary MLS rivalry cups that are usually contested by two teams, usually geographic rivals (e.g., New York vs D.C.). Each cup is awarded to the team with the better regular-season record. The concept is comparable to minor trophies played for by American college football teams.



For the 2014 season, teams are aligned as follows:

Eastern Conference:

Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew
D.C. United
Houston Dynamo
Montreal Impact
New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Sporting Kansas City
Toronto FC

Western Conference:

Chivas USA
Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas
Los Angeles Galaxy
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
 

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Mark

The Informer
Administrator
Dec 19, 2003
95,899
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #13
    Suck our Canadian cocks.

    and to answer the question, yes they probably will.

    In the meantime.

    Crew Fall to Montreal in Disney Pro Soccer Classic Finale
    . :nico:
     
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    Mark

    The Informer
    Administrator
    Dec 19, 2003
    95,899
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #15
    NASL is like a Serie B to the MLS. There are no relegation or promotion though.
     
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    Mark

    The Informer
    Administrator
    Dec 19, 2003
    95,899
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #17
    no, unless the have an expansion in the MLS like they did last year with Montreal.
     

    Enron

    Tickle Me
    Moderator
    Oct 11, 2005
    75,240
    #18
    The US leagues don't have a promotion/relegation system. Once you're in the MLS, you're in until your club shuts down. It's a solid model that keeps teams from going under financially via over-extended themselves with transfers and what-not.
     
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