2023-06-08 18:50:00
ESPN.comReading: 4 min.
The day came when, for the first time in his career, Lionel Messi leaves European soccer to continue his career at Inter Miami in Major League Soccera very young club of a league that also has a very short life.
Soccer came to the United States at the hands of English immigrants, just as it did in most parts of the planet. However, its development in North America was not as fast as in the rest of the planet. In fact, following several failed attempts, the professional tournament was created at the end of the 20th centurymore than eighty years later than in most of the continent.
The reasons for this low popular acceptance are diverse and this is not the time or space to address them. What is clear is that Since the creation of the MLS in 1996, the sport has been promoted throughout the country and the growth has been notorious.
It all started with the organization of the 1994 World Cup, a key event in the evolution of “soccer” (that’s what they call “football” in the United States to differentiate it from American football). To grant it the venue, FIFA asked the National Association to create a top-level league.
The inaugural edition was in 1996, with only ten teams (franchises, such is the national sports tradition) from cities that already had soccer history since the sixties and seventies, when the North American Soccer League was played, the predecessor tournament of the current MLS.
The champion was DC United, from Washington, who beat the Los Angeles Galaxy in the final. Both are still protagonists of the contest, like the Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew and New England Revolution. They are the only survivors.
It was a ratings and box office success from the start. For that, some conventions were changed. For example, even matches were defined with kicks from the penalty mark and even the system of “Australian penalties” was tested, a kind of one-on-one once morest the goalkeeper with the ball in motion.
Although the reception had been good and in 1998 the first expansion arrived, to 12 clubs, the economic problems that caused the departure of Commissioner Doug Logan appeared. He was replaced by a former NFL manager, Don Garber, a key man in the development of the league.
After a contraction in 2001 due to the departure of the Florida teams, the great performance of the United States in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan generated enthusiasm among the population and was the definitive push for MLS to grow once more. In 2005 there were twelve teams once more with the inclusion of Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA and from then on the expansions were continuous until reaching the current 29.
Today the Major League Soccer is consolidated as an important league within the American sports universe, which already by itself represents an important fact. The cities want to be represented in the championship, which reaches almost the entire country. In addition, the teams have opted for youth academies and the training of new talents can be seen in the selected ones.
The arrival of one of the three best soccer players of all time is the most important event in the history of MLS, which has been preparing for decades to receive a star of the magnitude of Lionel Messi. Today it is no longer that circus tournament of the late nineties, but a level championship where not only the stars go to retire, but also young players from different parts of the world.
Full and first class stadiums, great players and competitive teams. even last year the Concacaf champion was for the first time a team from the United States, Seattle Soundersone of the most popular of the contest.
The MLS, unlike the European leagues, it is played in the calendar year, from March to December. The format is also different, given the large size of the country. There are two conferences (the east, where Inter Miami plays, with 15 teams; and the west, with 14). The top seven from each advance to the playoffs. In addition, the eighth and ninth face each other for one more place.
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