Why The MLS Will Never Reach a Global Market!

   Due to growth and marketability it is the desire of the worlds big clubs to break in and take a strangle hold of the US soccer market. Soccer in North America is big business and the worlds biggest clubs see it as any opportunity to make their clubs into global brands. These clubs rely on bringing in revenue from global resources in order to fund their clubs ambition and overall dominance. Clubs such as Manchester United, FC Barcelona, and Real Madrid to name just a few are
fighting for a piece of the global market. It may be said that this globalization and the fact that the worlds largest clubs want to break America will do Major League Soccer (MLS) some good. This would be a faulty conclusion. The main reason these clubs are striving to reach out to soccer fans in North America is because they know that while there is a growing passion for the game, the standard that the MLS is supplying is not meeting the demands of US soccer fans.
  
   While the MLS is still in its relative infancy there are many problems that plague it. It has been taken from the worlds most popular sport and transformed into an American system. Major League Soccer follows a very similar structure to the rest of US sports, and while other sports are in relative terms successful in this application, soccer can just not work in this way if it is to grow. To understand what I am saying let us take a look at the MLS structure compared to the rest of the world.

   Firstly, there is the draft system which aims to allow the worst team in the league to pick up the best player. Just like every other US sport, the playing field is aimed to be level to allow for a more competitive league. On a fundamental level this is disturbing. This means that teams are willing to allow other teams to be as good as they are, just so the competition will be better. Surely this is a double negative as if no one team can take the best players the league is not getting better but instead staying consistently average. For a country that prides itself as been the world super power, why when it comes to sport is winning not the fundamental concern. From a supporters view this should not make sense. I could not imagine a Manchester United fan saying they are happy that Manchester City can have the opportunity to sign the best player to give them a chance to win the league. In Manchester United eyes there is only one team that should win the league, and that is them, to offer other teams a chance is not in United’s creed. The draft system just does not allow for a winning mentality. This is also the reason people either love or hate the New York Yankees (baseball). The Yankees are pretty much the only team that go out and recruit the best players, paying them the biggest money and create a monopoly in the game. Because it is not heard of in American sports it is not accepted, unless of course you are a Yankees fan.
   
   In other US sports this system can be effective, mainly due to the fact that other sports are kept in house, and teams are not competing for players on a global level (barring South America, and Asia in baseball). Also, sports such as basketball and football rely heavily on the ability of individuals. Just by looking at the last couple of years we can see how much teams in basketball and football regard the individual. Two years ago Lebron James walked away from the Cleveland Cavaliers after Months of uncertainty and interest from most teams in the league. Teams were trading players left right and center to try and bring in just one player. The team emphasis is rarely realized in American sports. His value was more important to teams than the rest of the organization, and now the Miami Heat are relying on him to take home a championship. The same can be said about the recent events regarding Peyton Manning. While a great deal of factors went into this situation, the fact is that the Indianapolis Colts have the first pick of the 2012 draft and want to select the best player, quarterback Andrew Luck. In turn, Manning who is probably the most consistent and intelligent quarterback of all time became a free agent, desired by every team in the league. In these sports one or two players are expected to make the difference. It is the view in American sports that individuals bring home championships, soccer cannot work in this way. It takes far more than one player to consistently win. By implementing a draft system in the MLS makes it fair on the American players wishing to come in to the league, but it also cuts a lot of players out who have more ability, because they have no real opportunity to showcase their talents. The draft allows players who have played mainly at the NCAA Division I college level to be drafted, meaning that players who play for top Universities gain the best chance of playing in the MLS. But this is not always where the best talent is. The teams in the MLS rarely look outside of their own shop window, and with US youth soccer some way behind that of the best soccer countries in the world it does not bode well for the development of the league. If we look at the teams mentioned above- Manchester United, Barcelona, and Real Madrid- who are aiming to be dominant in the global market, we will see that they bring in talent from all over the world. Each of these teams have outstanding academies where talent is developed, but they also have scouts on every continent looking for players and talent that can set them apart from the other teams. With the draft system and the rules regarding international players, the MLS just cannot attract these players, nor is it showing a willingness to open its gates to the rest of the world to improve the level of the league. As stated before the MLS is in its infancy, but with the draft system and the use of college athletes clubs cannot develop academies to develop their talent for the future, nor can they attract young talent from overseas because the finances and opportunity for these players is just not there.

Yaya Toure- Earns around $300,000 a week

 
   From a financial side, the structure of the MLS does not open it up to a global market. While I understand that right now the MLS is looking to grow nationally, its current structure does not give it the ability to improve to a level where world class players would consistently be willing to come and play, and in turn make the league better. The MLS may attract players who are coming to the end of their careers, players who are looking for one last swan-song, but is this really a development? As many people will know there is a salary cap that is implemented by the league. Each team can spend can spend only $2,675,000 per annum for the entire team, and the maximum any one player can earn is $335,000 per annum. Barring the exception that each team can bring in two designated players that do not fall under this umbrella and can earn an unspecified amount (David Beckham). This structure keeps all teams on a level playing field, but it does not allow for growth. You cannot consistently win the league (something that is made difficult by the draft process) with only two great players, and you cannot attract more than two great players because the financial structure doesn’t allow it. Though it can be said that players salaries in Europe and around the world have become a little too inflated over the past few years, it is worth noting that the likes of Wayne Rooney, Yaya Toure, and Cristiano Ronaldo to name a few, all earn similar amounts in a week that many of the MLS players do in a year (barring the designated players). With this said, how do you attract more than a handful of these players to come and play in a league that cannot compete with their weekly salaries?

CJ Sapong- MLS 'Rookie of the Year 2011' earns $42,000 a year

     The main problem with the MLS is that instead of following the rest of the world in its governing of soccer, it has decided to go down the path of the rest of its sports. It seems as though those who govern the MLS either do not want to globalize US soccer, or they are just oblivious as to how it can be done. For the MLS and American soccer to grow it must transform from an American system into the system that is adopted globally. The season must come into line with the biggest leagues in the world, and the opportunity for individual club growth must be put at the forefront. Sport is a winner takes all market, and while other American sports may be happy to share championships every few years, no one around the world will ever take American soccer seriously until teams are allowed to grow and monopolize themselves. The talent will not come either. We may see players come to the US at the ends of their careers, but when winning is basically taken out of the players hands and put in the hands of the league it does not bode well for the worlds top talent to make their way to these shores.