A week away from the start of MLS 2009

It’s only a week away until Major League Soccer begins its next season with the Seattle Sounders FC hosting the New York Red Bulls.

Over the years that have been may growing pains for the league but it is finally starting to become one of the better leagues in the world.  At first, the league tried ideas such as the clock counting down and other gimmicks that didn’t work. At the end of the 90s and early 2000′s the league needed to make changes.

This is when the league made a few changes most noticeably the designated player rule was introducd and the extra time during playoff games was set to the International Football Assosciation Board rules. Another aspect that helped the league was the increase of American soccer and many younger players leaving to play in Europe. Most teams had rosters with half or more of Americans and as their level increased so did the quality of play on the pitch. It is now 2009 and there are many reasons to be optismistic for the new season.

The two newest teams, Toronto FC, and Seattle Sounders FC, have been able to build strong fan bases around the two clubs. Toronto has not been close to making the playoffs in their first few seasons but they sell out every home game and the atmosphere is comparable to some European clubs. Seattle has yet to play a game but had already sold over 20,000 season tickets, sold a lot of merchandise, and sold out the seaon opener of 32,400 against New York.

Real Salt Late now has their own soccer specific stadium, New York’s Red Bull arena will be ready for next season, and Kansas City is currently building theirs. Teams having these soccer specific stadiums is a good thing as many are forced to play in large American football venues, or in KC’s case a converted baseball park.

Finally, the league has attracted attention with bringing in players like David Beckham, regardless of if fans think his play and committment has been sub-par. The reputation of the league is growing and its gaining respect as one that is quality. Many top players have already stated their desire to play in MLS as their careers wind down. These include Henry and Ronaldinho, and with those names brings added media exposure, ticket sales, and merchandise revenues. The league has been careful to have a strict salary cap to make sure salaries don’t jump to levels that make it bankrupt but it should be raised from its current level.

Realistically MLS won’t be on level with the EPL for a while but within 10-15 years  it should be able to attract many top players. When there are 18-20 MLS franchises they could switch to a single table format (can still keep playoff with top 4 or 8). The salary cap should be raised to at least 5-7 million which would allow the ability to sign more mid-level players and keep the top domestic talent. There could also be some modifying the designated play rule, such as adding another spot, or creating an additional one just for American players. Overall, the outlook is optimistic heading into MLS 2009 March 19th at Qwest Field.

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