Major League Soccer has grown immensely in its first twenty years. Anyone who has followed the league since its conception or looks at the history can tell just how far it has come. One of the biggest factors in the growth of MLS has been the desire to avoid mistakes made by the previous American soccer leagues that eventually led to their various demises. In that, MLS has execeeded expectations while fielding a fun and exciting product each season.
What makes MLS great is the parity in the league. The realistic expectation is that any team can win MLS Cup at the start of every season. This little difference is what keeps MLS in the discussion about the most entertaining leagues in the world. European fans are beginning to migrate to MLS action for this very reason. In the elite leagues in Europe, money wins. The only real competition in the leagues are among the top few teams fighting for a trophy and the handful hoping to avoid relegation. Every club in the middle is just maintaining their status with no real hopes of major awards.
But for all the growth and success MLS has experienced and for as exciting as the seasons are, there are a few glaring issues which still threaten the league.
1. Roster Rules
The rosters rules are set to maintain parity throughout the league and give every team a chance at winning MLS Cup every year. The rules serve their purpose very well. In 2013 DC United was the worst team in MLS, but by 2014 they had turned things around finished first in the Eastern Conference. Instead of traditional free agency, out of contract players are put through a draft giving the lower ranked teams a chance to bolster their rosters first.
The designated player rule may have been the best addition to the MLS rulebook. When David Beckham agreed to come to MLS and MLS changed the rules to allow him to make a wage worth coming for, the new rule was born. Now each team can have three players above the salary cap. This rule greatly increased the quality of play on the field without impacting the parity of the league too negatively. Spending money is still rewarded, but three players cannot break the game.
But the roster rules in the last few years have become somewhat of a burden and their implementation is not transparent. In the past, incoming transfers from other leagues have followed the Discovery Rights rule. Discovery rights are in place on a play by any MLS team and if that player were to move to MLS during the season, that team has the right of first refusal to the player in question. Each season these rights are dropped and must be requested again and in the event that two teams have tagged the same player, the rights go in request order.
Designated Players have always bypassed the discovery rule though. If a team was willing to pay DP salaries, they were allowed to sign the player. Unlike international players, returning USMNT players are put through an allocation process giving each team a chance to sign them in reverse standings order. But when these players are offered Designated Player contracts, the system breaks down.
In 2014, Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley returned to MLS before a number of other US internationals. With these two stars being the first to return and requiring Designated Player status, the precedent was set that the players had some say in where they played. Everything seemed in order, but the transfer fees were astronomical and Major League Soccer had to help fund the deals.
Things got hairy when the Philadelphia Union wanted to sign Maurice Edu, but the league said he must go through allocation even though he was a pending Designated Player and MLS was not going to help with the transfer fee. The Union ended up signing Edu on loan to guarantee he would play for them. To make matters worse, Jermaine Jones’ return was met with two teams vying for his rights and a lottery decided his fate.
So, in the eyes of the fans, returning USMNT players coming as Designated Players follow the will of the league and clubs only receive financial aid for the players if the league sees fit to give it. For a league that thrives on parity and continues to gain support overseas because of it, obvious inconsistencies like this look bad and can easily be taken as bias or even tampering. Why should one team get a portion of a transfer fee paid for and not another? Why should certain players get to pick their team and others have to go through the allocation system?
2. Officiating Issues and Disciplinary Action
It is widely known that CONCACAF referees are not the greatest, but the inconsistency they show is abhorrent. What is deemed a red card by one official may not be called a foul by another. To further diminish the efforts, what is called a foul and carded in one half of a game may not be called in the other.
Over the last several season there have been a string of overly physical and borderline dirty challenges that by the Laws of the Game should have seen red, that didn’t. Sometimes these are ignored or shown yellow because the game is just starting. Obviously no official wants to show a red card in the opening five minutes.
Timing isn’t the only issue though. Dangerous play is constantly ignored or called very inconsistently. There are a few actions that have to be shown certain punishments that aren’t. Any scissor tackle, any two footed lunge, or any high boot needs to be punished with a red card, even if contact is not made. That is the definition of dangerous play.
Going back to a league with as much parity as MLS, one or two poor officiating decisions can alter the course of a season. Not sending a player off, allowing or disallowing a goal due to an incorrect offside call, or avoiding giving a second yellow can result in a team incorrectly missing the playoffs, or a trophy. Normally these things will work themselves out in the wash, but with MLS playoff qualifiers being just points apart, every point counts and ever game lost to obviously poor officiating matters.
Now it goes without saying that all officials will make mistakes and that judgment calls are part of the game. No referee will ever get every single call correct and it should not be expected. But the clear as day calls and the dangerous play cannot continue if MLS wants to continue its ascension to the best league in the world.
3. Expansion Rules
Expansion is great for MLS and until the league reaches 24 team, expansion will be a good thing. The addition of Minnesota United FC, Atlanta’s unnamed team, and Orlando City SC both add new markets to the league and expand the sport. The promise and plans for new stadiums along with a high level of play will be a boon to MLS.
Sadly, even expansion has its black marks against it. At one point, MLS fans shared the desire for a soccer specific stadium for each team and Don Garber even stated that it was a requirement for teams joining MLS. Shared stadiums with football lines were a necessary evil in the beginning, but something to move away from. Now, it appears that the league office is willing to accept a team for $100 million without the stadium requirement.
City Football Group was award a franchise without plans for a stadium or even a place to put one. Sharing a stadium to start out is one thing, but to have no guarantees that a permanent home is possible has upset many fans. Atlanta won their bid for an MLS franchise with the announcement of a new stadium to be shared with the Falcons of the National Football League. Seattle is comfortably staying at CenturyLink Field, which is the best place for the team, instead of looking for their own home. David Beckham’s bid for a franchise in Miami continues to stall because he cannot secure a site and permission to build from the city.
It’s hard to argue against the benefits of sharing a stadium that is designed for soccer like CenturyLink Field and Atlanta’s new stadium. The issues arise when the league office says one thing and continually does another. If a soccer specific stadium or plans for one are a requirement for joining the league, then they need to be enforced in every instance or the requirements need to be publicly dropped. The growth of MLS is a good thing, but doing so by bending the rules or selectively applying the rules, taints the process.
4. Promotion and Relegation Discussion
The arguments for and against promotion and relegation in the United States are the most polarizing of any topic out there. Fans of one team can argue all night and never agree on anything. Both sides can see some good and some bad, and the fanatics for each have ways of proving their points, it doesn’t change many views. It does however generate a stir and shows that fans are passionate and willing to stand up for what they see as best.
Whether you agree or disagree with the system, one thing is clear: Don Garber does not want to discuss it. One would think a league striving to take off would embrace one of the biggest talking points it has, but the commissioner has said it won’t be happening, or at least in the foreseeable future, and that’s not up for debate. No solid reasons are ever given, except for the idea that it isn’t what owners signed up for when they bought into the league.
The answer given isn’t really the issue. Most reasonable fans understand that a promotion and relegation system would take several years to set up and would need a much better second tier of US Soccer. It’s the way the answer is given and that none of the reasoning has been disclosed that is the problem. If Don Garber would give even a few logical reasons why the system is not being considered, the general fans would likely be appeased. But in a league that has had so many shady dealings and exceptions to the rules, their word in a decision of this magnitude is not enough.
5. FIFA Calendar and International Breaks
The full FIFA calendar which sees teams play from August to May will not work in the harsh winters in many MLS cities. This inability to join the "normal" transfer windows leads to some difficulties with scheduling. The international transfer window in January lines up perfectly with the MLS off season and allows for easy transfers to and from Europe.
The summer window can be very problematic. European teams tend to snag the best or most promising MLS talents and leave a team stranded mid-season looking for a replacement. It’s an unavoidable evil, but one that is able to be overcome.
What isn’t so favorable is the international breaks throughout the season. With the way Major League Soccer schedules the regular season and bye weeks around US Open Cup play, things can get a bit tricky. Having to be finished in October to allow enough time for the MLS Cup Playoffs means rescheduling matches at the end of the year isn’t possible.
Losing players to international duty has not been a major issue for MLS in the past, but the influx of CONCACAF international players and the growing list of US internationals playing domestically has led to some very thin weeks. Just this season, 58 players were called up for international duty. That’s over 10% of the 27 man rosters each MLS team is allowed to keep during the regular season. The impact to the product does not go unnoticed.
6. The Results of Lampardgate
Frank Lampard was hailed as the biggest signing of the 2015 offseason, but it is a signing marred by lies and deceit. It was announced that Lampard had signed a deal with Major League Soccer and New York City FC in the summer and would be joining the club before the start of the 2015 season. Since there was half a year before his team would play their first match, it was then reported that Lampard was loaned to Manchester City to stay in form. With City’s run of success in the English Premier League, they wanted to keep Lampard on through the end of the season, and that’s where things went wrong.
MLS fans were promised Lampard for 2015 and wanted NYCFC to honor that and bring him here to play. As it turned out, Lampard had not yet signed a deal with MLS or NYCFC and was not under contract to play for MLS.
There is nothing good that came out of the way this scenario was handled, but by far the worst part is the lying New York City FC, Major League Soccer, and Don Garber participated in regarding this deal. When an organization states that they have signed a player to a contract and sent him out on loan, it is clear to fans that they own his rights. These lies are inexcusable.
Conclusion
Major League Soccer has come a long way through brilliant leadership. Not every decision made was popular, but they were all necessary. Now, at the twenty year mark, all of the progress could easily be undermined if the league doesn't take some time to seriously evaluate its handlings of several key elements.
With Commissioner Garber appearing to play favorites, the league accepting money as an alternative to set rules, and tampering with rosters and allocation, the whole system is easily viewed as tainted. The last thing a league that thrives on parity needs is a scandal revolving around stacking teams and picking where the best players go.
The product that is Major League Soccer is unique, exciting, and entertaining. While the competition may not be the best, it's certianly unpredictable. This little difference compared to the rest of the world gives MLS a chance to compete with the largest and most prestigious leagues for ratings and TV time because it offers the underdog a chance to win every season. No one enjoys seeing their team lose every season, but it can become a burden when winning isn't a realistic option. Protecting the integrity of all aspects of the league should be first and foremost on the minds of anyone who claims to love and respect this league and wants to see it grow to its full potential.