Your guide to Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer – MLS is the top tier men’s professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. MLS plays 5th to the traditional sports – NFL, NBA, MLB and the NHL. But it’s catching up fast, According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 7% of Americans cited soccer as their favorite sport to watch, while 9% preferred America’s pastime baseball, also the Major League Soccer’s average attendance of 21,358 from 2013-18 ranks No. 8 in the world, trailing Ligue 1 in France (21,556) and Italy’s Serie A (22,967), according to the CIES Football Observatory.
Photo credit – flickr – Duncan Nicol
The history of Major League Soccer
The history of Major League Soccer goes all the way back to 1993! When it was set up as part of the United States successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The inaugural MLS league season took place in 1996 with ten teams. The league struggled financially and operationally in the debut years as soccer was a pretty much unknown sport in the USA, fans were slow to follow which resulted in many teams playing to empty stadiums, the original ten teams began playing in NFL stadiums which didn’t help with such a low fanbase for soccer. The League would suffer badly in the first few years with two teams dropping out and was in real danger of collapsing until 2002.
The 5 best soccer betting sites
It was the unexpectedly amazing run the United States had in the 2002 World Cup that would be the boost that the MLB needed. The US somehow made the quarterfinals through wins against Portugal and Mexico, this would ignite a new passion and following for soccer in the USA. 2007 would be the next surge in MLS popularity as Toronto FC joined the league, which proved to be a massive hit with Canadian fans. Also 2007 would see super star David Beckham join MLS drawing sellout crowds for the LA Galaxy and draw a new legion of fans to soccer in the US. After this, the MLS would never look back, building in popularity, teams and revenue every year.
League Format
The regular MLB season starts in late February or early March and goes through mid-October, with each team playing 34 games. Then fourteen teams compete in the postseason MLS Cup Playoffs through October and November, culminating in the penultimate the MLS Cup. MLS teams also play in domestic competitions against teams from other divisions in the U.S. Open Cup and in the Canadian Championship.
The 10 biggest sports leagues in the world by revenue
The Teams
The league comprises 26 teams—23 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada and there are plans expand the league to 30 teams by 2022. The Seattle Sounders FC are the current MLS Cup holders and LA Galaxy are the most successful team in the MLS with 5 wins.
Similar to the other American leagues, the teams are geographically divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences.
The 10 most successful teams in the MLS
Eastern Conference Teams
Atlanta United FC – Georgia
Chicago Fire – Illinois
Columbus Crew SC – Ohio
D.C. United – Washington, D.C
FC Cincinnati – Ohio
Inter Miami – Florida
Montreal Impact – Quebec
Nashville – Tennessee
New England Revolution – Massachusetts
New York City FC – New York
The 10 most popular football clubs
New York Red Bulls – New Jersey
Orlando City SC – Florida
Philadelphia Union – Pennsylvania
Toronto FC – Ontario
Western Conference
Colorado Rapids – Colorado
FC Dallas – Texas
Houston Dynamo – Texas
LA Galaxy – California
Los Angeles FC – California
Minnesota United FC – Minnesota
Portland Timbers – Oregon
Real Salt Lake – Utah
San Jose Earthquakes – California
Seattle Sounders FC – Washington
Sporting Kansas City – Kansas
Vancouver Whitecaps FC – British Columbia
The 10 most expensive football transfers ever
2022 MLS season
New York City FC beat the Portland Timbers to win the 2021 MLS Cup title.
The 2022 season started on the 26th February and finished on October 9th, the Cup final was held on November 5th, just 2 weeks before the 2022 World Cup begins. 2022 The MLS Cup Final was contested by two of first-time finalists – Los Angeles Football club and Philadelphia Union at the Banc of California Stadium. LAFC won after a 3-3 draw let to a penalty shootout, with LA winning 3-0.
Previous MLS Cup winners
- 2022 Los Angeles FC
- 2021 New York City FC
- 2020 Columbus Crew
- 2019 Seattle Sounders
- 2018 Atlanta United FC
- 2017 Toronto FC
- 2016 Seattle Sounders
- 2015 Portland Timbers
- 2014 Los Angeles Galaxy
- 2013 Sporting Kansas City
- 2012 LosAngeles Galaxy
PledgeSports is the global leader in crowdfunding & sponsorship for sport.
For all the latest sports news follow PledgeSports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.