The Forgotten League - By Jeff Bailey

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, yet in America the sport is an afterthought. Soccer, or futbol as it is known throughout the rest of the world, is one of the true international sports. All over the world there are major and minor leagues which people cannot get enough of. Here in the United States there is Major League Soccer (MLS). The MLS kicked off its 15th season this past weekend, but the majority of America will have no idea. The MLS started its first season back in 1996 with 10 teams while this year the league has 18 teams, two of which are in Canada. The number of teams, players, and matches has increased in the last 15 years but America’s lack of involvement and love for the game has gone unchanged.

Youth soccer is the most popular sport for young children, and has been for 15-20 years. Somehow though, that popularity does not transfer to professional soccer like it does for baseball, basketball, and football. If you asked most Americans to name as many players as they can think of who play in the MLS, most will only come up with Landon Donavan and maybe one other. But if you ask them name soccer players in general, they will be able to rattle of a handful of European players, even if they are not soccer fans. The same thing goes with MLS teams. Most Americans can probably name off the LA Galaxy, DC United, and maybe one more team; but they could easily name off Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, AC Milan, etc from Europe.

Soccer is truly an international sport. Every four years soccer holds one of the best international sporting events, The World Cup. The only other international sporting event that is more popular and brings more people together is the Olympics. The World Cup is the only time Americans have any interest in soccer. Even then, the hardcore soccer fans call ‘foul’ because none of the World-Cup-only-fans are “real” fans. This is one of the major problems with American soccer. These hardcore fans should be happy that more people are getting involved with soccer.

Growing up in Columbus, Ohio my whole life we received one of the original 10 teams of the MLS. Even with Columbus being a very soccer friendly town, the support for the Columbus Crew is minimal. In 2008, the Crew won the MLS Cup yet their stadium, the first ever soccer specific stadium in the country, was only half full. This is a trend of most MLS teams from around the country. So why is the MLS so unpopular with Americans?

For starters, soccer is not “America’s sport”. America was very late in adopting professional soccer and because of that the US national team barely cracks the top 10 in world competitions. Since the US national team is lackluster compared to our European foes, Americans just turn the other shoulder when it comes to soccer. Americans don’t like soccer because we are not the best in the world at it, and the MLS does not have the best players in the world.

The United States has been blessed with sports leagues. The NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB are the Meccas of their respected sport. Players from all around the world want to make it to those leagues. The MLS is not like that because the best players and competition in the world is in Europe. Since the MLS does not involve the best players and the US National team hardly competes for championships, the MLS as a whole suffers because American’s want the best.

The future is looking brighter for MLS though. Over the past couple year’s attendance has been on the rise throughout all stadiums, and MLS teams are now starting to turn a profit each season. The rise in soccer interest has risen over the past decade, and the US National team has invested a lot of time, effort, and money into creating/finding the next big US soccer stars so they can compete for world championships. While I do agree European soccer is a lot more fun and enjoyable to watch, I still go to multiple Columbus Crew games a year just to support the team. We, as Americans, should be happy we have a great and building soccer league that will someday be on the same level as European leagues. If you’ve never been to an MLS game, I encourage you to go, not only to support US soccer, but to have a great time; you never know, you might be watching the world’s next Ronaldo or Beckham.