USL
| Founded | December 17, 1993[1] |
|---|---|
| Country | United States • Canada |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States.[2][3] The league comprises 40 teams—32 in the United States and 8 in Canada—since the 2023 season.[4][5] MLS is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
Major League Soccer is the most recent in a series of men's premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984.[6] MLS was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[7] The inaugural season took place in 1996 with ten teams.[8] MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, losing millions of dollars and folding two teams in 2002.[9] Since then, developments such as the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums around the league, implementation of the Designated Player Rule allowing teams to sign star players such as David Beckham, and national TV contracts have made MLS profitable.[10] In 2022, with an average attendance of over 21,000 per game, MLS has the fourth-highest average attendance of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, behind the National Football League (NFL) with over 69,000 fans per game and Major League Baseball (MLB) with over 26,000 fans per game, and the Canadian Football League (CFL) with over 21,700 fans per game.[11][12] MLS was the eighth-highest attended professional soccer league worldwide by 2018.[13] The MLS regular season typically starts in late February or early March and runs through mid-October, with each team playing 34 games;[14][15] the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters' Shield. Eighteen teams compete in the postseason MLS Cup Playoffs in late October and November, culminating in the league's championship game, the MLS Cup.[16]
Teams[edit]
- Pacific: Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Las Vegas
- Central: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Saltlake, Saskatoon, St. Louis, Winnipeg
- Metro: Atlanta, Carolina, Columbus, Louisville, Nashville, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
- Atlantic: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Miami, Montreal, Orlando, Ottawa, Quebec, Tampa, Toronto
Extra[edit]
- ↑ Borg, Simon (December 17, 2010). "MLS celebrates 17th anniversary of formal debut". MLSSoccer.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "About Major League Soccer". USSoccer.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Fraser v. Major League Soccer, 01 F.3d 1296 (1st Cir. 2002).
- ↑ "MLS announces plans to expand to 30 teams". MLSSoccer.com. April 18, 2019. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "St. Louis City unveil new renderings of state-of-the-art stadium ahead of 2023 MLS debut". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "By The Numbers... North American Soccer League vs Major League Soccer". February 11, 2013. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "About Major League Soccer". MLSnet.com. September 5, 2008. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
- ↑ "1996 Season Recap". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Teams". Forbes. November 20, 2013. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Smith, Chris (August 19, 2015). "Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Teams 2015". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Broughton, David (April 10, 2023). "Attendance evolution since 2003". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ↑ Strong, Gregory (May 19, 2023). "Intentional Grounding: CFL coverage to take hit with fewer reporters on the road". Toronto Star. The Canadian Press. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ↑ Poli, Raffaele; Ravenel, Loïc; Besson, Roger (April 2019). "Attendances in football stadia (2003–2018)" (PDF). International Centre for Sports Studies. p. 3. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ↑ "MLS expands playoffs, adds 2 teams in 20th season". USA Today. January 7, 2015. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Major League Soccer unveils 2015 schedule, with Decision Day finale and expanded playoff format". Major League Soccer. January 7, 2015. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "MLS Cup Playoffs 101: How the 2013 postseason works". Portland Timbers. October 29, 2013. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014. Unknown parameter
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