America First didn’t work for Major League Soccer
Sports are often an interesting prism for larger societal debates. As the U.S. considers a course of economic nationalism, a sports league that was founded with such inward leanings, Major League Soccer, is moving the other way, becoming a buyer and seller of international talent.
Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as a way to grow American interest in soccer and to develop U.S. talent. Yet every move the league has made since to grow and stabilize its finances has been to globalize. American-centric rules for play, such as using a countdown clock, were dropped because they alienated traditional soccer fans. In 2007, recognizing that American talent alone wasn’t enough, MLS created the designated player rule, allowing teams to spend extra money to attract international players.
Initially set at one player per franchise — after which legendary English player David Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy — the rule now allows three designated players per team, with the money allotted for each slot increasing over time.
Rule changes can take a while to translate into revolutionary changes in strategy. The National Basketball Association first introduced the three-point shot in 1979, but it took until this decade for the Golden State Warriors to win championships by gearing their offence around it. And just as the Warriors changed the NBA, Atlanta United may have changed the MLS with its strategy as a firstyear expansion team in 2017.
Rather than building its team around American talent or aging international stars, Atlanta took advantage of the designated player rule to create a high-scoring team with young South American talent. For its coach, Atlanta hired Gerardo (Tata) Martino, who previously had led Argentina’s national team. For its three designated players, Atlanta signed Josef Martinez, a Venezuelan, Hector Villalba, an Argentine, and Miguel Almiron, a Paraguayan, all in their early 20s.
The strategy bore fruit. Atlanta was the second-highest-scoring team in the league and made the playoffs. It set the league record for attendance in a season and a single game. The three designated players accounted for 42 of the team’s 70 goals, with no American on the team scoring more than three. And two of those three players were in the top three in jersey sales, with Almiron’s being the bestselling MLS jersey.
With the Atlanta model proving a success, other teams are looking to apply an even more extreme version of it. The Los Angeles Football Club, an expansion team in 2018, has signed Uruguayan teenager Diego Rossi, the second-youngest designated player in MLS history. For its part, Atlanta has tried to acquire 18-year-old Ezequiel Barco from his Argentine club, willing to pay an MLS-record US$12-million transfer fee to acquire him.
A spending spree on young South American talent isn’t just about wins and losses. It’s also about the potential for profit by reselling players to wealthier clubs in Europe. After their successful season with Atlanta, offers came in for both Almiron and Martinez. The club is willing to pay US$12 million for Barco because of the potential to sell him down the road.
MLS may still be in the talentdevelopment business — it’s just likely to be South American rather than domestic talent.