MLS reaches maturity as 21st season kicks off
LOS ANGELES: The 21st season of Major League Soccer kicks off across North America this weekend with officials optimistic about prospects for future growth despite emerging challenges from rival competitions across the globe.
A legacy of the 1994 World Cup, MLS has come a long way since the San Jose Clash kicked off the league with a 1-0 win over DC United in front of 31,863 fans on April 6, 1996.
While the MLS is yet to reach the same sort of prominence as American football, baseball and basketball, the beautiful game has nevertheless established a solid foothold that stretches across the nation.
Since the inaugural season two decades ago, the MLS has doubled in size, increasing to 20 teams from the original 10, with four more teams scheduled by 2020 and ultimately expanding to a 28-team league.
Average attendances have shown a steady increase, reaching a record of 21,619 per game during the 2015 season, up sharply from 2000, when average crowds for each match hit a record low of 13,611.
Orlando City have already sold more than 43,000 tickets for their game against Real Salt Lake on Sunday, and are aiming to sell out their season-opener at the 62,500-capacity Citrus Bowl for a second straight year.
The defending MLS Cup champions, the Portland Timbers, have a waiting list for season tickets at their 21,000-seat home while Pacific Northwest rivals the Seattle Sounders frequently draw crowds of 40,000 or more.
Mark Abbott, the deputy commissioner of MLS who was an instrumental figure in founding the league, says the increased attendance figures reflect the shifting demographics of soccer’s fan base.
A generation of fans who watched the 1994 World Cup as children are in their mid-20s and 30s and have grown up with the sport.
“What’s happened over the last 22 years in the United States and Canada since the 1994 World Cup is that they have both become soccer nations,” Abbott told AFP.
“What we’re seeing now is a fan base that is being driven by young people who have grown up with soccer in a way that is different.
“That’s the most significant thing that has been happening. It’s not some foreign, exotic sport any more – it’s a sport that people know and love and love being fans of.”
The international profile of the league has also been boosted through the recent arrival of several globally renowned foreign stars.
Since David Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007, a lengthening list of overseas players have joined the ranks of the MLS, notably Didier Drogba, Kaka, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa.
Crucially, the league has also begun to attract foreign players in their prime, such as 29-yearold Italy international Sebastian Giovinco, who joined Toronto FC from Juventus in 2015, and Mexican striker Giovani dos Santos. — AFP