Major League Soccer or the MLS is America’s professional soccer league. It was founded in December 1993 and started its first season in April 1996. Since then it has grown from 10 teams to 27 and is increasing in popularity. But with its popularity comes the question, “Is the MLS a good League”?

In my opinion as an MLS fan, I would say yes. However, the MLS was not the first league I started watching. When I first started watching soccer, the league I would pay attention to was the English Premier League. At first, I didn’t know too much about the MLS. But that all changed on August 24, 2014 when I got to see my first live MLS game. After that, I became more and more interested in the MLS and the rest is history! Here are some of the reasons why I like this league.

The first reason why I like the MLS is because of its expansion growth. As I said before, the MLS was founded in December 1993 and began its first season in April 1996. It started out with 10 teams, five from the East and five from the West and over the years MLS teams have come and gone. But as of 2019, we have 27 teams. There are currently 23 active teams right now while the other 4 will begin playing in future seasons. One of these 4 franchises, FC Cincinnati, will begin playing in the spring of 2019!

Then in the spring of 2020, Inter Miami CF and Nashville’s MLS team will begin playing in the league. Afterwards, the city of Austin, Texas will be welcoming its first professional sports franchise know as Austin FC! In the years to follow, the MLS looks to spread the beautiful game into cities like Detroit, Sacramento, St. Louis and many more! And as this league continues to grow, so to will its popularity!

However, with rapid expansion comes rapid criticism. For example, Filip Bondy, the writer of the article “Major League Soccer May Be Growing Too Rapidly For Its Own Good” believes that “The addition of more MLS teams will only dilute the product further” (Bondy). “First touches will grow even sloppier. Meanwhile, the addition of each new team will lower the chances of a future title for established clubs”(Bondy). However, his opinion was recently proven wrong by a team know as Atlanta United FC. Nicknamed the Five Stripes, Atlanta has become one of the MLS' most popular expansion franchises. They made the MLS Cup playoffs in their first season in 2017. Then last season, in 2018, Atlanta won the MLS cup, ending the city's 23 year championship drought and giving Atlanta their first MLS Cup in just their first two years! So MLS expansion doesn't "dilute the product", it promotes it. Plus I wouldn't say it makes it harder for older teams to win a title, rather I would say it just increases the competition and makes the league more enjoyable! With good teams like Atlanta, loyal and passionate supporters are sure to follow which brings me to my next point.

The second reason why I like the MLS is because of the fan cultures. I really like MLS fans because of how much passion and support they show for their teams. Whether rain or shine, home or away MLS fans are always there cheering on their teams. Sure they may where hats and scarves like a normal sports fan would but they are more than just your average sports fans. For example, each MLS team has sections of their stadium sectioned off for big groups of enthusiastic fans called Supporters’ Groups. A Supporters’ Group is a collection of passionate fans that gets together for games and supports their team. During the game some supporters groups won't even sit down. They prefer to sing and chant, play instruments, wave flags, and set up giant displays called tifos.

In short, a tifo is a really big banner or artistic display that is shown at soccer games. It’s designed to motivate the players, energize the fans, and can even take weeks and sometimes months to create! And they do all that just to display it for a few minutes before the start of a game. 

With a hot team and enthusiastic fans, their vibe will spread through the city. For example, Atlanta United according to a USA TODAY article averaged about 48,200 fans per game during the 2018 season. And with their recent win for the MLS Cup, they broke the MLS Cup fan attendance record with 73,019 fans! Keep in mind that they play in the new Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta which can hold up to about 71,000 fans and is also the home of the NFL team, the Atlanta Falcons. With fan attendance like this, you can expect that the MLS will become popular within the near future. And as new teams and new fan cultures arise, it makes the perfect conditions for a rivalry. Which brings me to my last point.

The final reason why I like the MLS is because of the rivalries. The main reason why is because of the passion, support, intensity, and energy that the fans and players bring to their cities! Whether, in sunny Los Angles or in bustling New York, rivalries are beginning to pop up everywhere. Here are some examples of famous MLS rivalries :

LA Galaxy vs. San Jose Earthquakes (The California Clásico) - Battle for California.

NYCFC vs. NY Red Bulls - The Hudson River Derby (Is New York red or blue)?

Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers - Battle for the Cascadia Cup (also includes the Vancouver Whitecaps).

In soccer, the closest team to you is your rival. For example, I support the Philadelphia Union so our closest rivals are the New York Red Bulls (Harrison, NJ) and DC United (Washington D.C.). Most teams compete for bragging rights and others will compete for cups. But, there is one rivalry in particular that stands out. In the Texas Derby, FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo compete for an 18th century mountain howitzer cannon called "El Capitán"! 

MLS rivalries definitely attract a lot of fans and help boost the league's moral and popularity. But just as there is a good side to them, there is also a bad side. Tensions can run high between the players and the fans at some of these games. Sometimes they have even resulted in brawls in which people have gotten arrested. Even the players will get into pushing and shoving scuffles that have resulted in players getting sent off the field and suspended for a few games. However, fights and scuffles like this don't break out every game, most games are pretty okay. I know from experiences that rivalries are amazing and when that ball hits the back of the net...the fans go absolutely insane!

Overall, the MLS is definitely a league to watch out for. It is still a growing league, it has a lot of loyal and passionate fan cultures, and also big rivalries that should be on everyone's radar. Although it still has a ways to go, it definitely is an exciting league! With new teams, new fan cultures, and new rivalries the MLS could become the world's next most popular soccer league!