A Beginner’s Guide to MLS

MLS can be overwhelming. If you come from any footballing background outside of the United States, or if you grow up in the United States and only watch everywhere else. It is an unholy combination of American sports rules like salary caps and trades, combined with transfers and youth academies. This video is a guide to understanding why and how it actually works.

There is also Lionel Messi. His transfer to Inter Miami is playing a very real role in shaping the future of MLS in a way that almost no other league outside Saudi Arabia could relate to at all. The rules are changing, the clubs are changing, and the way the league is perceived is changing. It is also stuck, but you’ll see why soon, because the teams can’t be full of stars, at least not yet.

Much Love,
Zealand

Sources
► Athletic
► ESPN Press Room
► Sports Media Watch
► Wikipedia

► LA Times
► Diario AS
► CNBC
► Fansided
► EuroNews
► The Guardian
► Boardroom
► San Diego Union Tribune

🎮 Zealand Playing:

🎙️ Podcasts:

📸 Zealand Stuff:

🌟 Adler (Editor) & Tomleggosaurus (Animator):

🙌 Thanks for watching & scrolling!

#MLS #Messi #Football #Soccer #Hashtags

[haydarali]

I'm a brit but I was at Philadelphia Union's opening game of this season vs Colombus Crew and it was really cool. The Prem doesn't have the massive flags and flares and all that is in a lot of European football so it was my first experience of that. Also nice food and it was also one of the highest scoring games of the season. Worst part tho was just getting to the stadium without a car, a nightmare

[razzlejazzled]

My hometown team (Portland Timbers) moving from the USL to MLS is what got me to pay attention to soccer in the first place. I wouldn't be a fan of the sport without MLS. As someone who didn't understand soccer at the time, the team moving from "minor league" to "major league" (As I thought of it back then) to only become the second "major league" team in the city (after the NBA's Trailblazers) got a ton of media attention and hype in the city, and I got caught up into that and over the course of the next few years was converted into being a soccer fan.

[MikeLikesBikes]

I really hope the MLS does well! But just as I was about to go to my local Inter Miami games, Messi came. Which is amazing for the sport…but now a lot of locals can hardly attend 1 match. The tickets are just so much higher than any other sporting event in Miami.

[javi]

As an American I’ve been a fan of European football all my life but what really got me into the MLS was when Thierry Henry came to my NYRB. One of the greatest moments of my life was seeing his crazy Olympic goal against Columbus live after watching him dominate Europe on the tv.

[de]

The fact that MLS has only 3 designated players and generally younger squads with a high level of parity makes the league enjoyable to watch in my opinion.

[NeptuneTowers]

Could you do a video on the rules of the MLS? The draft, the trades, the contracts... I really like the MLS, but it's rather unplayable

[_Epic_]

The Americans are really doing something right with the MLS, promoting youth development and having a strict system in place for owners - really what needs to happen everywhere, in every league. Stops teams like Chelsea from spending £900M on dross, stops the Transfers reaching the ridiculous heights that they have, and would stop dodgy owners from buying clubs because they have deeper pockets, regardless of how they deepened them (Newcastle).

The MLS is growing rapidly, and can only be healthy for the sport.

[albertolopezadrados]

Apple should make a twitch for football streams, in stead of having to watch with a designated commentator, have hundreds of commentators on at the same time and have them bring their audience from other platforms. Imagine watching an MLS game with Zealand in a little window in the corner! Pure bliss!

[LiamRFT]

The MLS is a really cool league if you can get over it just being different

[claytonmoore]

I went to my first mls game, Atlanta United vs dc United, and the fans there were absolutely incredible even though I had no clue about mls but knew soccer well it was a hell of an experience

[Mr.Korzack]

I remember sold university friends getting into MLS so I thought 'Why not - give it a whirl'... Picking Chivas USA circa 2011 was Maybe a bad move though haha. Football manager has helped me make sense of the rules though, and while in most other leagues it feels like heresy, having an East and West league format has helped me settle on 2 sides (LAFC for the old Chivas connection and Minnesota because... I'm a Newcastle fan and from Toon to Loon is an easy connection to make haha) It has been great seeing MLS doing so well and hope it continues - a strong USA can only be good for football going forward

[CJ-BZ]

Despite all the crap MLS gets the model is sustainable and is clearly working. Also the games are fun as hell. I went to Orlando vs Atlanta United(in Atlanta) and it felt as, if not more, intense than a college football game 😅

[martynhunter]

Quite enjoyed that documentary style breakdown of the league. Would be good to watch more of other leagues

[volgg]

I'll be honest, i just hopped on the bandwagon to watch messi play in the MLS and I never really watched soccer/football before. I did watch some few games back in 2015-2016 FC Barcelona, but it never stuck with me. Now that Messi is playing in MLS, it just gave me that intriguing factor to see how one of the goats performs in a (let's face it) lesser known league. Now watching more games, it's starting to actually stick with me this time.

[doyle]

As someone who knows little about the MLS this was very entertaining and educating.

[LukeyShoes]

The fact that I have lived through all of these changes and seen them first hand is a wild realization, and I'll say this, the Messi move to Inter Miami has me feeling very similar to when Beckham joined. In fact I would say this is the most hope I've felt for the league in a long time. Getting to watch Nashville SC's storyline in the League Cup and see it collide with Messi and Inter Miami's is one for the league's history books and a truly special moment, where even in loss this city got to witness something they never thought they would see. I agree that this may be the most pivotal moment in the MLS's history to date.

[t.b.flowers]

I *REALLY* wanted to play MLS in FM(21?/22?) but i despised, HATED, the end of season problems with roster regulations/requirements. It was ridiculous and I couldn't put up with it after each season.
Great video summing MLS up. Thanks Z

[DrZaius]

Weirdly, I think that the system of no relegation and promotion actually works for the States. Firstly, because of the extreme parity in the league which means that luck can play a major role there. Secondly, because football is still in its infancy over there and like you need to protect a sapling from harsh conditions, you need to protect the teams from too big of a danger. A life-long Leicester fan won't stop being a fan because they get relegates, but if you're new as a fan and your team drops out, you might just stop altogether. Thirdly, because of the lack of density, the second tier would really really suck, and without diehard fans, that's unsustainable. Fourthly, the system of the MLS means that they can add teams to their hearts' content, meaning that new teams will always have a chance to emerge.

Here's the thing: If you want to get promoted to the EPL, in a roundabout way you still have to pay for that. The MLS is just more direct in it, so it relies less on clubs gambling away their future for a small chance at the golden ticket. The Championship is filled with clubs that are essentially bankrupt because promotion would solve those problems.

[timweihrauch]

I attended a Colorado Rapids v Kansas City Wiz game at Arrowhead in 2002. There might've been 1500 people in attendance. This past week, I went to a Colorado Rapids v. St Louis City SC game and it was sold out in STL's own stadium. It's been amazing to see how far the league has come.

[gracielynn]

This is a fantastic video. Only thing it’s missing is a run down of GAM, TAM, the salary cap structure, the roster designations and so on. Great for the history and how it got here, but I think the other information could be more useful to the new audiences.