What Kind of League Does the MLS Want To Be?

As the league approaches its 30th year, it finds itself at a critical point to either become a dominant player in the US sports scene or fade into irrelevance

In every person’s life, there is a moment when they decide what kind of person they want to be — a crossroads of sorts. The same applies to sports leagues, where a league has to determine the road that it decides to travel. In the NBA, for example, the league decided years ago that its decisions would be determined around the idea that the league was built around its star players. Baseball has routinely decided to value tradition and history above all else in the way it positions itself. But there is a league that is at a sort of crossroads at this very moment, and that league is Major League Soccer or the MLS. The American soccer league finds itself in a position of growth but is at a moment where it must decide what kind of league it wants to be.

The Farm System Option

There are ultimately two types of leagues that the MLS could decide to become. The first of those two is to be a farm system for larger leagues. In other words, the league would scout young, local talent that…