Major League Soccer (MLS) is not one of the major US sports leagues. But their development progresses in small steps. The fact that most of the 2026 World Cup will take place in the USA should also contribute to this.
Former YB player Josef Martinez is one of the best players in MLS.
Football in the USA – that has been a constant announcement for half a century. Major League Soccer (MLS) is still overshadowed by the more popular sports of American football, basketball and baseball, but the league is thriving behind the major leagues NFL, NBA and MLB. This also has to do with the fact that football at high school and college level is not only popular with the many immigrant children from South America.
High value of the clubs
Old stars like Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer or Johan Cruyff used to play in the USA towards the end of their careers, and former top players like David Beckham were also engaged again and again in the MLS, which was launched in 1996. However, the league has developed steadily, with a franchise being added every year. There are currently 28 teams, a club from St. Louis will be added in 2023, and further expansions, for example in Las Vegas, are planned.
According to Sportico.com, the value of the franchises has increased significantly in recent years: in 2021, Los Angeles FC was the best-valued company at $860 million, ahead of Atlanta United (845 million) and Los Angeles Galaxy (835 million), with no value below $370 million.
Sought after: Atlanta recently paid $15 million for young Argentinian Thiago Almada (left), who previously played for Vélez Sarsfield.
Those are significant numbers. And the level of competition has also increased. The MLS clubs have long since started signing talent from South America. Atlanta, for example, spent nearly $15 million a few months ago to transfer 20-year-old Argentina midfielder Thiago Almada from Vélez Sarsfield. Chicago Fire takes into account the large community of Mexican descent in the city with the 6 million transfer of the young Mexican Jairo Torres.
A former YB player as the star of the league
Los Angeles Galaxy’s Mexico’s Chicharito and Los Angeles FC’s Carlos Vela are still among the most popular players, with Vela scoring all the goals in the weekend’s 3-0 win over Colorado in the season’s opener. The 28-year-old Venezuelan Josef Martinez, as a young player with the Young Boys in Bern, is considered one of the best footballers in the league not only because of 102 goals in 132 appearances for Atlanta. Atlanta United had the highest average attendance last year with around 44,000 fans – in 2019 and thus before the pandemic it was even 52,000, while the MLS average was only 21,000.
In 2026, the World Cup will take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada. USA have a young, talented team; the major event is intended to give impetus to the football movement in the country. But that’s what they say before every final round in every host country, it was like that in 1994 when the World Cup stopped in the USA. So that one can get one step closer to the eternal promise in the USA.