EDITORIAL: Why MLS Needs A Strong NASL

Raul will be playing for the New York Cosmos.

No I am not kidding.

While many of us in soccer circles have been hearing for years that all-time leading Champions League goal scorer would be coming to the defending NASL Champions, it always seemed like more of a rumor. Americans soccer supporters are given hundreds of rumors each week about “insert international player is interested in coming to MLS.”

But this situation is different. Raul is indeed coming to the United States. It is just that he is playing for an NASL side, the New York Cosmos, and not an MLS side. The 37-year old Spaniard signed a five-year contract with the Cosmos to play and manage their youth academy program.

This is a good thing for MLS.

Now while many may see this as an opportunity to knock MLS and start up the debate of promotion/relegation in North American soccer, let’s look at this from a different perspective. Raul, one of the best players over the past 20 years in European soccer, has decided that the opportunity and the quality of play in the NASL is good enough that he can finish off his career there.

Let’s also knock out the narcissim. Yes, this is not the same Raul who played for Real Madrid. This a 37-year old Raul who may not be able to play three matches in a week.

But this is still Raul and this is still a big grab for a fledgling NASL. It caps a strong season for the league, which saw it add a national television contract with ESPN and the overwhelming success of the Indy Eleven expansion team. No longer the little brother to MLS, it is a league that is showing that it can stand on its own two feet.

To say that the relationship between MLS and NASL has been fractured would be an understatement. While MLS models themselves more after traditional American sports, the NASL has more facets in their operation that resemble an international model. The league plays in a single table and like the South American leagues has a fall and winter season. The NASL also takes off during international friendlies, something which MLS will finally do in 2015.

Competition is good. In any market environment, competition between two entities spurs innovation, increases resources, and makes people want to put out a better product. It is the one fundamental thing that has been lacking here in North America in terms of our footballing product: good competition.

Complacency kills products and for years MLS treaded water with no real competition in the U.S aside from soccer supporters being indifferent towards their product. Having an organization like the NASL questioning the order of things has forced MLS to think outside of the box and move forward.

So let’s assume that the relationship between MLS and NASL will continue the way it currently is into the future. That is that although U.S. and Canadian Soccer do not have a promotion/relegation system that MLS is the top level of soccer and NASL is the second level (1A?) If players of Raul’s caliber are not only wanting to come into that league to play, but are also interested in getting involved in a technical capacity then that means levels beyond MLS are getting quality players and quality soccer minds.

We have already started to see what levels of soccer outside of MLS can produce. There is a reason why clubs like the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Orlando City S.C. are essentially being “promoted” from other divisions. These are ready-made franchises who can come into the league with their own supporters groups, their own models for success, their own academies and a foothold in their region.

Let’s look at a city like Minnesota, home of the NASL’s Minnesota United F.C. Prior to entering the NASL, Minnesota had a few squads but had largely seen their teams fold after a handful of years. With the introduction MUFC in 2013, the club has seen improvements not only in attendance, but in the quality of play on the pitch. There is a reason MLS has been considering a Minnesota franchise and it is because of the work of MUFC in NASL.

Having another quality league in North America like the NASL also help improves the play on the pitch in MLS. There’s a reason why players like Conor Lade (New York Cosmos/New York Red Bulls,) and Danny Mwanga (New York Cosmos/Colorado Rapids) have been placed on loan to NASL sides; it is because their parents sides believe they can get experience at a competitive level in the NASL.

You also look at the likes of Miguel Ibarra (Minnesota United,) Ben Spencer (Indy Eleven,) and Victor Pineda (Indy Eleven) who were able to make the U.S. Men’s National Teams at the senior team and U-21 levels and you can see that NASL can produce top quality players that may turn up in MLS.

For years MLS seemed to ignore the lower divisions of North American soccer and it seemed to be to their detriment. Now the league is bearing the fruits of greater integration with leagues like USL Pro and NPSL.

While Raul might not be scoring goals for the New York Red Bulls in 2014, his influence as a player and a technical director for the Cosmos will help North American soccer. That includes MLS.

We may not see MLS Commissioner Don Garber ever wear a New York Cosmos scarf or drink a beer from the Indy Eleven stands. But perhaps one day when Conor Lade leads the United States to the World Cup he and Raul can share a cigar.