When will Major League Soccer join the rest of the footballing world?

For all of Don Garber’s faults one has to hand it to him: the man sticks to his guns. Faced with a changing landscape in North American and international soccer, the Commissioner of Major League Soccer had a unique opportunity to explain his worldview at the 2015 Soccerex Global Convention.

While some might take an opportunity like this to show how the league and Canadian /U.S. Soccer have closed the gap with the rest of the world and where they can help improve the landscape, Garber dug his heels. Rather than providing insight into where the league is going, Garber focused on how great things are and what makes the league great. Everyone, please turn on your “MLS canned statement about the state of the league” record.

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When asked what he hopes that the new FIFA President does with MLS he said,”We are certainly hopeful that they will continue to allow us to do what we have done pretty effectively which is grow the game in our country in ways which have probably exceeded most people’s expectations.”

When asked on why he thought that the league needed to continue on its same path and not fall in line more with the rest of the world Garber said, “Part and parcel to that is that we are new to this, we don’t have 100 years of professional soccer history and we are competing against four other major (North American sports) leagues that have been around for 100 years and we are trying to do that in a way in which will ensure that the league will be around for a long period of time.”

Those looking for a change in his position on promotion/relegation were also given a somber reminder that the league is not budging on that subject either. Garber said, “We play in a country where the major leagues are really successful. There is no promotion and relegation in hockey and basketball and they work really well. It is not happening in MLS any time soon.”

Now it would be easy to point out to Mr. Garber that MLS was only saved when the league started to bring in clubs like the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, and the Vancouver Whitecaps (clubs that are close to forty years old at this point) or that it had to re-name another club, the San Jose Earthquakes, to tie into that club’s history. One could also carefully point out that two of its clubs, the Philadelphia Union and Sporting Kansas City, are participating in the U.S. Open Cup this month in a tournament that is 101 years old.

That Garber believes that the league is still “new at this” is also a curious statement. It presumes two things: one, that league ownership are completely unaware of how soccer works in the world and that two, the owners are still learning the ropes of how to operate a team. If that were true then owners like the Kraft family (who own the New England Revolution,) Anschutz Entertainment Group (who own the Los Angeles Galaxy,) Stan Kroenke (owner of the Colorado Rapids and Arsenal,) the Hunt Family (who own F.C. Dallas,) and City Football Group (owners of New York City Football Club and too many teams to count) have no background in soccer and do not know the North American football landscape.

The truth is that MLS is not “new at this” but rather that they have found a system that suits their interest and that they are content with the system as it is. It is understandable: owners aren’t going to want to create a system like promotion/relegation where their teams could be knocked down a division and they are not going to want to get rid of the single-entity system because they want greater control over player movement.

Promotion/relegation is certainly a hotly contested topic and has both it merits and its drawbacks that have been debated to death. He uses the models employed by Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and the National Football League as reasons for why things like promotion/relegation cannot exist here in the United States.

But there is a rather large hole in this argument: those leagues are the top leagues in their respective sports, Major League Soccer is not. Those that point to financial issues in Europe and that more aging European players are coming to the United States as reasons for why MLS will inevitably rise in international soccer. However those same also like to ignore the television ratings, attendance figures, and T-Shirt sales of major European clubs relative to that of MLS teams.

The soccer landscape both in North America and the world is changing. Soccer supporters in Canada and the United States are being exposed to other leagues, cultures, and ideas moreso than they were years go. Players are having greater opportunities to play in leagues outside of MLS and earn a respectable living. Major League Soccer owners and officials might be happy with the status quo but their supporters are not and if the league does not bend to meet the demands of the market they will lose their market.

There is good news with this: MLS still can learn from the rest of the world on how to improve its product. It can take nodes from leagues like the Swedish Allsvenskan and the Russian Premier League on how to develop a schedule that closely aligns itself to the FIFA calendar and yet avoids the harshness of winter. It can learn from the German Bundesliga on how to create a salary model where players are paid fair wages and yet ticket prices. And yes it can even take a cue from the English Premier League and develop a system where clubs like AFC Bournemouth have a legitimate chance at making an impact in their top division.

All of this might be scary for the league and baby steps might be needed. But here is something that the league can start with: stop playing matches during the FIFA international calendar. While the calendar is obviously suited towards the European leagues it does not do MLS any favors when teams like the Columbus Crew SC have to play without eight of their players in a match with playoff implications. It may mean a few additional weekday matches but it will benefit the league in the end.

Garber may be right that the league is still new at this and it is okay to make mistakes. But if that is the case then it is too soon for the league to become entrenched in their ways. It must continue to evolve and expand its reach and impact and not be content with being another North American sports. It must work within the norms of international soccer to get its place as one of the top leagues in the world.

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