The MLS Should Have Promotion and Relegation

The United States soccer scene has a tricky history of being retold and rewritten constantly. The game was introduced to the U.S. by early immigrants, but was demonized and ridiculed for being a "foreign sport" while its leagues were left unprofitable. The stigma seemed to change following the 1994 World Cup, as the host country saw an immense boom in popularity towards the sport, resulting in the founding of the MLS in 1996.

Now here we are, 30 years later.

The promise of an "American Premier League" has been lost behind corporate greed and exuberant spending. A lot of the problems stem from one simple aspect of the league, one that may be keeping shareholders, however, it leaves fans wanting more. That aspect is the lack of promotion and relegation.

While nearly every other league on the planet has this feature, the MLS is yet to implement it, and it has been a constant detriment, not just to the MLS but to soccer culture in the United States. Promotion and relegation connect teams to the city in a way no other sport can, as owners are incentivised to do all they can to save a season to stay in good graces with the fans and not lose out on millions of dollars in revenue that can be used to make the team even better. Additionally, players have a rallying cry to fight around as they avoid relegation, and fans become engrossed in the happenings of their local team at any level. The U.S. has the perfect opportunity to institute such a league if the MLS and USL were to merge, and then we could have teams like the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Indy Eleven playing up to par with the Seattle Sounders or St. Louis SC. Promotion and relegation would build up these smaller markets, and overall lead to greater soccer amenities for all teams, while attracting international talents as well as building up homegrown Americans, and better-preparing them for getting called up to the U.S. National Team.

The current system we have now fields 30 corporations cosplaying as clubs in the traditional American "Eastern Conference VS Western Conference" system and a final championship bracket at the end of the season, Americanizing the world's game in a way that pollutes it with the country's infatuation with consumerism and capitalism, taking the game made famous by the poor and immigrants and making it a hot commodity for the rich. Promotion and Relegation would be the great equalizer, giving us those wonderful stories of clubs making it to the top while others fight vigorously to stay up. We could have an American Wrexham, being built up overnight and rising through the tiers of soccer at an astounding rate, to now be competing for a shot to play at the very top. Or we could have an American Everton, always fighting desperately every spring to escape with their decades-long streak of staying in the Premier League intact. Ideally, an American Premier League would look like this:

20 teams in the MLS (The highest 20 points scorers in last year's MLS season)

1) Philadelphia Union

2) FC Cincinnati

3) Inter Miami

4) San Diego FC

5) Vancouver Whitecaps FC

6) Los Angeles FC

7) Charlotte FC

8) Minnesota United FC

9) New York City FC

10) Seattle Sounders FC

11) Nashville SC

12) Columbus Crew

13) Chicago Fire FC

14) Orlando City SC

15) Austin FC

16) FC Dallas

17) Portland Timbers

18) New York Red Bulls

19) Real Salt Lake

20) San Jose Earthquakes

20 Teams in USL Championship (Set by the same MLS Results and USL Championship):

1) Colorado Rapids

2) Houston Dyanmo FC

3) New England Revolution

4) Toronto FC

5) St. Louis City SC

6) LA Galaxy

7) Sporting Kansas City

8) CF Montreal

9) Atlanta United FC

10) D.C. United

11) Louisville City FC

12) Charleston Battery

13) FC Tulsa

14) Sacramento Republic FC

15) New Mexico United

16) North Carolina FC

17) Pittsburgh Riverhouds SC

18) Hartford Athletic

19) Loudon United FC

20) El Paso Locomotive FC

25 Teams in USL 2 Championship (Made through same metric)

1) Phoenix Rising FC

2) San Antonio FC

3) Orange County SC

4) Rhode Island FC

5) Detroit City FC

6) Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC

7) Lexington SC

8) Indy Eleven

9) Tampa Bay Rowdies

10) Oakland Roots SC

11) Miami FC

12) Montererey Bay FC

13) Birmingham Legion FC

14) Las Vegas Lights FC

15) Vermont Green FC

16) FC Motown STA

17) Western Mass Pioneers

18) Northern Virginia FC

19) Laredo Heat 20) Ashville City SC

21) Des Moines Menace

22) Lionsbridge FC

23) Dothan United Dragons

24) Ballard FC

25) Sarasota Paradise

Remaining teams and newly founded independent clubs would make up a Conference League, while MLS II teams would be morphed into Academy Teams who play in their own league similar to the U-18 PL in Britain. Additionally, the NWSL would impliment a similar system to ensure that the entire country is united around "Promotion and Relegation". This sytem would bring the United States in line with the globe on the soccer scene, and hopefully take soccer from ebing an afterthought in the U.S. conciousness, to at the forefront of U.S. sporting culture.