Revisiting Major League Soccer (U.S. and Canada)

I was just watching part of the "State of the MLS" event that's streaming live today, and a couple interesting points caught my attention:

* The MLS is now the longest-lived pro soccer league in American history!

It was originally formed to fulfill a promise to FIFA, interestingly enough, in the late 80s when the U.S. made its (successful) bid for the 1994 World Cup.

The league incorporated in '95 and its first season was '96 (which is why my beloved FC Dallas has a "96" on their logo).

* Very humble origins. 10 teams, none of them playing in a soccer-specific stadium, which paid TV stations to broadcast their games. At one point, FC Dallas played its home games in a high-school American football stadium, and the team now known as Sporting Kansas City played in a minor-league baseball stadium.

* MLS was originally bastardized American soccer. There was a countdown clock, draws were always resolved with shootouts, and halves ended when the clock reached 0. All of these rules have been discarded; the only Americanized adaptation currently in practice is having the season begin in early spring and end in late fall (it's been argued that our Canadian teams would have a particularly tough time playing through the winter, not to mention the Colorado Rapids).

* A lot of things began to change with the U.S. Mens' 2002 World Cup quarterfinal qualification. Attendance began to soar at MLS games; Tim Howard ended up in goal for Manchester City (having left a team then called the New York Metrostars and now known as the Red Bulls because of their sponsorship). Of course, Beckham came to the L.A. Galaxy. Now there are 19 teams, 15 of which play in their own stadium. FC Dallas opened their own stadium, which was first known as Pizza Hut Park, in 2005; this season their sponsorship changed and it's now called Toyota Stadium.

* In 2015, another New York team will join the league, along with a new team from Orlando, Florida. Three more teams are expected to be added by 2020. Collectively, the league's franchises have tripled in value over the past five years, with Seattle Sounders FC worth $175 million.

For me as a fan, it's really cool to be living through the birth and growth of what looks to be a legit major American sports league :D 

Hi there Ben. Do you watch British football and if so who is your favourite team?