In July 1998, the United States was the worst team in the World Cup in France with three defeats. Its managers predicted that result, but assured that it would not be repeated. A few days later, with the guidance of coach Carlos Queiroz, they published Report Q, a 114-page document that established a series of steps for the United States to be world champion in 2010 and in which one of the main pillars was the development of basic forces.
In that same 1998, Weston McKennie was born in Little Elm, Texas, who today is the third most valuable American footballer in the world (25 million euros) and the first player of this nationality to reach Juventus. But before that, he was the star player in the core forces of Dallas FC and the Development Academy, a talent development project that began in 2007.
Like McKennie, other players forged into MLS core forces are found in the ranks of Europe’s elite: Giovanni Reyna, from New York City FC to Borussia Dortmund; Chris Richards, from Dallas FC to Bayern Munich; Tyler Adams, from New York Red Bull to Red Bull Leipzig; Zack Steffen, from the Philadelphia Union to Manchester City or Canadian Alphonso Davies, who was already a Champions League champion with Bayern Munich and emerged from the basic forces of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
These transfers have brought MLS revenues of 23.2 million euros in the last two seasons, adding only sales of US youth to European clubs.
“MLS is deeply committed to developing world-class players through an elite competitive path, from academies to the professional level. As we look to the 2026 World Cup, now more than ever it is up to us to establish a competition that sets a new standard for elite youth play and enables athletes to reach their full potential, ”said Todd Durbin, Executive Vice President of Players and Competitions at the MLS in 2020.
In the 2020-21 season alone, MLS has sold five Americans aged 22 and under to Europe, bringing in 16.2 million euros. In contrast, in the same period, Liga MX only sold one Mexican player under 23 years of age: Gerardo Arteaga, from Santos Laguna to Belgium, with a value of 3.5 million.
“Liga MX continues to win championships and that doesn’t make us angry, it gives us the motivation to end that because MLS has to be the most powerful league in North America. And I promise you that MLS will be one of the strongest leagues in the world in 10 or 15 years, it will be as strong as the Bundesliga or the Premier League, the amount of money it moves is very powerful, ”says Francisco Terreros, player representative in the MLS, in an interview with El Economista.
Unity, the key to MLS business success
MLS was born in 1996 with 10 teams in nine states. For the 2020 season, it has 26 teams in 21 states from two countries (including Canada). According to Transfermarkt, the value of the league has gone from 63.2 million euros in 2007 to 832.1 in 2021, that is, 12 times more in 13 years.
According to a Mediotiempo report, in 2003 the MLS broadcasts began on Fox Sports. For the current season, the league is broadcast in 190 countries on five continents. According to an analysis by Score and Change, the teams have ties to 23 sponsors from 12 different industries (financial services has the most, with six) and a six-year, $ 700 million contract extension with Adidas.
On a continental level, MLS is the second most valuable league in America only below the Brazilian league and with almost 100 million euros more in value than Liga MX (832.1 against 745.4 million).
The key to this development has been the union of the teams and managers, Walter Franco, a sports commercial advisor for a consultancy firm for the development of sports facilities and events, explains to this newspaper: “there is unity between the owners and the president, they all have the same commercial and sporting objective, everyone weighs on the board of directors and that voice is respected.
“It has a lot to do with it because they are following the North American model of other leagues such as the NFL or MLB, which sell television rights collectively. Many of the MLS owners also have investments in those leagues and then they already know how to handle it. On the business side, there are also best practices that are shared across the league. Communications, marketing, how they promote their clubs, all of that is directed from the league. In commercial infrastructure, MLS is light years ahead of Liga MX ”.
In its early days, a single owner had up to six MLS teams. As of 2006, the league stipulated that each club must be owned by a single owner, so currently there is no timeshare as there is in Liga MX.
Additionally, MLS broadcasting rights are uniform, so all of its teams’ matches can be traded in a similar way to various platforms around the world.
“In Liga MX, that is not the case, there is a lack of unity, there are owners who weigh much more than others, such as Chivas or Televisa. At the international level, there is a lack of strategy and vision, each team does its own thing, everything is fractured and Liga MX is only a spokesperson, but it does not have much direction either ”, highlights Walter Franco.
On the subject of broadcasts and fans, the specialist points out that Mexico has the advantage of having a market of 40 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States, in addition to the fact that Liga MX is the number one in soccer audiences in that country, even above the Premier League and LaLiga. However, the unification for the sale of broadcasting rights of the MLS allows it to grow more commercially and even sportively:
“The advantage that MLS has is that it can be seen on free-to-air or cable television in Europe and on other continents. For scouting, it is more accessible to see MLS players, it allows them to sell their rights to everyone and not worry about selling club by club. It is very difficult to watch Liga MX games outside of North America because there is no current contract for the league. On the technical side, many in Europe are watching MLS, more now than ever. Many young people between 16 and 17 years old are already getting into the leagues in Europe ”.
In his analysis, Walter Franco assures: “MLS has already surpassed Liga MX in administrative and communication matters. It is not something he has done alone, he has the advantage of the influence of the NBA and the NFL, they are the world standard in marketing and communications ”.
A more attractive country with greater exposure
“The United States offers a different quality of life. That aspect brings peace of mind and helps me develop professionally. In addition, the league is growing more competitively each year and is becoming more visible, ”argued Alan Pulido after leaving Chivas to join Sporting Kansas City in 2019.
Pulido came to MLS at the age of 28. Rodolfo Pizarro, at 26, while other South American ‘jewels’ such as Ezequiel Barco (Argentina) and Miguel Almirón (Paraguay) arrived before the age of 25. The age of MLS signings has changed from exclusively hiring players in the twilight of your career (after age 30) and has become more attractive to young people.
“The United States is an economic world power, the country attracts many international people, many immigrants, they all want to work in this very strong economy. Unfortunately, the United States has a very young history in soccer, but it is improving knowing that it is an economy and a world power, ”says Francisco Terreros, MLS player representative.
He explains that MLS salaries are equal to or even lower than Liga MX, however, what makes the United States more attractive than Mexico for young South American talents are extra-court factors such as security, the possibility of their children speaking native English and the media exposure the league has around the world, which could be a potential for a possible jump to Europe.
“Coming to the United States makes you more powerful to go to Europe, we have seen a strong generation of Americans who have come to Europe. The MLS has more international blanks than Liga MX. The United States is a much bigger platform than Mexico for players to get there, ”says the representative in an interview with this newspaper.
Paraguayan Miguel Almirón is the most notorious example. After three years at Atlanta United, where he won a league and a cup, he was transferred to Newcastle United in England, where he currently plays. Like him, Ecuadorian Carlos Gruezo made the leap from Dallas FC to Augsburg in Germany after three years in MLS.
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