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20 years of MLS: Five hits and five misses

By Edgar Acero

Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber unveils the new MLS logo during an event in New York on September 18. 2014. MLS unveiled the new logo ahead of its 20th season. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber unveils the new MLS logo during an event in New York on September 18. 2014. MLS unveiled the new logo ahead of its 20th season. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 10: Mark Abbott, President and Deputy Commissioner of MLS, delivers the keynote address before a panel discussion ”Global Perspective on how Sponsorship can go Beyond Soccer” hosted by Beyond Soccer at Yankee Stadium on June 10, 2014 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 10: Mark Abbott, President and Deputy Commissioner of MLS, delivers the keynote address before a panel discussion ”Global Perspective on how Sponsorship can go Beyond Soccer” hosted by Beyond Soccer at Yankee Stadium on June 10, 2014 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Hit: Single-entity structure

Before its creation in 1996, Major League Soccer’s executives were well-aware that the experiment of creating a professional league in the United States had been tried before… and failed.

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The North American Soccer League of the 1970s was successful in many ways during its 16 years of existence as it attracted some of the biggest names in the game at the time, including Pelé, Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer. It ultimately folded, however, after some teams expanded faster than others and competition suffered for it.

Led by President Mark Abbott, MLS set out to create a business plan that would allow the league to survive the issues that downed the NASL. And so MLS was structured as a single-entity company, a model created by Abbott himself.

Under that structure, club operators are allowed to own a financial stake in the league, not their individual team. This dynamic allowed the league to control costs by sharing MLS revenue between the franchises as well hold to player contracts.

The model has proven to be successful as the league has seen the number of investors grow and the league’s influence expand despite some teams bringing better or more recognizable talent to their squads.

Next: Miss: The Freddy Adu saga

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