Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league representing the sport's highest level in the United States and Canada. Sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer), the league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada.
Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is a single entity where each team is owned and controlled by the league's investors. The league's closed membership makes it one of the world's few soccer leagues not using promotion and relegation. The first season took place in 1996 beginning with ten teams. Seasons presently run from March to December, with each team playing 34 games in the regular season. Ten teams compete in the postseason MLS Cup Playoffs culminating in the championship game, the MLS Cup.
Read more about Major League Soccer: Competition Format, Teams, Criticisms, Supporters Groups, MLS Commissioners, MLS Awards
Famous quotes containing the words major, league and/or soccer:
“A major power can afford a military debacle only when it looks like a political victory.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“Stereotypes fall in the face of humanity. You toodle along, thinking that all gay men wear leather after dark and should never, ever be permitted around a Little League field. And then one day your best friend from college, the one your kids adore, comes out to you.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)