Only 25 miles from Oak Park High School is BMO Stadium, the 22,000 seat home to the Los Angeles Football Club. LAFC is a new Major League Soccer team established in 2014. The raucous atmosphere on gameday at LAFC is unlike anywhere else in the MLS. With the brand new arrival of South Korean international Son Heung-min, from Tottenham Hotspur in London, and fan favorite French international Denis Bounanga, LAFC is now looking forward to another year in a bleak and undersupported league.

The MLS has tripled in size, from ten teams to thirty, since it began in 1996. Stadiums are packed, fans are loud and stars like Lionel Messi in Inter Miami have brought attention like never before. But the moment you compare the MLS to the Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain, Ligue 1 in France, Serie A in Italy or the Bundesliga in Germany, the contrast is stark. 

In England, the Premier League is more than a league. It is a foundational part of British culture. Families pass passion for their clubs down through generations. British towns and cities from Newcastle to Brighton come alive on match days. It is not a sport, but rather a weekly rhythm and a way of life. But in America, MLS is forced to compete with the NFL, NBA and MLB. These big three have dominated the sports world in the US for decades. Soccer is still considered a niche sport to watch each weekend. 

But soccer is called the “world’s game” for a reason. The global appreciation for the sport cannot go unnoticed, but why is it growing so slowly in America? We hold the largest sports industry with over 92 billion in annual revenue. So why the slow growth?

Part of the problem is the structure of the MLS. The Premier League has a Darwinian system of promotion and relegation. Every match holds a different weight because a bad season can drop a team down an entire league, losing millions of dollars in revenue, or raise a team up into a major European competition earning themselves a huge pay raise. Static leagues like the MLS do not have that risk or that matchday weight. Teams are safe no matter how poor their season is. That makes the games feel less dramatic and the league much less competitive.  

The MLS has chosen this model to stay financially stable after the collapse of past soccer leagues in the United States. However the tradeoff is less exciting. 

Money is another critical factor. To soccer fans, the appeal of streaming soccer comes from its continuous high intensity play with no commercial breaks. Matches last an intense 90 minutes with only a 15 minute halftime and a few minutes of added stoppage time. The moment you turn on an NFL or NBA game, expect a car insurance or Arby’s advertisement as a greeting. An NFL game in theory should take one hour. In reality, games can last up to four hours to incorporate these money makers. Premier League Clubs have less of a ceiling when it comes to a “salary cap”. 

Nevertheless, the MLS has made progress. The top young American born players are all making their way to some of the best teams in Europe, proving that America can be a launch pad for talent. 

Co – Hosting the 2026 World Cup will also give soccer in America a big boost. Young players will have heroes to look up to. More kids will join academies, and more fans will care about the sport beyond the international stage. But for now, MLS is still chasing the pre – eminent global respect that leagues in Europe already have. 

The US has spent years proving it cares about soccer. MLS now teams play in new stadiums built just for the sport, games are advertised on billboards and primetime TV and international stars are recruited to raise the league’s profile. The push even reaches the national team, which just hired world-class coach Mauricio Pochettino with the financial support of major investors. All of it shows that America is serious about turning soccer into more than a side sport. It is a long-term project to make the game part of American life.

Actor Ryan Reynolds brings Hollywood charm to the pitch in Welcome to Wrexham, the hit documentary series following his and Rob McElhenny’s underdog journey with the Welsh soccer club. 

For many American fans, the dream is clear. They want MLS to stand alongside Europe’s biggest leagues. They want their home teams to be respected around the world. But soccer culture takes time to build, and in the United States the sport is still growing roots. MLS is not a failure. It is just unfinished.