Is There Anything that MLS Does Better than England's Premier League?

VS

I should have known that developing and cultivating a passion for the top United States men's professional soccer league would turn into an all-out soccer obsession.  It has been that way for my entire life when it comes to my interests.  As a kid, pro wrestling was my first sports/entertainment love.  It was followed by basketball, and then by college football.  Some people watch the History Channel to see a special on the World Wars and that's enough for them.  They came, they watched, they moved on.  For others, the special sparks an interest that creates a thirst that can only be quenched with greater knowledge.  I'm of the latter breed.  Apparently, soccer is unlikely to be the first thing I enjoy "casually."

In my quest to become a Major League Soccer supporter, I also find myself genuinely curious about the European clubs.  I have listened to podcasts, read dozens of columns, and kept up with every match result in MLS since the World Cup and will continue to do so - that's the point of this blog - but somewhere between Bayern Munich's pre-season loss to the MLS All-Stars and the ensuing coverage about the post-game "finger wave," I began to dive, head-first, into "world football."  And there's no more popular soccer association on Earth than the English Premier League (EPL). 

Due to my travels a weekend ago, I watched two EPL games last Saturday - the first matches of the new season.  There's surely more to be written about the likes of Manchester City and United, Arsenal and Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton, etc., but after viewing a plethora of MLS games and studying America's top division these last several weeks, I could not help but compare the leagues.  To anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the sport, do me a favor and don't laugh.  I know; comparing the EPL and MLS is like comparing a $100 bottle of chenin blanc to "Three Buck Chuck," but let's do a fair analysis.

In the name of fairness, I will readily point out the EPL is 99% better than MLS.  Yet, I did discover two discussion points that could conceivably favor Major League Soccer.

#1 - Parity

Every major American sport seeks equality.  The United States covers a vast geographic area, each with its own television market.  For certainly as long as I've been alive, the commissioners of the big 4 American leagues - the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL - have strived to level the playing field, attempting to create situations that make fans across the country believe that their team can win the championship in any given year.  Though we may be more economically capitalist than any other nation, the business of sport is more distinctly socialist.  The thought process is that if every team is good, then everyone will make a lot more money via higher attendance and TV ratings.

A map of the MLS markets

By and large, using the turn of the century as a sample size, parity has been achieved in the USA.  Since 2000, ten different NFL and NHL teams have won the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup, respectively.  The MLB has had nine different champions over the same span and the NBA has had six.  That's a lot of franchises winning titles.  MLS is no different, with eight squads hoisting the league trophy.  The EPL, as with the rest of the top European soccer leagues, is not  much for parity.  The bottom three teams in each league getting relegated to a lower division is partial proof of that fact.  That just four teams have won the EPL since 2000 offers further evidence.

American sports are simply set-up to ensure that stars are spread across as many cities as possible so that more people will become fans and stay glued to TVs and mobile devices.  And it's working.  The top ten TV programs in modern American history are sporting events.  It's estimated that upwards of 80% of all of-age people in the USA are fans of some sport. On a personal note, I strongly dislike dynasties (unless they feature my team).  So, parity is a superior trait for Major League Soccer.

#2 - Playoffs

 

The MLS has adopted the distinctly American tradition of capping off its season with a tournament to crown the true champion of the league.  Who doesn't love a Playoff?  They offer, by far, the highest ratings for each sport every year for a reason.  Major League Soccer's MLS Cup has continued the common theme of tournaments creating drama through stories of non-favored clubs charging to further reaches beyond their presumed potential in some years, as well as the expected dominance of more talented sides in others.

Colorado Rapids came out of nowhere in 2010 to win MLS Cup

The English Football Association (FA) Cup is a single elimination tournament that gives every pro team in England (at every level) a chance to win a major trophy.  It is a big deal in the UK.  However, for teams in the EPL, it's not even the second highest honor to be achieved in a season (at least for the best squads).  In England, it's not so much about winning THE big one so much as it's about winning A big one.  Winning the league title is a regular season award in the EPL; there are no Playoffs.  As such, the championship can be decided months in advance of the final fixtures.  In the USA, winning the Playoff means winning the championship.  The regular season is a vehicle to seed teams for the tournament at the end of the year that determines the true victor.

The FA Cup goes on throughout the standard season, as does the other of the two major trophies possible for top flight squads in England: the European Champions' League.  So, it's a very different system; one that unquestionably places a higher premium on the regular season, but also one that unquestionably lacks the definitive period on the calendar that says to the viewing audience, "this is the most important part of our year; watch accordingly or you'll miss something huge."     

Playoffs are the best part of American sports and offer MLS a marked advantage over the EPL.