I was watching baseball and thinking about its beginnings and wondering. Baseball’s first 30+ years are basically wiped away as prehistoric. 1903 was the first World Series, and there are other various dates people refer to as the “Modern Era” because of certain rules changes and record keeping. So I was wondering, in its 24th season, has MLS reached its “Modern Era?” What will it take to get there if it hasn’t? Feel free to share where you see the league going from here, what any obstacles are, and what it would take to get to the “Modern Era” if you don’t think we are there yet.
Maybe when the single-entity is broken up, the more ambitious owners buying out the more conservative ones.
I'd say there are really two eras of MLS so far. Pre and post 2005. Before 2005 you had contraction, weird rules, and a small number of teams. 2005 on has been expansion, reversion to the world's game, and growth of the sport.
post 2005 also has weird rules. It's just around the paying for players rather than play on the field.
I would argue the weird rules of early years probably contributed to the flexibility of the league to be one of the early adopters of VAR. Growth of the sport? Do you mean expansion and academies? The expansion/contraction argument is interesting since Miami was contracted after being (I think) the 2nd expansion team. Some of that breakdown follows the Doug Logan era and the Don Garber era, the creation of SUM, league-wide sponsorship by Adidas, and the league being paid rights for broadcasts and not having time-buys. Might as well throw in the creation and adoption of a CBA.
Not expansion so much but academies, SSS's, etc. that established the league as here to stay and something that could drive interest.
Isn't whatever era we happen to be in at the moment the modern era? Or are getting all artsy and suggesting what follows will be post-modern? I would suggest MLS has been through more than 2 eras. FOUNDING. 1996 to 2001. These were the I'm just happy to be in the show years, otherwise known as OMFG isn't it great having professional soccer again. The soccer was wildly uneven, but it was better than nothing. Columbus showed us all the future with an SSS. TERMINAL A, 2001-2006. These were the "well, that didn't last long" years. Otherwise known as OMFG, this sucks. The soccer was, barely. Rochester turned MLS down. BECKHAM. 2007-2014. They're looking at us, they're really looking at us. Otherwise known as OMFG it's Becks! The soccer was getting better. It was all about the DPs. Mix in a Keane and Henry and we were glamor central. Still, some SSS were built. The early academies were formed. GAMTAMTHANKUMA'AM. 2014-2017. SSS and academies became the norm. Player spending was greatly increased through the power of acronymns. The number of good players crawled up from 3 to 14. the footie got better, by a bunch, in this phase. ATLANTA. 2017-2018. Whiny bunch, but the team was solid and it showed that young stars would come to the league and make it a better place. the footie got much better. Kids were being developed. There was much rejoicing. VERMES. 2019. The SKC manager first ate, then shit out the rest of the league. The club used their trully futuristic Pinnacle sports center to help him through this process. EFOOTIE. 2020- The annoying actual football was finally replaced by the virtual.
I tend to divide MLS into three stages Startup: 1996-2002. Different rules, football stadiums, the failure of two franchises, the league making many of the player decisions. Restructuring: 2003-2006. Standard rules, San Jose moved, "small team" expansion. The Galaxy stadium (with the Columbus stadium before) became the model for building the league. The Modern Era: 2007-? Toronto started a sequence of "big team" expansions. The Beckham rule Multiple DPs (To get Rodriguez's 9's and 10's) TAM to improve the rest of the starting roster Academies Reserve teams with the USL Greater participation in the worldwide market for players