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The History of Major League Soccer began in 1988, when the United States Soccer Federation pledged to create a Division 1 professional soccer league as a condition to FIFA awarding the 1994 FIFA World Cup to the United States. Major League Soccer was officially formed in 1995. The league began play in 1996 with 10 teams, and in 1998 grew to 12 teams. MLS experienced some difficulties in its first seasons, with the league losing money in the early years, resulting in two teams folding after the 2001 season. MLS has rebounded since then, with increased attendance and the development of soccer-specific stadiums. With an average attendance of over 20,000 per game, MLS has the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S. after the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB),[1] and is the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide.[2] MLS currently has 29 teams, with further expansion to 30 teams planned with the addition of San Diego FC in 2025.[3] As of 2023, MLS is the largest first division professional soccer league in the world by number of clubs.[4][5]
- ^ Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada#Attendance
- ^ MLSsoccer.com, The expansion, refs, Cascadia: MLS Commissioner Don Garber covers it all in annual address, February 27, 2013, http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/02/27/expansion-refs-cascadia-commissioner-garber-covers-it-all-march-soccer-addre Archived March 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Bogert, Tom. "Major League Soccer awards expansion team to St. Louis". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "St. Louis hailed as 'great soccer city,' but MLS vote on expansion is a ways off".
- ^ "MLS announces plans to expand to 30 teams". MLSsoccer.com. April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.