The unseen evolution steering MLS through adolescence is a function of technology, money and necessity.
The league’s childhood was one of volatility and austerity. Its present, at age 29, is full of incongruity and contrasts. While Lionel Messi dazzles, and owners boast of a future among soccer’s elite, self-imposed roster restrictions stunt their collective growth. Arcane rules alienate fans. Spending limits handicap the quality of play. They promote parity within MLS, but impede competitiveness with foreign clubs — for continental titles, and for TV audiences.
Off the screen, though, an elemental reason for the restrictions is disappearing.
The implicit message behind the rules, as multiple club executives explained to Yahoo Sports, is that the league and owners don’t trust teams to make smart decisions with their money.
So, in recent years, they’ve spent millions of dollars to improve decision-making.
They’ve built modern scouting networks and sporting departments, full-fledged staffs and databases, infrastructure that didn’t exist when restrictive rules were formulated. Most, if not all of the league’s 29 clubs have hired specialists in realms like player identification, analytics, economics and high performance. Their many responsibilities used to burden one head coach, or perhaps a single general manager; now, they’re delegated to experts, who are increasingly capable of finding talent in far-flung corners of the soccer world.
The league, meanwhile, has rolled out some spending initiatives, which have allowed clubs to sign some of the talent they find. But many sporting directors — or “chief soccer officers,” CSOs, in MLS parlance — still feel constricted. In interviews over the past month, some advocated for a loosening of the rules or a lifting of spending limits.
And a few specifically cited this league-wide evolution in scouting and recruitment as evidence that they’re ready for more freedom.
“I wouldn’t have said that 10 years ago,” one experienced club official clarified. “I don’t think that the teams nor the league was sophisticated enough. Now, the teams and the league are much more sophisticated.” Now, they have foundations from which real ambition can bloom.
