Major League Soccer has made significant strides in the 2010's, growing the sport of soccer in the United States while adding a nice complement to the national team. The quality of play has significantly improved; more and more U.S. internationals are featuring regularly for MLS sides, the league has carved out its niche in the ultra-competitive American sports market and it seems that just about every city wants a team. There are 10 cities competing for the final four spots due to the league's impending expansion to 28 teams, and it is already the largest top-flight league in the world. Additionally, MLS made a prudent move in partnering with the USL as a developmental league. However, despite this rapid progress, there are issues with the league's setup that handcuff it from ever being able to compete with the likes of Europe's elite. These shackles were originally put in place to ensure the league's survival, but now that MLS has become so popular that it needs to begin taking steps toward the model used by European leagues around the world.

First and foremost, Major League Soccer must add promotion and relegation if it ever hopes to join Europe's elite. As it currently stands, last place teams are rewarded with a high pick in both the Super Draft and the Allocation Order, a uniquely American sports feature that has frequently lead to teams "tanking", or intentionally not making their best effort to win in order to secure a high pick. That is never true in European soccer, as clubs at the bottom of the table run the risk of demotion to a lower league, and with it, less revenue and media attention. Adding pro/rel would give the league unlimited potential; MLS and its affiliated lower leagues could truly accomplish something never done by any other major US sports league, in that every city that could support a team could have one. The league should make the requirements for creating a team very simple: a 10,000-seat, soccer-specific stadium and a reduced expansion fee. The issue MLS takes with this system is the fear that soccer's fanbase is still not yet large enough that the average fan would not support a second-division team, but that argument is simply not valid. For example, USL club Sacramento Republic FC (which is likely to be one of the four expansion teams) averaged over 10,000 fans per game last season in the second division without the possibility of moving up to the MLS via promotion. Imagine the amount of excitement the team would have garnered should they have had the chance to reach the MLS and share a newfound rivalry with the more established San Jose Earthquakes. However, it should not be straight promotion and relegation just yet; the quality is still too diluted and thinly spread to assume that even the best USL team would stand any chance in the MLS. That is precisely why there should be a relegation playoff, where the bottom two MLS sides face the top two USL sides, and the winners will play in the MLS the following season while the losers would be in the USL. The MLS club holds the inherent advantage; due to their size and spending power, they should win handily, but if a USL side has truly earned it, they will have their chance.

Secondly, the league should remove its outdated salary cap and league-oriented method of talent distribution. The salary cap holds back the clubs with the spending power to compete in the name of competitiveness, which at first, proved successful, but now, only ensures a lower overall quality of play. If the owners of the Los Angeles Galaxy have the money to buy a top-end player, they should be allowed to, and this purchase would be good for the league as a whole, as it would encourage other owners to buy high-quality players of their own. This would put more money into the league's economy and give the ability to draw more talent stateside. This would obviously remove the Allocation Draft, where MLS essentially picks and chooses what top player goes where for their financial benefit. Teams should also be able to negotiate their own kit deals with whatever supplier they decide or choose a minimum, guaranteed league-standard kit deal (like the current one with Adidas), for smaller clubs that don't have the power to negotiate more lucrative contracts. In a nutshell, you can have whatever kit you want, but you always have the league minimum deal to fall back on.

The MLS is already world soccer's fastest growing league, and therefore, it now needs to begin shedding some of the baggage that has outlived its usefulness if the league desires to become one of the best. It has massive potential to make a true splash in the American sports market as it looks to challenge the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, as well as college football, basketball and other higher-quality European soccer leagues. The league does have a lot of competition, but its future is bright, and it could one day, be both a top soccer league and a top-watched US sport.