History of the MLS

MLS was formed on December 17, 1993, in fulfillment of Alan Rothenberg and the US Soccer Federation's promise to FIFA to establish a "Division One" professional football (soccer) league in exchange for the staging of the FIFA World Cup USA 1994 in the United States. The league began play in 1996 with ten clubs and enjoyed promising attendance numbers in its first season. Numbers declined slightly after the first year, but have increased in subsequent years. The original 10 clubs were divided into two conferences: the Eastern Conference (Columbus Crew, D.C. United, New England Revolution, NY/NJ MetroStars, and Tampa Bay Mutiny), and Western Conference (Colorado Rapids, Dallas Burn, Kansas City Wiz, Los Angeles Galaxy and San Jose Clash).

Early years

The league was greeted with indifference by the American mainstream as the 1994 World Cup in the United States faded from memory. The early years gave rise to the Bruce Arena-led dynasty of DC United, a championship team in three of the league's first four seasons. It took the expansion Chicago Fire in 1998 to end United's stranglehold on MLS Cup, the championship game which featured several players that would prove to have an impact on MLS and American soccer.

For most of MLS' early years, the league played to sparsely-attended crowds. The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France saw the United States men's national soccer team, largely made up of American MLS players, eliminated from the first round and in last place among the 32 participating countries, casting doubt on the level of play in the American domestic league. Some of the survivors of the 1998 roster would, however, join new and upcoming players in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The league began to market itself on the talents of American players, experienced veterans and fresh talents alike. The likes of DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan were making names for themselves in Major League Soccer, while players like Brian McBride and Clint Mathis continued to prove their worth to their domestic and national teams.

On the field, the early wave of international players that had joined MLS at its inception drifted into retirement or moved on to other teams around the world. The run up to the World Cup in 2002 would see a gradual shift in league philosophy towards the development of American talent, and would eventually prove beneficial to American soccer. Donovan, who was loaned from German club Bayer Leverkusen to the San Jose Earthquakes, had an immediate impact with the team, scoring a goal in the 2001 MLS Cup to force overtime in their eventual championship win over the Los Angeles Galaxy.