Charlotte is getting an MLS team. Here’s a guide if you’re new to professional soccer
MLS is coming to Charlotte — and it’s going to be “a great party,” Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper said Tuesday during the announcement.
So what’s this “party” all about?
Behold: a beginner’s speed-read on all things MLS so you can stop googling inane questions and join the conversation.
What is MLS?
It’s the professional men’s soccer league in the U.S. and Canada, like Major League Baseball (MLB) or the National Football League (NFL), except — you know — soccer.
Founded in 1996 after the U.S. hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the league had 24 teams in two conferences at the beginning of the 2019 season.
Charlotte became the 30th team this week following planned expansions in Miami, Nashville, Austin, St. Louis and Sacramento.
The teams are owned in-whole or in-part by people like Tepper (Charlotte), actor Matthew McConaughey (Austin) and former soccer pro David Beckham (Miami).
They’re also backed by what MLS has described as a high percentage of millennials.
According to the 2019 MLS brochure, the average worth of an MLS team saw a 648 percent increase in the decade between 2008 and 2018. The latest valuation placed it at $240 million, Forbes reported.
The players are from more than 70 countries and included at one time or another big names even the most novice soccer fans will recognize, like Beckham and Kaká.
How does the MLS work?
During the 2019 regular season, the 24 teams played 34 games: half at home and half away. They’re broken up into western and eastern conferences based on the geographical location of each team.
Teams plays their conference opponents twice and non-conference opponents once, according to MLS. They get three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.
Official match rosters are stacked with 18 players, but teams are also allowed up to 17 people on the bench — seven substitutes, nine staff members and one club physician. Each team is allowed three substitutions per game.
The regular season runs from February to October with the MLS Cup final in November, according to ESPN.
In 2020, there’s also a planned international friendly in the Netherlands and an all-star game in Los Angeles.
But there’s been some speculation as to how all that could change under the expansion efforts.
Forbes reported on a few theories:
A copycat model based on the NFL structure
Something akin to the college football setup that would promote regional rivalries
A redesign of the European model in which there’s more movement between MLS and lower divisions of professional soccer
Why Charlotte for MLS?
The Queen City is likely the last expansion team of MLS “in its modern era,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber told the Observer.
He said Charlotte met the criteria “perfectly” with a committed owner in Tepper, public partnerships and support from the corporate community.
It also has a preexisting fan base in the Mint City Collective, a group 600-strong that started over the summer with a “build it and they will come” mentality, the Observer reported.
The club celebrated Tuesday night at an invite-only thank you party hosted in-part by MLS.
There’s no official word yet on the team name, but eight trademarks have been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by a top Panthers official, according to the Observer.
They include Charlotte Crown FC, Charlotte Fortune FC, Charlotte Monarchs FC and Charlotte Town FC. (FC stands for football club.)
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 4:02 PM.
