The MLS has suffered losing 2 of the most iconic football figures in the history of the sport as Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry announced their retirement not too long ago and despite having witnessed these superstar players hanging up their boots after spending the last few years of their career by playing at the MLS, the American League is still showing signs of growth.
Henry and Donovan have helped the MLS in attracting more public to the matches and now that they have retired, this will leave the American League with huge boots to fill.
The MLS Commissioner Don Garber remains optimistic about the future of the Major League Soccer despite having witnessed those 2 legends taking a step away from the world of football. Garber believes that someone else will arrive and push the league to even higher levels of competitiveness that the MLS has not seen.
“Every league goes through periods where they lose a transcendent player. As we’ve seen, somebody else steps into those shoes and takes the league to an even higher level. And that will happen with Major League Soccer as well.This league has got momentum. We continue to be a league on the rise.” Don Garber said.
The year of 2014 has been a history making one for MLS as a number of events occurred which has reached headlines in the world of football including having agreed a long-term TV contract with ESPN, Fox Sports and Univision which is worth $90 million and lasts for the upcoming 8 seasons. This will bring more exposure to the matches that are going to be played in the MLS, giving the American League a chance to compete against the best and top leagues around the world.
Another noteworthy event which occurred is Orlando City managing to sign a former Ballon d’Or winner, Ricardo Kaka as the Brazilian is expected to join the MLS side in 2015 after having signed a deal a few months ago.