Extra Points

In the world of soccer, the league representing the United States and Canada in Major League Soccer (MLS) isn’t the best.

Unlike the more traditional soccer countries in Europe and South America, soccer in the United States, in a professional sense, is very much a niche sport.

When founded in 1996, MLS wanted to learn from the mistakes made by the previous North American Soccer League, which bankrupt in 1986 over too much spending.

To make sure this would not happen, the league would own all of the players’ contracts and place limits on how many players could be on a roster, in addition to a salary cap.

These measures kept the league from replicating the mistakes of the past and allowed it to grow since 1996.

When the designated player was introduced in 2007, a player who would only cost a minimal amount to the cap could be paid a vast wage. Stars such as David Beckham, Mexico’s Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Sweden’s Freddie Ljungberg have come to America and drastically raised the profile of the league.

But since 1996, there has been a plague of underpaying non-star players and non-starters.

As a medium, the average MLS player earns $88,000. Nearly one third of the players earn less than $36,000.

Jan. 31 was the end of the collective bargaining and, with start of the upcoming season less than three weeks away, there seems to be a non-working strike by the MLS Players Union.

The demands of the players are this: guaranteed contracts, higher minimum salary and traditional free agency.

The owners of the league teams don’t want a strike with the World Cup in the summer.

They also point out that as separate clubs most of the teams lose money.

The noticeable exceptions are FC Dallas, Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC.

March 5, a federal mediator was called in and is expected to end all talks of strike and lockout.

This will hopefully be accomplished by playing middle man and putting much needed pressure on both sides to cooperate to form a new collective bargaining agreement that will appease both parties.

By the end of the week the public will find out if the season will start on the originally scheduled date, March 25.

If MLS does not settle the dispute by that time, the ramifications could be annoying at best.

Big-name soccer stars not wanting to play in the U.S., along with a league that will grow stagnant.

Let’s hope that everything gets worked out, or professional soccer in the U.S. may face yet another stoppage to its growth.

bsanders@unews.com