Major League Soccer kicks off 17th season, making more history

By Chris Hummer

Are you ready for some futbol?

Major League Soccer kicks off it’s 17th season today, and at least in my opinion, it’s one of the most buzz-worthy opening days in a long time.. The league is fresh off a 16th season with impressive numbers in the stands in the Pacific Northwest and an amazing turnaround story in Kansas City, all in the face of a still-stagnant world economy.

Major MLS stars shined in Europe over the winter, and last week in Toronto play a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal match between two MLS sides drew over 46,000 fans in an very tight game that saw the hosts Toronto FC nearly get the win against the star-studded, defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy.

Exciting times indeed. And now another Canadian team with a huge fan base is coming online in Montreal to make the league’s 19th team, adding even more to a belt of new franchises in the past few years who are setting new bars very high for the MLS old guard. TV coverage has added NBC Sports, a new YouTube channel funded in part by the league’s marketing arm, and yet another year of history in the making where more and more  young players simply don’t remember a time when MLS wasn’t the big game in town.

It’s all good. I’m ready for some soccer!

Check out MLSSoccer.com today for all the buzz and games.