Jon — And the winner is…Seattle!

Wow, talk about a great response! I have to admit I’m pretty surprised by the number of folks interested in seeing an MLS story, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of managing Seattle Sounders FC (even if they are a rival of my personal team D.C. United)! In all 27 votes were cast (some folks voted for two teams), with over a quarter of the votes going to an MLS team (either Seattle or Philadelphia). In the name of transparency and democracy, here are the top five vote getters:

1) Seattle Sounders FC — 6

2) Aberdeen — 4

3) Birmingham City — 3

4) Philadelphia Union — 2

5) Swiss Super League — 2

For those unfamiliar with the MLS, the league is unlike just about any other in the world. This is largely due to the MLS being structured to coincide with the American sports norms demonstrated in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, and as such there are some unique rules in the world of soccer/football. Here are a few of the key differences, or impact rules:

— Single Entity Structure: This one will take a few sentences to explain. In an attempt to keep operating costs low, the league operates as a «single entity» whereby the teams are all owned by the league, and the players are all contracted to the league instead of the individual teams. Team owners purchase the right to operate one of the MLS franchises from the league, and essentially become shareholders. There are several major «side effects» of this system which I’ll be explaining below.

— No Relegation: The teams in the MLS are fixed franchises, and as such there is no promotion to or relegation from the MLS (a trait shared with all major American sports leagues). Instead, the team with the lowest points total at the end of the season is given the unofficial «Wooden Spoon» award, while the team with the most points wins the Supporter’s Shield.

— Salary Cap: A side effect of the single entity structure and another «American Sports Trait», the MLS imposes a salary cap on its teams. This is designed to keep the league competitive and prevent a handful of teams from becoming perennially dominant (as seen in most European leagues). There are two huge exceptions to the salary cap, known as the Designated Players Rule and Generation Adidas players.

— Designated Players: The MLS was smart enough to realize that if they wanted the MLS to gain traction, they’d need some big names to attract new fans (soccer is still very much a growing sport in America). The Designated Players rule allows a team to sign a «big name» player who’s salary is usually greater than the entirety of the salary cap. This is how the L.A. Galaxy and New York Red Bulls were able to sign David Beckham and Thierry Henry respectively.

— Generation Adidas: For lack of a better analogy, this is essentially America’s youth system. Players are encouraged to sign young and become «professional» once they do. This allows them to focus full time on honing their soccer/football skills, but prevents them from playing in college (they are guaranteed a full scholarship should their playing career not pan out). These players are also allowed to be signed outside of the salary cap restrictions, but usually command lesser salaries than Designated Players. Some of America’s best known players, including Tim Howard, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Ben Olsen, and Michael Bradley came out of this system.

— MLS SuperDraft: Another similarity with American sports, the draft is designed to make weak teams stronger. The best players coming out of college are signed by the league and entered into the draft, where the team with the worst points total gets first pick (unless there is an expansion team), while the MLS Champion has the last pick. There are three rounds, and draft picks are «trade-able» , which can create some interesting scenarios. Originally this was the primary method of signing young talent, but it has since become secondary to youth academies and Generation Adidas.

— CONCACAF Champion’s League: The United States (a.k.a. the MLS) receives four berths in the CONCACAF Champion’s League. The teams that qualify are the MLS Cup Winner, MLS Cup runner-up, U.S. Open Cup (think FA Cup) winner, and Supporter’s Shield (team with the most overall points at the end of the season) winner. Should there be duplicate winners, the team with the next highest points total takes the spot. Canadian teams (Toronto, Vancouver and soon Montreal) cannot qualify for the Champion’s League through the MLS (they must go through the Canadian tournament), and so their berth would be given to the next best American team.

— MLS Cup Playoffs: Unlike most European leagues where the team with the most points is crowned champion, the MLS has a playoff system to determine it’s champion. Currently the top 10 teams determined by points are entered into the playoffs, but FM11 does not include the two newest expansion teams or the 2011 rule changes, and so only 8 teams make the playoffs in game. There is a two-legged «Conference Semifinal», with ties being determined by ET and Penalties (there is no Away goals rule in the MLS), followed by a single elimination «Conference Final», and ending with the single elimination «Final». Perhaps the most confusing of all, the top eight teams by points are entered into the playoffs regardless of their conference, and so it’s possible to have Western Conference teams playing in the Eastern Conference final, and vice versa, and two teams from the same conference can ultimately end up playing each other for the final (most recently seen when Colorado defeated Dallas last year).

And so ends our wall of text! Thanks for bearing with me; there was an awful lot to cover! I’ll close us out with some pretty pictures:

Quest Field (which the Sounders rent from the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks):

These are the leagues I’ve loaded for the game (so this save file should keep me going until FM12):

Thanks for reading folks; the next update will cover our preseason activity as we gear up for our first MLS season. If you have any questions about the MLS or if I’ve not explained something adequately, please feel free to ask.