Soccer Betting - USA Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer or MLS is the top soccer league in the United States in the American Soccer Pyramid. The MLS is certified by the professional division of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF or U.S. Soccer), a member of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
The MLS was created on December 17, 1993, as a promise to FIFA to establish a "Division One" professional football (soccer) league in trade for the staging of the FIFA World Cup USA 1994 in the United States. The league started to play in 1996 with ten teams.
The original 10 teams were divided into two conferences: the Western Conference (Colorado Rapids, Dallas Burn, Kansas City Wiz, Los Angeles Galaxy and San Jose Clash) and the Eastern Conference (Columbus Crew, D.C. United, New England Revolution, NY/NJ MetroStars, and Tampa Bay Mutiny).
The league expanded to 12 teams in 1998, adding the Chicago Fire to the Western Conference and Miami Fusion to the Eastern Conference. In 2000 the league was reorganized into Eastern, Central, and Western Divisions; Chicago, Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Columbus were moved to the new Central Division.
But in 2001, both Florida teams (Miami and Tampa Bay) were disbanded and the league returned to its original conformation of ten teams with just two conferences Eastern and Western and Chicago was placed in the Eastern Conference.
Subsequent to the 2004 season, the league expanded again, adding Real Salt Lake and C.D. Chivas USA, which shares the Home Depot Center with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The two new teams were placed in the Western Conference, with Kansas City moving East.
Following the conclusion of the 2005 season, the San Jose Earthquakes were relocated to Houston and renamed Houston Dynamo.
Then in 2007, the MLS was expanded with two more teams, the Toronto FC from Canada and the rebirth of the San Jose Earthquakes. Moreover, this 2009 season, another expansion team was added to the league, the new team Seattle Sounders, which is allocated in the Western Conference.
Some of the future teams that will join the MLS will be Philadelphia in 2010 and later in 2011 the Portland Timbers and Vancouver.
Currently the MLS league has 15 teams, divided with 8 in the Western Conference and 7 in the Eastern Conference playing 30 games each team. Moreover there is a new tournament that encounters the MLS and that is the Super Liga, which involves MLS teams and high level Mexicans soccer teams playing a tournament against each other, this idea was born in the season 2007, and has been a success for the MLS.
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