|
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league, sanctioned by U.S. Soccer, that represents the sport's highest level in both the United States and Canada.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About Major League Soccer )〕 MLS constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada. The league is composed of 20 teams—17 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada. The MLS regular season runs from March to October, with each team playing 34 games; the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters' Shield. The post season includes twelve teams competing in the MLS Cup Playoffs through November and December, culminating in the championship game, the MLS Cup.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=MLS Cup Playoffs 101: How the 2013 postseason works )〕 MLS teams also play in other domestic competitions against teams from other divisions in the U.S. Open Cup and in the Canadian Championship. MLS teams also compete against continental rivals in the CONCACAF Champions League.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=CONCACAF Approves U.S. Soccer's/MLS Request to Amend Their Qualification Process to CCL )〕 Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The first season took place in 1996 with ten teams.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1996 Season Recap )〕 MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years: The league lost millions of dollars, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and two teams folded in 2002. Since then, MLS has expanded to 20 teams, owners built soccer-specific stadiums, average MLS attendance exceeds that of the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA), MLS secured national TV contracts, and the league is now profitable. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is a single entity in which each team is owned and controlled by the league's investors. The investor-operators control their teams as owners control teams in other leagues, and are commonly (but inaccurately) referred to as the team's owners.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Dempsey Transfer Highlights Influence of MLS Single-Entity Economic Structure )〕 The league has a fixed membership, like most sports leagues in the United States and Canada, which makes it one of the world's few soccer leagues that does not use promotion and relegation, a practice that is uncommon in the two countries.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=MY TWO CENTS Part II: A few reasons how promotion/relegation system could be a success in the United States )〕 MLS headquarters is located in New York City.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Major League Soccer, L.L.C. Company Information )〕 ==Competition format== Major League Soccer's regular season runs from March to October. Teams are divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams play 34 games in an unbalanced schedule: 24 matches against teams within their conference, plus 10 matches against teams from the other conference.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Competition Rules and Regulations )〕 Midway through the season, teams break for the annual All-Star Game, a friendly game between the league's finest players and a major club from a different league.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=MLS All-Star Game creates opportunities for Portland, U.S. soccer: Editorial )〕 At the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters' Shield. Unlike European soccer leagues, the MLS regular season is followed by the 12-team MLS Cup Playoffs in November, ending with the MLS Cup championship final in early December. Although some commentators have argued that playoffs reduce the importance of the regular season,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Are there too many MLS playoff teams? )〕 Commissioner Don Garber has explained "Our purpose is to have a valuable competition, and that includes having playoffs that are more meaningful." Major League Soccer's spring-to-autumn schedule results in scheduling conflicts with the FIFA calendar and with summertime international tournaments such as the World Cup and the Gold Cup, causing several players to miss some MLS matches. While MLS has looked into changing to an autumn-to-spring format, there are no current plans to do so. If the league were to change its schedule, a winter break would be needed, especially with several teams in colder climates, which some believe would lead to a disadvantage. It would also have to compete with the more popular National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Basketball Association (NBA).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Major League Soccer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|