With a billion-dollar television contract, constant sellouts and with four teams remaining in the UEFA Champions League, the English Premier League is as good a model to have for a league in the world.
And that's what Ivan Gazidis said is the plan for Major League Soccer, which begins its 13th season March 29 - at least when it comes to the integration of international players.
"The English Premier League in the '80s was a doldrums and now it's the dominant sports league," Gazidis, the MLS deputy commissioner, said in a conference call with reporters Monday. "In the past, the English league was very parochial."
And while it's unlikely a player like Cristian Ronaldo or Emmanuel Adebayor will make their way across the Atlantic, there is an influx of Central and South American players since the advent of the designated player rule that Gazidis believes will improve the league, and its domestic players, immensely.
"Jozy Altidore is a better player because he played with Juan Pablo Angel. I passionately believe that," he said. "The onus will be on American players to raise their game and I believe they're up to the challenge."
Gazidis said there are already 21 international players signed since MLS Cup in November - 18 from Latin American countries, including seven from Argentina, four from Brazil and four from Colombia.
"We're ahead of the pace from last year," Gazidis said, when the league signed the likes of Juan Pablo Angel, Claudio Reyna, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and, of course, David Beckham.
Argentina leads the way in terms of exports throughout the league with 17 players, while 10 from Brazil are in MLS.
"Clearly Argentinian and Brazilian players have been successful around the world," Gazidis said. "Argentinians, in particular, have the combination of physical and technical ability."
While there are more international players than ever in the league, Gazidis said with rosters expanded to 28 players for each of the now 14 teams, there are more opportunities for domestic players than ever before. Some of those successful U.S. players, like Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and most recently Eddie Johnson, have left MLS for the EPL, which is something the league embraces, according to Gazidis.
"The fact that we have teams in Europe interested in MLS players is a good thing," Gazidis said. "We welcome it because if it wasn't the case it would be an indictment of the players here."
While the league's talent pool continues to expand south, Gazidis said the success of MLS remains rooted with young U.S. players.
With that in mind, each MLS team has a youth program in place and the first "homegrown" player is probably about two years away from playing in MLS, Gazidis said.
"This league's growth and development is on the back of what we're able to do on the youth development," he said. "It's an absolute priority to us."
Similar to the EPL, MLS teams will compete in more international competitions than ever, including the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, which will expand to the CONCACAF Champions' League, SuperLiga and the Pan-Pacific Championship, which just took place.
And while the league continues to build soccer-specific stadiums, it's unlikely MLS will follow the EPL's model and have all-grass fields.
"In the United States some of the weather issues are a bit different," Gazidis said. "In an ideal world, we would all live in England where it always rains and there are lovely grass fields. But we don't live in that world."
Gazidis also addressed the controversy over the possible signing of Paraguayan defender-midfielder Lider Marmol, who has been training with the New York Red Bulls but the Chicago Fire put in the first discovery claim, reportedly one day before the Red Bulls.
"We're in discussions with him," Gazidis said. "We haven't concluded discussions yet. ... I don't know where that will wind up."
The 13th Major League Soccer season kicks off March 29, with 12 of the league's 14 teams in action that weekend.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
