NEW YORK - Heading into the opening weekend of Major League Soccer's 12th season, the League's player pool continues to reflect the broad diversity of North America's population. Of the 325 MLS players under contract as of April 5, 2007, roughly two thirds were born in the United States, while 48 different countries are represented in the birthplaces of the other third.
MLS has the widest breadth of birthplaces among major team sports leagues in the United States, despite having the smallest player pool of the five.
More than 30 percent of the MLS players born abroad are from Latin America, with almost every country in Latin America represented. Eight MLS players were born in Brazil - third most after the United States and Canada. Many other MLS players were born in the United States to parents of Hispanic origin. MLS also has players born in 12 different African countries and nine different Caribbean countries.
Players such as David Beckham and Cuauhtémoc Blanco, whose MLS contracts begin later this year, are not listed on the map of MLS birthplaces at this time, nor counted in the statistics.
(Click the link below to see a world map and a current list of MLS players born outside the United States. A high-resolution version is available upon request.)
http://www.mlsnet.com/pdf/mls/2007/040407_player_map.pdf
League (Year) Total Players Born Outside USA Countries of Birth
MLS (2007): 325 107 (33%) 49
NBA (2006-2007): 450 86 (19%) 42
NFL (2006): 1871 114 (6%) 29
MLB (2006): 1242 351 (28%) 22
NHL (2006-2007): 915 740 (81 %) 21
As of 4/5/07
Each MLS team can have up to 28 players on its roster, and clubs will continue to add players during the early part of the season. The transfer window in which MLS teams can make offers to player under contract in other countries closes April 15.
MLS clubs may have up to four non-domestic players over the age of 24 and up to six non-domestic players under the age of 25. For the 12 teams based in the United States, a domestic player is defined as one with U.S. citizenship or permanent residency. For Toronto FC, Canadians are considered domestic players, and the club can have up to three additional non-domestic players, provided that each would be considered a domestic player on a U.S. club.
The eclectic mix of backgrounds within each MLS team provides an intriguing study in how cross-cultural understanding can be built.
