THE 2021 Major League Soccer season (MLS) gets underway this weekend in the United States, kicking off one of the world’s most interesting, quirky and unpredictable football leagues.

By the time the match between Houston Dynamo and San Jose Earthquakes kicks off in Texas, over in Europe talks will have been held on the future of the Uefa Champions League where they appear to be using MLS as a blueprint for a new structure.

An extended group stage, an additional number of participating clubs, league tables to determine how qualified teams enter the play-offs and a knockout tournament to decide the champion — this accurately describes both the current MLS format and the proposed plans for the Champions League.

MLS has expanded to 27 teams this season, and there are plans for more with teams based in Charlotte and St Louis set to join in the coming years.

Uefa is also looking to expand the Champions League, increasing the number of teams involved from 32 to 36 and the number of matches played from 125 to 225 beginning in the 2024-25 season.

The MLS regular season splits its teams into eastern and western conferences based on their location. Throughout the season they face the teams in their own conference and several from the other to make up a 34-game campaign. 

They are then ranked in an overall table in the same way any other football league would be, but the leader of this overall table is not considered the MLS champion for that particular year. 

The champion is decided in the post-season play-offs which can lead to more unpredictability but can also reward a short burst of form rather than sustained form over a season.

This is not dissimilar to the Champions League and is especially similar to its proposed new format. The MLS regular season is effectively an extended group stage for clubs to put themselves in a position to qualify for the play-offs which are the equivalent of the Champions League knockout rounds.

But how the champion is decided and the varying prestige assigned to the Supporters’ Shield (awarded to the league leaders) and MLS Cup winners is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.

The real issues with such leagues arise from their closed structure, which limits opportunities for teams outside this structure, or those for whom entry into such a league is impossible or at best fraught with obstacles.

MLS expansion franchises have to make a case for inclusion and then buy into the league, with entry fees costing hundreds of millions of dollars. It could be said the clubs and their owners are simply shareholders in a larger marketing company, though it would be unfair on the supporters, players and others involved in the league to view each club in this manner.

Regardless, there is still no way for other clubs in the country to work their way into America’s top division through sporting achievement or by being a well-run club at their current level.

The proposed Champions League plans appear similarly aimed at protecting certain clubs who have, over the years, become more like franchises. Though there will be more teams under the new plans, there isn’t necessarily more opportunity, and the odds are stacked in favour of the existing elite.

This new set-up would likely be even more unfavourable to champions from smaller nations or lower-ranked leagues than the current way in offered in the form of the Champions League qualifying rounds.

Due to draws based on seedings and coefficients, the Champions League group stages are already engineered to eliminate champions from some countries in order to accommodate second, third or fourth-placed teams from others, but even this current set-up is more favourable to the one being suggested.

This week, Football Supporters Europe (FSE) wrote an open letter to European Club Association chairman Andrea Agnelli regarding the proposed changes.

Part of this letter read: “Your plans to restructure the Champions League by increasing the number of games, introducing qualification based on past achievements, and monopolising commercial rights present a serious threat to the entire game.

“Instead of realising your supposed goal of ‘building a successful, sustainable, and socially responsible football industry,’ you will only make the gap between the rich and the rest bigger, wreck domestic calendars, and expect fans to sacrifice yet more time and money.

“All for the benefit of whom? A handful of already wealthy clubs, investment firms, and sovereign funds, none of which have the legitimacy to decide how football should be run.”

There are fewer repercussions for poor performance on the pitch under the planned new format, and many elite clubs will remain in the Champions League regardless of their domestic performances. 

Two places will be reserved for high-ranked clubs, per Uefa’s coefficient, who didn’t automatically qualify via their national league. This means it’s possible that, for example, one of the European super clubs could finish sixth in the league and qualify, while others above them don’t.

Domestically, many clubs have already created a gap between themselves and the rest, and the new Champions League format could make that gap even bigger.

Just as there is no relegation from MLS, and therefore no promotion to it, the new Champions League plans effectively mean certain clubs cannot get “relegated” from the competition and others find it difficult to get in as a result.

Though MLS remains an exciting and diverse league, with its many unique rules and regulations both contributing to and detracting from its appeal, it remains a closed league.

In many ways, European football has already gone too far in the same direction, and in some ways is already worse than MLS when it comes to protecting football franchises while hindering football clubs.

"We want strong, competitive domestic leagues, an equal opportunity to qualify for Europe based on sporting merit, and fairer sharing of the game’s wealth," the FSE added in their open letter.

While looking forward to the new MLS season and enjoying the exciting football on show in the final stages of this season’s Champions League, it’s worth bearing these off-field issues in mind so such events are still able to be enjoyed in the future.