By international standards, MLS is not a normal soccer league. There is a salary cap and no promotion and relegation. There are drafts, trades, conferences and playoffs — elements foreign to the global sport.
The league scoffs at international breaks. Severe weather demands a winter offseason instead of a traditional summer break.
Being different did not stop record attendance this year, a blockbuster broadcast deal and the arrival of Lionel Messi. The 29-team circuit is doing just fine.
And amid all the quirks, the league does observe most soccer conventions. Since its birth in 1996, MLS has participated in a 110-year-old national tournament, known as the U.