Major League Soccer is attempting to present itself as a professional, competitive, world-class league. It wants to be taken seriously as a global league, one that is a leading division in the world, one that players want to come to, TV stations want to cover, and fans want to watch.
But while this is its overall goal, there are some decisions that are made, from the league, the organisations within the league and even the players, that suggest that this goal is not always at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
The latest example is New York City FC.