When MLS was founded, it was based on the idea of being a single entity, with all clubs owned and operated by the league but run by disparate investors. This impact of that now is a series of drafts that shows the ridiculousness of the system.
The early years of MLS saw the league’s teams playing in huge football stadiums with maybe 10,000 to 15,000 fans in attendance. With small crowds and having to rent big stadiums, the single-entity system, in which the league owns all teams to control salaries and parity, was an absolute must. Making things more difficult was that there were only three investors of teams: Phil Anschutz, Lamar Hunt, and Robert Kraft.