Last week, Orlando City transferred star midfielder Yoshimar Yotún to Liga MX side Cruz Azul. Despite the club submitting new offers to retain the Peruvian, the player wanted to leave for the stronger side in a better league. While multiple factors could be blamed for the departure, the Lions are another victim of MLS’ refusal to evolve.
When MLS launched in 1996, the league’s setup was single-entity, a system in which the league owns all player contracts and creates its own rules for player distribution. In the early years, the league had as few as three operators of teams, making that structure necessary.