Few journalists know Major League Soccer better than Steven Goff.

Goff is the Washington Post’s chief soccer writer, and has served as the newspaper’s D.C. United beat reporter since MLS’s launch season in 1996.

From the early days of MLS, to its gradual expansion over the years and through to the current day, Goff has seen it all and covered the league with a great deal of insight, sophistication and authority.

Recently, Sportsnet chatted with Goff to get his take on a number of subjects, including promotion and relegation in MLS, the use of video review, and why Toronto FC’s Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are not appreciated as much in the United States as they are in Canada.

As you know, the idea of MLS adopting a promotion and relegation system came to the forefront again recently when the Sports Business Journal reported that the league rejected a $4-billion global media rights deal from international media company MP & Silva. What did you make of MP & Silva’s offer?

I was a little skeptical. Show me the money. Let me see those billions. It seemed like a publicity stunt to me. First of all, you can’t negotiate a new TV contract with the current one still very much alive. … It was a juicy little headline, but I don’t think there was ever four billion dollars. I don’t think this was anything more than an NASL guy [MP & Silva founder Riccardo Silva is co-owner of Miami FC, who competes in the second-tier North American Soccer League] trying to rattle up some publicity for himself. That’s my cynical view on it.

It did lead to a pretty interesting and public conversation about promotion and relegation in MLS, though. Maybe that was the point.

Oh, sure. It’s an ongoing topic about promotion and relegation that has picked up a little bit of steam, but MLS has no plans to seriously approach that subject anytime soon.

Where do you stand on the subject? Would you like to see promotion and relegation in MLS?

I don’t have any strong opinions on it. It’s certainly a part of soccer that makes the sport unique, a little bit different, and a little more interesting, especially late in the season. I think some day it will happen, and it could be a lot of fun. I think it’d be great to watch an organically formed amateur team work its way up. But, there’s a lot of legal issues with MLS investors. Frankly, I don’t know if the lower-tiered leagues are stable enough right now to implement promotion and relegation.

I have to think it’d be difficult for MLS to convince prospective owners who are interested in buying franchises to plunk down an $150 million expansion fee with the possibility of their team playing in the second division at some point.

Exactly. Like I said, it’s different here. This isn’t like the rest of the world. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes that’s a bad thing. But fans must recognize that things are different here, and you’re not just going to snap your fingers, and have promotion and relegation seamlessly implemented in MLS. It’s just not going to happen that way. Maybe someday. Hopefully one day. But the financial and ownership climate right now in the league doesn’t allow for it.

What did you make of Los Angeles FC, who are set to join MLS next season, hiring Bob Bradley as their first coach?

I think it’s great. He has become one of the most intriguing coaches because all he has done since the 2010 World Cup. The fact that he coached Egypt’s national team and all the cultural and political aspects that were part of that storyline. He coached in Norway. He went to the Premier League, which was historic, albeit unsuccessful. He’s a fascinating character, and it seemed to be a natural fit – a guy with his accomplishments and experiences over the last dozen years would land in a high-profile job in major market. I think it’s a great move by LA and I think he’ll be successful there.

We all know how MLS has some very convoluted roster rules, and that the league can be secretive in its dealings at times. Commissioner Don Garber has previously talked about making MLS more transparent and open. Is the league where you’d like to see it in terms of transparency?

No. I think it’s got better slowly but surely the last few years. We’re starting to see greater details in trades involving allocation money, so there you have examples of greater transparency. There are still things like the discovery list – there’s still some mystery there. There’s still a lot of mystery over how much a team is able to spend through general allocation and targeted allocation money. It’s better but it’s still not quite there. It’s coming along, and it seems to be a long process, and the more that people clamour for transparency the more we’re going to see in the coming years.

Garber has been in the position for 18 years now. What have you made of the job he’s done as MLS commissioner?

MLS has enjoyed spectacular growth under Garber. The league was in big trouble around 2001. You look at where the league is now, it’s extraordinary: the number of teams, new stadiums, the financial stability, the media recognition, sponsorships, expansion fees. All of this has come on Garber’s watch. The fact that he’s remained in the job for 18 years now, it’s obvious the owners and investors are very happy with his performance. He’s been very successful. Is it a perfect league? No, certainly not. It’s still a young league, and it’s getting there, but it’s a legitimate sports league in the U.S. and Canada, and continues to grow. In some markets, it’s bigger than some of the traditional pro leagues.

How much have you and your American colleagues taken notice of what Toronto FC has done, especially the last few years?

Toronto is a big market club in the sense that they’ve spent some money on marquee players. You can’t ignore that. Altidore, Bradley, Giovinco and others, Toronto has raised the bar in attracting and signing prominent players. I think everyone is aware of Toronto. Not every team can emulate what they’re doing because of financial limitations, but Toronto is going to remain one of the true powers in the league for some time. The city itself is a prime destination for anyone involved in the league and for fans – I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like going up to Toronto.

Are Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore appreciated by American fans as much as they are by TFC supporters?

U.S. fans are hard on Jozy, as soccer fans around the world are on strikers when they’re not scoring. That said, Jozy has scored 39 goals for the U.S. and he’s only 27, but I think there’s a bit of an unfair assessment of Jozy.

With Michael, I think there’s a little cynicism based on past performances with the national team. But then, at the same time, the guy’s the captain, he’s a natural born leader, he came and led the way at the [2017 CONCACAF] Gold Cup after skipping the group stage. He’s a pro, he’s a winner, he’s done incredible things for U.S. soccer. At the beginning of his career, people were skeptical of him because he was Bob’s son, and he had to break out of that shadow of being the coach’s kid. People still associate the two, but Michael is his own man and he’s been regular with the national team for several years.

There’s people out there who don’t think he’s technical enough to start every game for the U.S team, but he’s a defensive midfielder, he’s an organizer, he’s a distributor, he can score on occasion. When you talk to opposing coaches at the Gold Cup, they always mention Michael Bradley. At times Michael and Jozy are under-appreciated for their national team contributions.

The league started using video review this past weekend. Thoughts?

I think it’s a good step. It’s a comprehensive rule. They’re not going to sit up there and make changes on every foul and corner kick decision. This is for impact decisions: for penalties, for goal, for red cards, for mistaken player identity. It’s a good thing. There’s still some quirks to work out, but it’s a step in the right direction. You want the major decisions to be correct, and for the most part this will accomplish that.

The challenge in a game like soccer where it’s continuous play is to not slow down the game. The testing they’ve done has shown slight delays. Everything will not run smoothly. There’ll will be circumstances where play is not stopped and a decision was missed, or the delay was longer than everybody wants. But in the end, you want the correct call in big situations, so I think this a good thing.

You’ve covered the league since the very start. What’s been the biggest change in MLS since that first season in 1996?

The biggest difference is probably the new soccer specific stadiums. I remember the first couple years going to see an LA Galaxy game at the Rose Bowl, and going to see the Columbus Crew play at Ohio Stadium with 100,000 seats, and teams playing in these big venues that did not fit the sport. Kansas City used to play at Arrowhead Stadium, a gigantic NFL stadium where the crowd looked lost. It was a real problem.

The other big difference is the commitment of the supporters and fans has grown immensely. Back then in every city you had a hard-core group that was in on the league from the start, but those were generally small numbers. Now you look and you see people really care. People have an emotional attachment to their team, and that’s important to a league that is still far behind on a global scale in terms of quality.

The comparison I often use is to college basketball in the States. If you’re a fan of the University of Rhode Island, it’s never going to be as big as North Carolina or Duke, but it’s your team. You care about your team deeply. MLS is never going to be as big as the Premier League, La Liga or the Bundesliga, but it’s your league, and despite the level of play, you can still care just as much about your team as much as if you supported Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Over the years as MLS has grown, there’s been a stronger bond between fans and the clubs. Whether it’s travelling supporters, whether it’s season ticket bases, whether it’s the sophistication of fans, all of that has changed. In the early days of MLS, it was about marketing and they brought in some big-name players from abroad. Now, people appreciate a quality player from the Colombian league, or from Costa Rica, or Giovinco, who is not an Italian World Cup star, but man, he’s a helluva player, and people recognize that.