It’s easy to point to big crowds and on-field success at recent expansion clubs like Atlanta and LAFC, a sparkling new stadium in Minnesota and deep-rooted engagement in Cincinnati and imagine MLS riding its future expansion to become, as commissioner Don Garber likes to say, “a league of choice.” But the positive vibes that result each time MLS adds new teams shouldn’t mask reality.



MLS is succeeding in places like Atlanta, Toronto, Seattle, Portland and Kansas City, and it is taking positive steps in Los Angeles, but the league is largely irrelevant in crucial markets such as New York, Chicago (shown above), Dallas, Philadelphia, Houston, Boston and the Bay Area. That makes seven of the 12 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. in which the league is failing to make its presence felt. Things aren’t any better in some smaller markets like Denver and Columbus, both original MLS cities where the local teams have never truly made meaningful...