Domestic football in the US takes place in the Major League Soccer (MLS) competition which has been up and running since 1996 (it was formed in 1993 as part of their commitment to host the 1994 World Cup). Upon the competitions inception just 10 teams took part in the action and the dominant force were DC United who won three of the opening four competitions. After the USA’s stellar performance in the 2002 World Cup interest grew in the MLS and that seasons MLS Cup Final set a new attendance record. In recent years the league has tried to recruit top international talent to boost its profile. Juan Pablo Angel and Freddie Ljungberg have been signed up but the big news came in 2007 when England star David Beckham signed for the LA Galaxy in what was a tremendous coup for the league.

There are 15 teams taking part in the MLS and they are split into two conference divisions. Each team plays each other home and away and two extra games are set up to highlight key rivalries in the competition. The team with the most points in both conferences each year is awarded the Supporters Shield trophy and eight teams qualify for the MLS Cup Play-Offs. The play-offs pitch together four teams from each conference in two leg conference semi-finals. The winners then face each other in a one-off Conference Final match with the winners taking each other in the MLS Cup Final. Dominant teams from the last few years in MLS have been Houston Dynamo and Colombus Crew. MLS has three places in the CONCACAF Champions League and four sports in the SuperLiga competition jointly run by the MLS and the Mexican league.