MLS Commissioner Don Garber admits that North America's domestic soccer competition is an underdog in the scheme of the sporting world but feels that growth is rapid.
Major League Soccer has come a long way since its first year back in 1996 but in comparison to the likes of the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL) it is still a way off.
However, Garber is delighted with the rate of growth within the league and the energy that comes with something that is improving on such a regular basis.
"I believe that there is a desire on behalf of most people in our country and certainly many people in the sports industry that want to see Major League Soccer, and soccer in America, really grow and prosper," he told Sporting News.
"It will be a generation before we're thought of the way most people think of the other major leagues in this country, so therefore I think that we are still a bit of an underdog.
"But there's certainly a lot more momentum and we're getting some pleasant surprises in a wide variety of areas that have us feeling that we're going to get into that ring and, who knows, not be an underdog and get a knockout?"
