Even though soccer hasn't always been a popular sport in the US, in recent years, MLS (Major League Soccer) has become one of the fastest growing sports, with a recent poll showing it coming in second to America's favourite pastime, football. With more and more people becoming soccer fans (especially those aged 18-34), it is important for them to get familiar with all the key concepts and specifics from this field.

We'll give a quick introduction to what MLS means in general, its rules and the terminology that is commonly used by the sport's endorsers.

The rules
The first thing you need to know about the MLS is that it is split into two conferences - the Eastern Conference and the Western one. Depending on the location (East or West), both conferences are filled with teams from the US or from Canada.

All of these teams play 34 matches during the regular season. After these 34 are completed, six teams from each conference qualify for playoffs. When there are only two teams left, the final team that has the most points from the regular season will be the host of the final game. The last team standing after the playoffs is the one which will be honoured with the MLS Cup.

The team
Each team that takes part in the MLS should have 28 players, who are recruited by specialists. When having to build an MLS team, recruiters have two options: they either sign unattached players that don't belong to any other team, or they sign international players from other teams, through transfers or loans. Also, teams can train and grow players for a number of years before taking them out of the academy and bringing them into the league.

Another option is to trade players from your own team for players that belong to another MLS team. And finally, there's also a list of select US senior and youth national team players and those players that are sold to other countries for a fee, who are only able to join a certain MLS club via a special allocation order. In this case, the worst-performing teams in the league get to pick the players first.

The supporters
Maybe the most important part of this league is the passionate people that enjoy watching the matches and supporting their favourite team(s). Some people are so invested in this activity that they even do research on predictions, odds and betting lines for the MLS, so they can bet on their favourite team. If you want to become a supporter of an MLS team, you have numerous options through which you can entertain your passion:

• Download the MLS app. It's free and it is absolutely necessary for any active supporter of MLS teams.


• Support your favourite team on their social media accounts.


• Make sure to watch all the matches on TV or you can even buy tickets in order to attend the events.


• Buy your team's gear and get ready to support them.

Terminology
The MLS world is a complex one and there are a lot of terms that you need to get familiar with. But if you take things one step at a time, and after you've watched a few matches, you'll quickly get a hang of the machinations of the game. Here are just a few terms, for reference:

• SuperDraft - When MLS teams pick young players usually out of colleges across the United States.


• Generation Adidas - This is an official partnership between the MLS and Adidas, through which they discover young talents and bring them into the SuperDraft.


• Discovery Signings - When MLS clubs are allowed to claim players that are not yet part of the MLS. They can make claims on 6 different players per season.


• Homegrown Player Signings - When a certain player skips the SuperDraft and he joins the league because he was trained for at least a year in the club's youth development scheme.


• Waivers - When a team lets go of (waives) a player, so they become available to all the other teams in the MLS.

The MLS world is a complex one full of regulations and specific terms, but it's just as fun and cheerful. It might be a while until you get used to all these different concepts, but at the end of the day, you might end up having the time of your life while supporting your new favourite team.