By VictorM:

During his state of the league address, Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer (MLS), pointed to progress in attendance, television ratings, web traffic, and other matrix to illustrate the progress the league is making. He concluded his MLS state of the league address with this remark:

If you just look at the progress we've achieved in the last four or five years, we believe our next five years, our best years, are still ahead of us...

I am optimistic as well, not only because of the progress Mr. Garber referred to, but because that progress has been achieved DESPITE what the league has not done yet:

• MLS does not have a single player that qualifies as a world star in his prime
• MLS only has one world star (David Beckham) who at 33 is past his better days; another player (Blanco) is a regional star who at 35 is also past his better days
• MLS features only a handful of world class players (Angel, Gallardo, Schelotto, and maybe a few more), but every one of them is past the age of 30 and their better days are behind them
  
• Of the top notch American born players, only one (Landon Donovan) plays in the league, all others are playing overseas (Adu, Altidore, Beasley, Bradley, Howard, etc)
• Not a single coach in MLS has international credentials to list him as a world-class coach (Ruud Gullit clearly was one of the better players in the world, but as a coach, he doesn't qualify yet)
• The New York franchise, playing in the largest TV market in the country, has been a failure for 13 years and instead of leading the league in attendance, actually drags it down
• Too many teams (NY, DC, New England, Houston, Kansas City, San Jose) still play in stadiums that for one reason or another betray the "major" league status the league is trying to achieve
  
• MLS has a yearly salary cap (under 2.3 million per team) that couldn't even pay for the dental work of some NFL players, much less fill a roster with players that can compete properly against international opponents
• The level of play, while much improved over the last 2 years, still has a long way to go to attract and retain the attention of fans used to some of the better brand of football worldwide
• MLS still attracts only a small percentage of the football fans who filled Giants Stadium recently (79,000+) to watch Argentina vs USA and who watch international matches in large numbers

If MLS can remedy most of these points without losing money -- and I believe they can and will -- the future looks bright and the next 5 years should be exciting for those who follow the league.