The MLS seemed intent on turning its back on millions of Hispanic potential fans but, as Mike Woitalla relates, there is now an LA offshoot of a top Mexican team
Walt Whitman once offered his opinion on the USA’s cultural mix: “The British and German, valuable as they are in the concrete, already threaten excess. Something outside them, and to counterbalance them, is seriously needed… To that composite American identity of the future, Spanish character will supply some of the most needed parts.” Walt said that in 1883, but it could be applied to the history of American soccer throughout its evolution. Not until 1996, when Major League Soccer launched, was America’s ever-increasing Hispanic population finally recognised as a key to success. MLS made signing Latin American stars a priority – to lure Hispanic fans and to create a skill-based style of play that would be more likely to entertain than the northern European game.