MLS insider reveals the two reasons why soccer can't yet rival the NFL and NBA

Tom Weber

• Updated: 14 Nov 2025 15:14 CST
• 5 min read

News

Former MLS director Tim Bezbatchenko believes that a lack of professional development opportunities and a lack of an internal player market are preventing soccer from competing with the NFL and NBA.

The 44-year-old recently appeared on the Business of Sport podcast to primarily discuss his role as the president of Black Knight Football Club, the multi-club network of Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley.

In his role as president, Bezbatchenko oversees and coordinates the cooperation between Black Knight's clubs, namely Bournemouth in the Premier League, Lorient in Ligue 1, Auckland FC in the A-League and Portuguese side Moreirense.

Until this week, Foley was also a minority owner of Scottish Premiership side Hibernian, but the two parties agreed to part ways due to "philosophical differences" in the vision for the club's future.

During his podcast appearance, which was recorded before the sale of Hibs was made official, Bezbatchenko admitted that Black Knight viewed the Scottish side as a potential "stepping-stone" club for Bournemouth.

Why MLS can't compete with the NFL, NBA

However, Bezbatchenko not only discussed Bournemouth and Black Knight. The Ohio-native also talked about his experience working for and in Major League Soccer.

He spent three years as MLS's senior director of player relations and competition before becoming the general manager of Toronto FC, where he oversaw the franchise's transformation from also-ran into the league's dominant club of the late 2010s. He also built a strong academy setup in Ontario.

Later, Bezbatchenko returned to Ohio to become the Columbus Crew's general manager, arriving just after the franchise was saved from relocation to Austin, Texas, by the owners of the Cleveland Browns.

Bezbatchenko continued to build on his sparkling reputation within MLS by turning the Crew into a two-time MLS Cup winner and supervising the move into the club's soccer-specific, Lower.com Field.

On the podcast, Bezbatchenko was asked why MLS can't yet compete with America's marquee sports leagues, chiefly the NFL and NBA, in terms of popularity. He believes that this is due to a lack of professional clubs and a lack of a real internal market.

"It [soccer] is the top or second-most played sport in the US [for] boys and girls. People don't realize how popular the sport is in America. Every kid plays soccer. Every kid, pretty much. At least on the youth [level] and then American football will come in, and that doesn't really come in until 14, 15.

"Every kid plays football, and there's a massive demand for it. But I think, watching MLS and being a part of it for 15 years before coming here, the country is so big and there's not enough professional setups to develop players. The product will only get as good as the domestic talent, and the domestic talent will only get as good as your system that's developing the players.

"Right now, other than the 30 MLS clubs - and there are a number USL clubs, the second division - that are developing players at a higher level, most of the country is still developing players in the traditional club model, where most of the coaches are English or someone who came over to start a club team in Youngstown, Ohio.

"The market is not mature yet in the pyramid system of player development. When you go to the professional side of the game, watching what we do at Bournemouth to make sure players are in the right environment... there is a whole ecosystem that is available to help facilitate player development.

"That does not exist, there is no marketplace that is happening in North America. I think there's at least two steps before we can capture the minds of an entire country to compete at that level with the traditional big four or five sports leagues."

Later on, Bezbatchenko circled back to the conversation by drawing attention to USL's plans to implement promotion-relegation between its three leagues, the second-tier Championship, third-tier League One and a new Division One to be launched in 2028.

"There's been this announcement in USL, which is the platform of the divisions underneath MLS, and what they're doing is creating promotion-relegation. It's the league I played in [with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds] way back in the day.

"I believe there's a role for them to play because, like I said, there's only 30 MLS teams, and it's a massive country. I mean, that's been a big shock, too [about working in Europe]. My flight from Bournemouth to Southampton to Edinburgh to visit Hibs is 45 minutes.

"I can't even get out of Ohio in a 45-minute flight. It is so big, and that's a problem, too, but it's an opportunity to create more professional clubs that are developing players globally and of all sorts of ethnic backgrounds. That's America right there."

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