Every now and again professional sports leagues need to innovate to keep their product fresh. The NHL eliminated the restrictive "2-Line pass rule" to encourage more free-flowing and north-south game play, and added shootouts after overtime to get rid of ties. The NBA and NCAA adopted shot clocks and three-point lines to keep basketball entertaining. The NFL seems to introduce a rule change every off season aimed at aiding offenses and increasing scoring. Hell, even the MLB, with its cult "traditionalists" following, is currently entertaining the idea of a 20 second pitch clock, already being dabbled with in the minors, to speed up the tempo of the game.

So why doesn't Major League Soccer heed the advice of it's more popular cousins? The league has a bit of an identity crisis - caught trying to import a foreign sport onto American soil where 4 other leagues have firmly established roots. The MLS is in a naturally precarious situation - struggling to compete with the 'big 4 sports' for market share and viewership, while also scrapping to keep up with larger European soccer leagues for players and overall quality of play. While the MLS has been expanding and growing in popularity, the league still trails the Canadian Football league in average attendance and when you type 'MLS' you get a red squiggly line indicating its a typo.

The harsh truth is that the MLS front office and owners need to come to terms with the fact that they simply are not on par with, nor will they be for the foreseeable future, their European counterparts. Their product just simply isn't as good. If I want to watch quality soccer I'd rather watch a rerun of Arsenal and Chelsea, where I know the outcome, than a live FC Dallas-Real Salt Lake game. The MLS needs something to set itself apart from its competition. Something to make the sport more exciting to the American market. They need, for lack of a better word, a gimmick.

Gimmicks have long a been part of American sports culture. From the ABA to the AHL and minor league baseball, leagues struggling for attendance and growth have long relied on the power of a gimmick. The ABA had the 3-pont line before the NBA and a 'no foul out' rule. Pete Rose, banned from the MLB, managed a game for the independent league Bridgeport Bluefish in 2014. The Madison Mallards hosted a Jose Conseco home run derby (literally Jose Conseco was the only participant) following one of their games in 2014. The list of promotional stunts and rule experimentation is endless and the MLS would be foolish to not consider a change.

This is why I am proposing a 2-pont line. An arc around the goal from either side of the goal. A major qualm Americans have with soccer is the lack of action and scoring. 1-0 games aren't appealing to us - not matter what sport. I hate that when a team is down by 2+ goals in the 80th minute of a game they don't have a chance at winning, let alone equalizing, but a 2-point line would change all of that. A team down 2-0 in the 90th would have at least a chance of a draw with one 30 yard rip. A team down 2-1 would have the opportunity to win with a 33 yard free kick in the 90th+3. The drama and chaos of the waning minutes of a game would be instantly amplified. Imagine a team down by 1, in need of a win, pressing around the 2-pont line, desperately trying to get an open shot as the clock ticks down - it's must watch TV. 2-point specialists would likely come into the fold. A super-sub who comes on late in the game with his team down. His only job is to tee off long distance cranks in hopes of drawing level or stealing a late win. This kind of excitement is what the MLS needs. Americans crave buzzer beaters and hail mary's and if the MLS wants to compete with the big boys they need to innovate and make their product distinctly American.