Count’em folks. Major League Soccer begins its 2017 season with more clubs competing for a league title (22) than the English Premier League (20), Spain's La Liga (20), Italy's Serie A (20), France's Ligue 1 (20) and the German Bundesliga (18).
That's 22 clubs in the league's 22nd season. Big round numbers. So are the 374 regular season matches and over 600 players that come with them.
So if you’re new to MLS, know someone who is or perhaps this happens to be the year you’re making a concerted effort to following the league more closely, here are the tools you need to do it:
Find the Matches
Get the official MLS mobile app (iOS or Android) and sign up for personalized alerts to stay up to date on your local (or nearest) team and its matches. Plus, you can watch live match streams on the app (see MLS LIVE below), highlights and get all the official stats and plenty of commentary and analysis.
Watch the Matches
In order to really make a quick study of your club, make it a point to watch them in person (get tickets on MLSsoccer.com or via SeatGeek), on national TV (see US schedule as well as English-language and French-language Canadian TV) or via streaming subscription MLS LIVE (available on mobile app, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire).
Don’t be discouraged if you’re based overseas, there’s a good chance you’ll find MLS on a local channel in your home nation.
And if you miss a live match, try to avoid the score and watch the match replays or the condensed 20-minute versions of the matches available on MLS LIVE.
Talk about the Matches
On social media you can find fellow supporters who follow your team or @MLS on all the various channels (hashtags work for this, too, with popular club hashtags or match-specific hashes that follow the typical format: ex. #TORvSEA for MLS Cup).
If social media is not your thing and you want the more in-depth discussion formats, find a podcast from the most comprehensive directory available, including the MLSsoccer.com flagship ExtraTime Radio. Or you can listen and call into the soccer talk shows on Sirius XM Radio's designated soccer channel.
Another way to run into likeminded soccer people? Wear a jersey, cap or scarf (available via MLSstore.com) when you’re out and about and chances are good it’ll be a conversation starter.
Travel to the Matches
The home stadium atmosphere is always special. But celebrating a victory on the road with other traveling fans is unmatched.
Plus, you get to know a new city and other fans via the customary tailgates shared by opposing supporters.
Scout the Matches
Take in enough matches and you’ll be an MLS expert before you know it, which is why setting up an MLS Fantasy Manager team and joining a league before the Week 2 deadline is not a bad idea.
This year Fantasy Manager players can swap out their entire squads from week to week with the new unlimited transfers feature. So there’s always time to add that special talent at an early bargain price.
Don't Ever Miss a Moment
Soccer, including MLS, is a 365-a-day experience and there’s something going on everyday. Of course, that's why we're here at MLSsoccer.com with your favorite personalities bringing you all the great stories throughout the season.
Together with a host of other media members, bloggers and online supporter forums there are no shortage of ways to get your MLS fix in 2017.
