alternatehistory.com

From the late 60s to the early 80s, the North American Soccer league was an attempt to bring top-flight soccer into the American sports mainstream. While there were a few success stories like the New York Cosmos (which had Pele on their roster in his last years of playing the game), a combo of poor management and falling popularity by the 80s caused the league to fold. While MLS is around nowadays and continues to grow, it'll still be a while before soccer in the region is somewhere comparable to its status in Europe and South America.

How could the NASL have managed to stick around as a moderately successful league, and sustained its growth? And how different would the US/Canadian sports scene be, as well as its place in a global context?
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