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In September, 2020 MLS Cup Champions Columbus Crew SC (in black uniforms) will face off with Liga MX's champions.
Could a merger between the MLS and Liga MX soon form "the best league in the world?"
That's what FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last week. It's the first time that FIFA has recognized the potential of such a merger and viewed it "in a positive light."
On Thursday, Mexico's football federation President Yon de Luisa, spurred on by Infantino's comments, hinted that Liga MX may be interested as well. The prospect, which has been discussed by various MLS leaders since at least 2018, would merge two of North America's biggest leagues. Teams would span from southern Mexico to Montreal, Canada.
The project would be years away, but there are some pretty real advantages to a North American "super league." Here's a few reasons why the merger might just happen.
1. Supportive leadership
MLS Commissioner Don Garber (MLS Buzz/Twitter)
As said before, FIFA President Infantino is already on board. In his statement, Infantino said that he saw North America as an up-and-coming force in soccer.
"We see the potential in North America—the economic potential and the potential in footballing terms," Infantino said. "I trust them to make the best decisions in that regard."
A week later, De Luisa gave positive remarks on the super merger, although he didn't say anything concrete about combining the leagues.
"Regarding the comments made by Infantino, I believe it is a reflection of what we've been working on... in the last few years," De Luisa said. "In 2018, when we presented (the World Cup bid), we made that happen with a lot of work, a lot of synergy and understanding that we do better when we're together as opposed to apart."
MLS officials have teased North American fans for a few years now with scattered rumors on the possible merger.
In December, MLS Commissioner Don Garber made it clear that while there will be no jumbo league on the continent for many years, it's a prospect they're definitely considering.
"Could there ever be a moment where the leagues come together in a more formal way than just playing with interleague play? Perhaps," Garber told ESPN. "But it's a long way away."
2. Past, current collaboration
(Campeones Cup/Twitter)
A merger would be difficult if the two leagues hadn't communicated in the past. Luckily, both the MLS and Liga MX are doing a lot of teamwork lately.
Most recently, the two launched the Leagues Cup, an annual tournament that features the two best teams from each conference in both leagues. The cup began in 2019, paused in 2020 due to the pandemic and will start up in August of this year.
The Campeones Cup is another example of tri-nation collaboration. In late September, 2020 MLS Cup Champions Columbus Crew SC will face off with Liga MX's champions, hosted in the U.S.
Regarding the cups, Liga MX's Executive President Mikel Arriola said he recognizes that a significant number of Liga MX fans are in the U.S. (another good reason for a merger.)
"The announcement regarding the return of Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup is crucial for the project to internationalize Liga MX," Arriola said. "We know that North America has a large number of fans, and over 30% on average of the audience for our league's games comes from the United States, which speaks to the importance of getting closer to our fanbase in the northern region of the continent."
Another significant move between all North American countries was the successful bid for the 2026 World Cup. Mexico, Canada and the U.S. collaborated back in 2018 to bring the world's biggest soccer stage to the continent with the "United 2026" bid, which beat out Morocco as the site for the event. It's the first time that three countries will host the World Cup in just another showcase of North American solidarity.
3. 2026 World Cup
We are ready to welcome the world to North America! Thank you to all who supported our vision for a united @FIFAWorldCup! 🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xuQAh2dBzc
— United 2026 (@united2026) June 13, 2018
Because of the World Cup, all eyes are on North America for the first time in a long time. More than half the world regularly tunes in to the FIFA World Cup, and hosting such a large-scale event is sure to bring attention to U.S. and Mexican soccer.
The U.S. will host 60 of the cup's 80 matches, while Canada and Mexico will each host 10. Aside from putting the nations' soccer on a global stage, the cup is giving North American leagues the spotlight from all kinds of FIFA higher-ups, including Infantino.
FIFA used to be against international leagues, but they've been letting up since 2016, according to ESPN. As the MLS begins to be taken seriously, there's great potential that FIFA could give the merger a green light after the World Cup.
4. Money, prestige, competition
(Futebol Intl FC/Twitter)
Liga MX is a North American and global giant already—It's the fourth most attended league in the world.
The MLS may seem like an infant next to one of the America's most powerful leagues, but it has financial backing where it lacks in prestige.
Seventeen MLS clubs were put into Soccerex's Football Finance 100, an index of the sports' most financially-rich teams, while only three Liga MX clubs were up to par.
As the MLS finally brings some star talent and shakes off its image as a retirement home for aging stars, both the MLS and Liga MX could benefit from the merger.
5. Rivalry turned profit
(Leagues Cup/Twitter)
As stated before, more than 30% of Liga MX's fan base is in America. In fact, more Americans tune into Liga MX than to the MLS itself. This shared customer base has caused tension in the past as each competes for more influence, but a merger would solve these issues.
With attention coming in from the biggest names in soccer, every North American superfan's fantasy may not be too far off.
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On Sunday, May 29, we’ll experience one of the year’s biggest calls to adventure in the Mars/Jupiter conjunction—a potent duo whose combined force will start to be especially strongly felt when Mars moves into Aries on May 24. Contrastingly, Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, will keep our mental temperament grounded and steady as they move slowly through the sensual, materially-oriented sign of Taurus for most of the month. These contrasting forces might be tricky to weave together—read ahead for tips on how your sign can find the right approach this month!
Gemini: May 21-June 20
Gemini: May 21-June 20Welcome to the season of your Solar Return, Gemini! This month will set the stage for your whole coming year, so it will be great to start it off on the right foot. The most important bit of cosmic context is Mercury moving slowly till the end of the month in the grounded sign of Taurus. This is an encouragement to savor your questions and conversations with the world, without needing to rush to answers and to mull over the elemental, fundamental aspects of your life. It would be great to give yourself perspective, especially by experiencing new environments and by moving through the world in a new manner. Allow yourself to be surprised! You might loosen some of your hardened beliefs, but don’t discount the trustworthiness or substance of the new ideas you may stumble upon.
Cancer: June 21-July 22
Cancer: June 21-July 22For you, Cancer, the paradoxes of Gemini season have to do with inwardness and outwardness. On the one hand, you can expect your inner world to be as active as ever, swirling with meaningful thoughts and experiences needing to be digested. On the other, this month features a strong call to get out of your shell, open up to the world at large, and bravely share yourself—perhaps even in an unprecedented way! In transitioning between these extremes, the Moon can be as good a guide as ever—heading into and out of the New Moon on the 30th, you might focus on articulating and envisioning this burgeoning impulse and nourishing the terrain for its growth. As we ramp up to the full moon on the 14th, you might find small ways to embody, communicate and make real this developing dream.
Leo: July 23-Aug 22
Leo: July 23-Aug. 22This Gemini Season is particularly intense for you, Leo, as it calls forth both a fiery, hungry spirit and a more serious, dedicated energy, aware of life’s hardships and limitations. These impulses herald a summer of growth and maturation, which would be great to get a good jump on. Just don’t let this process make you too heavyhearted or self-involved! Your friends, community, and experience of the broader social world at large can help soften and clarify this strong, fiery self that’s metamorphosing. You might rely upon this bigger, human perspective to help you progress smoothly and gracefully. Although it might require some extra humility, taking yourself less seriously can be a superpower. A lighthearted approach can be extraordinarily efficient and effective. It might be paradoxical, but consider that relying on a bigger, greater power than your own is your path to individual fullness.
Virgo: Aug. 23-Sept. 21
Virgo: Aug. 23-Sept. 21This Gemini season brings a charge for you to expand into more substantive and serious subjects, Virgo. Especially if you feel you’ve been playing small, this will provide an opportunity for you to grow into more meaningful and demanding work in the world. At times, this will feel hectic and harsh—there will be no shortage of fire this month. You, as much as anyone, though, can help find the right place and time for that fire, directing it where there’s a need for more energy and oomph. Lightheartedness can be really helpful in navigating and dancing with this heat—with a bit of humor and perspective, you can respond and adapt quickly and gracefully. By the end of the month, you should be able to feel like your view of and faith in the bigger picture has expanded.
Libra: Sept. 22-Oct. 23
Libra: Sept. 22-Oct. 23This Gemini season will provide ample opportunities for you to learn and grow through your relationships, Libra. We’re really looking at the full spectrum of potential experiences here—on the one hand, Mars’ entry into Aries can ignite flammable subjects, and people are generally likely to be on edge, assertive and protective. On the other, Venus’ conjunction with Uranus toward the end of the month can bring unexpected encounters and new forms of relationship into play. Throughout all of this, there’s a theme for the next year of growth through fiery, direct relationships. This is a step beyond just keeping the peace which may be discomforting, but consider that it may take your relationships to incredibly satisfying and enduring places.
Scorpio: Oct. 24-Nov. 21
Scorpio: Oct. 24-Nov. 21This Gemini season brings opportunities for sharpening both your wits and tools, Scorpio, although this may feel like a trial by fire. Although they may feel particularly urgent and exciting this month, many of these challenges and opportunities will last throughout the summer, so take your time to get your focus clear and settle into a groove. The real challenge and potential this month have to do with navigating subtle, intricate dynamics so that you aren’t flustered and know exactly where to put your effort. In order to develop this discernment, you can definitely rely on trusted allies, who can act as mirrors, triangulation points and simple safe havens amid the storm. This is a strategic necessity, but be sure to give thanks and enjoy the simple goodness of companionship, too!
Sagittarius: Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Sagittarius: Nov. 22-Dec. 21The sharp, powerful impulses and stimulation of this Gemini season are pushing you to the development of your free will, Sagittarius—a spirit of playful, proud independence and spontaneity. There are a couple of ways that you might think about this. First, that courage is necessary to truly live out your convictions and ideals, as well as a way to ultimately best serve the world. Truth isn’t always soft or easy. On the other hand, this isn’t too complex and is keyed to cutting through stagnation. There’s a sort of simplicity and instinctive wisdom that you can draw upon and develop into this month, letting things happen. If you need to, you can think of this as an act of trust, or faith in a basic goodness and natural, flowing order of things.
Capricorn: Dec. 22-Jan. 19
Capricorn: Dec. 22-Jan. 19The motion and activity of this Gemini season can quickly develop your values and taste, Capricorn, as you strip back ordinary and inherited ways of thinking and open your eyes to life’s beauty. This simple and vibrant beauty will stimulate your desire to savor life’s goodness and strive for the highest quality experience possible. Along the way, your fixed, limited ideas about what is possible can fall away, even as the new and extraordinary may require incredible strength and devotion from you. Although these are lofty ideals, they’ll have a lot to do with your tangible, everyday experience of your body and sense of home—this is a primal, almost wild energy being rekindled. Alongside this intense fire comes a certain risk, so make sure to enter into this new adventure step by step, without injuring yourself or anyone else.
Aquarius: Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Aquarius: Jan. 20-Feb. 18This Gemini season can help you learn how to feel more rooted and alive in life’s simple aspects, Aquarius. Although this can certainly take place in tandem with new teachers, these don’t have to be big gurus—rather, your curiosity, delight, and common sense might be the best guides. In this regard, your quality of perception, thought and the well-being of your inner child can all make great strides. Through the first part of the month, this will likely feel exciting and overwhelming. As we approach our new moon, though, you can get a better sense of where you need to be settling into more focus and definition in your life. This back and forth between a growing sense of clarity and inner authority and a stronger capacity to be firm and to the point will continue to deepen throughout the summer.
Pisces: Feb. 19-March 20
Pisces: Feb. 19-March 20This Gemini season is focused on helping you develop a stronger sense of connection to the world around you, Pisces. Although this can take place by rearranging and bringing more life into your body and environment, an initial spirit of fresh possibility and willingness to release what is stale and outgrown is a necessity. In doing so, you can land upon a greater sense of capability and being resourced for life’s adaptations and evolutions. This will certainly be a month of growth in your material world and relationship with your body, but the serious litmus test is how settled you feel internally—the quality and clarity of your thoughts and inner world. Ideally, though this summer you’ll develop a stronger trust in yourself and an easier interface between your inner riches and outer quality of experience.
Aries: March 21-April 19
Aries: March 21-April 19The Mars/Jupiter conjunction is especially important for you, Aries, as it happens in your home sign. This signifies a spark of expansion that will play out over the coming year. Here, Jupiter is calling you into new ventures and adventures, to level up and act on the big dreams and desires brewing inside of you. Thus, this month is a great time to initiate some bigger change, to take some jump, leap or healthy risk. Although you don’t want to let this moment slip away, please don’t get impulsive or headstrong—make sure you’ve got at least a bit of a plan. Ideally, whatever you’re aiming at will require a good bit of care, and you can expect that much of this opportune, fertile energy will continue and develop throughout the next year.
Taurus: April 20-May 20
Taurus: April 20-May 20The start of the coming month will challenge you to keep up the pace, Taurus, so that it can consolidate into a healthy rhythm. Finding the right stride, you can find yourself breathing more easily, and maybe let yourself loosen your grip or take your hands off the handlebars, trusting your sense of balance and the strength in your legs. This can set the stage for an opportune spell at the end of Gemini Season, as your ruler Venus makes a conjunction with Uranus—you might keep an eye out for spontaneous side adventures, ways to create space for synchronicity, or simple moments where life is calling you into new ways of being. Ideally, these will feel like clear upgrades, but if you need to think of them as experiments or trial runs, that’s totally okay, too.
