Although Bridgwater still owned the rights to the Earthquakes name and logo, the team became known as the Clash at the urging of Nike, a major investor in MLS.

In 1996, he became the investor / operator of the Colorado Rapids, his first MLS franchise.

Though newspapers have been accused of missing the internet " revolution ", in the early 1990s, Torstar became a pioneering investor in the early internet via its purchase of shares in JCI Technologies which created Jobmatch, Automatch and Realtymatch ( an MLS search service ).

In addition, McConnell was a part of the ownership group of the AFL's Columbus Destroyers, an early investor in the MLS ' Columbus Crew, and minority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The club won both the MLS Cup and the MLS Supporters ' Shield in 2000, and the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup in 2004 and 2012.

* Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup, soccer ( association football ) tournament held between American soccer clubs from MLS, minor leagues, and amateur associations

They have won the MLS Cup three times ( 2002, 2005, 2011 ), the MLS Supporters ' Shield four times ( 1998, 2002, 2010, 2011 ), the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup twice ( 2001, 2005 ), and is one of just two MLS teams to win the CONCACAF Champions ' Cup ( now replaced by the CONCACAF Champions League ) which they accomplished in 2000.

The Crew has won five major trophies: MLS Cup 2008, the 2004, 2008 and 2009 Supporters ' Shields, and the 2002 Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup.

During his three years with the Galaxy, Gardner played 1, 096 minutes in 21 games and was a member of the Galaxy team that won both the MLS Cup and the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup in 2005.

Since being named only the second coach in Fire history on Nov. 4, 2002, Sarachan guided the squad to its third Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup crown in 2003 in addition to appearances in MLS Cup 2003 and the 2004 Open Cup Final.

Segares also helped the " Men in Red " earn an MLS club-record fourth Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup title in 2006, playing every minute in the tournament's Final.

Among MLS teams, the longest Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup drought is 16 years, shared by 3 teams, the Colorado Rapids, New York Red Bulls, and San Jose Earthquakes.

He was drafted by the Chicago Fire in the second round of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft and Led the team in scoring in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

Rolfe was drafted by the senior team in the third round of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft by Chicago Fire, and became a Chicago mainstay, scoring 30 goals in his first four seasons with the club, leading his team in goals with eight in his debut 2005 season, and winning the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup in 2006.

If the two teams have the same points against each other at the end of the year ( including MLS regular season and playoff games and the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup ) then the cup stays with the team holding it at the beginning of the year.

He scored the game-winning goal in the 2005 Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup Final, then helped the Galaxy to a rare Cup ' double ' when they also won the 2005 MLS Cup.

Hunt co-founded the World Championship Tennis and was also the founder and owner of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City Wizards and at his death owned two MLS teams, Columbus Crew and FC Dallas.

Hunt also serves as Chairman of Hunt Sports Group, where he oversees the operations of FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew of MLS.

Hunt remains a member of the league's Board of Governors and owns the MLS clubs FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew.

Under Hunt, the Columbus Crew won their first MLS Cup championship on November 23, 2008.

Diego returned to USA with his pregnant fiance American / Australian model Heston Stutz and son Penn, after four years in the A-League, looking to win a contract with an MLS club.

David Ponce did nottch five goals for the team, but such was the squad's instability that head coach Spencer used 46 different players during the course of the season, including ex-professional Mike Munoz and Ian Sarachan, son of former Chicago Fire MLS coach Dave Sarachan.

The trend that Clark started has continued to the present ; more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I men's programs in the U. S. A common next step in these players ' career paths is a stint in Major League Soccer ; ESPNsoccernet journalist Brent Latham speculated in a March 2010 story that the All Whites ' 2010 FIFA World Cup squad could have more MLS players than the U. S. squad.

After his sophomore year, Clark signed a Project-40 contract with MLS, and entered the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected second overall by the MetroStars.

Although Clark was an early favorite to be named MLS Rookie of the Year, he faded near the end, but still was a finalist for the award.

Clark scored MLS Goal of the Week nominee on August 16 vs. Real Salt Lake with a long-range strike.

Clark, whose contract with MLS expired at the end of the 2009 season, signed a deal with Fußball-Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt for the remainder of the 2009 – 10 season with an option to extend the contract at the end of the season.

On September 15, 2010, Mullan was traded along with a fourth-round pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for Colin Clark and allocation money.

The Kansas City Wizards was a charter member of MLS in 1996 and became the Wizards from 1997 onwards.

Following the conclusion of the 2005 MLS season, the franchise was officially put on hiatus and the players, head coach Dominic Kinnear and some of his coaching staff were moved to Houston, Texas, where they became the Houston Dynamo.

At the age of 14, he became one of the youngest athletes to sign a professional contract in the United States, after he was selected by D. C. United in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft.

On April 3, 2004, he became the youngest player to appear in a Major League Soccer ( MLS ) game when he came on as a substitute in a game against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Two weeks later, on April 17, he became the youngest scorer in MLS history, scoring a goal in a 3 – 2 loss to the MetroStars.

At the age of fourteen, Adu became the youngest American athlete in over 100 years to sign a major league professional contract in any team sport when he was chosen by D. C. United as the number one overall pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft.

He became the youngest player in MLS history to score a goal.

In 2001, he became the youngest player to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award, recording four shutouts and a league-leading 146 saves, and was named to the MLS All-Star Team.

That year, he became the youngest player ever signed by MLS.

His club won the Supporters ' Shield for the second straight season, became only the third team in league history to reach the 60 point plateau, and won the 2011 MLS Cup.

The conversion was only required several times per year during the Senators ' joint tenancy with the Redskins, but became much more frequent while the Nationals and D. C. United shared the stadium during the mostly-concurrent MLB and MLS seasons ; in 2005, the conversion was made more than 20 times.

In November 2006, XANGO, LLC, became the official corporate jersey-front sponsor of Real Salt Lake, a MLS soccer team based in Salt Lake City, Utah, for four years, at a cost of between $ 500, 000 and $ 1 million per year.

On January 3, 1995 Ramos became the first player signed with Major League Soccer ( MLS ).

In 2005, he became the last player in MLS to remain with his original team since 1996.

In December 2006, English club Fulham offered MLS $ 4 million for the transfer of Dempsey, then the largest amount ever offered for an MLS player and became another American addition to the Cottagers roster.

After retiring as a player, Preki became an assistant coach with Chivas USA, and upon the appointment of Bob Bradley as the United States national team manager, Preki was promoted as head coach of Chivas USA for the 2007 Major League Soccer season and was named MLS Coach of the Year in his first season.

Upon the formation of MLS, he was drafted 28th overall in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft, and became a third-string goalkeeper of the 1996 Dallas Burn, behind Mark Dodd.

On August 13, 2005, he became the first player in MLS history to score 100 career league goals.

On May 3, 2007, Kreis retired from professional competition, and was announced as the new head coach of Real Salt Lake, retiring as a player and taking over the coaching reins from John Ellinger ; at the time of his hire, Kreis became the youngest active head coach in MLS at 34 years and 127 days.

On April 17, 2009, Moreno became the first MLS player ever to reach the mark of 100 goals and 100 assists when he assisted on a Ben Olsen stoppage time goal.