Sorry for maybe off comment but some more history:

The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played at the public schools of England.
The Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association
football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and
Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the
English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club,
formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles
Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules

Historian man

Actually there are currently 5 players in the MLS making more than $1M (Beckham, Donovan, Ljungberg, deGuzman) and another 9 players that make $300k or better. No match for the top European leagues but it has definetely come up over the last 5 years and with big name sponsors like VW, XBOX, RedBull, BestBuy, Amway, Herbalife, and Glidden contributing a combined $28M in shirt sponsorship alone. Not to mention the stadium deals that surely bring in just as much if not more that the shirt deals.

Add to that the rule changes now allowing each team 2-3 Designated Players and it looks like the MLS is positioning itself to start to keep its own talent and bring in outside players with the power to draw on TV and at the ticket booth.

Give it some time and support and remember salaries are directly related to revenue.

There are several soccer specific stadiums that have capacity of about 25k.

MLS is not top quality, but is easily top 20. Indeed, 2nd tier, but it’s not as bad as you think. Top MLS players often easily mesh into top leagues if the team is a right fit.

And yes, the salaries are low, but they rise every year. Contracts will start getting larger once the league is more established (financially) and there is bigger incentive for ownership to spend more money (TO MAKE MORE MONEY). MLS is here to stay because of a conservative, long-term approach business model, unlinke NASL.

Without any revenue, how are they supposed to match the high salaries?