Wednesday 2 March 2016 07:38, UK
Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey says the MLS has come a long way since he began his career in America 12 years ago.
The United States international started out at New England Revolution in 2004, before spending six years in the Premier League with Fulham and Tottenham.
He returned to his home country in August 2013 to join Seattle Sounders, and believes the MLS has come a long way since his first spell in the league.
"There are more soccer specific stadiums, there are more franchises, bigger player contracts, bigger names and just better quality in the league," Dempsey told Sky Sports.
"The attendances have also improved. In Seattle we get 44,000 for every home game - that's pretty remarkable. Growing up as a kid in Texas, I never thought I'd see the day that I was playing in packed stadiums in the US.
"It's definitely come a long way and hopefully it can keep going in that direction."
Football - or soccer - was catapulted into the American spotlight with the USA's impressive performance at the 2014 World Cup, where they were knocked out on penalties by Belgium in the last 16.
Dempsey said: "People can understand the sport a little bit better. I think having major competitions and the US team doing better in the World Cup brings fans to the TVs and to the bars to watch the games.
"Once you get around that atmosphere and watch the game you start getting interested, that's what's propelled the game onto the major networks which allows anyone to watch. That's what grows the game.
"The more games that are shown on Sky Sports and having more players that played in the Premier League has attracted more people to watch. I think they can see that the quality is growing and hopefully it will continue to get better and better."
Despite the growing popularity of the MLS, there are still only a small number of American players who have made the move to the Premier League - with Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Brad Friedel a few of the names.
But Dempsey believes his compatriots are good enough to compete in the English top flight and credits the MLS for giving him the opportunity to do so.
"The American players are good enough but you have to get in the right situation, the right coach to believe in you and you have to fit the system of play," he said.
"It is a grind and when you are going over [and] there's a lot more competition. If you start somewhere and are successful and then you move to another country you are starting from scratch.
"For me, MLS gave me my opportunity to be a pro and to play under Steve Nicol and Paul Marriner, they taught me so much and gave me confidence.
"They gave me the opportunity to get regular first team action and that's what allowed me to break into the national team. Without breaking into the national team and playing in the World Cup, I might not have had the opportunity to go the Premier League."
Seattle Sounders kick off their 2016 season against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday - midnight on Monday in the UK - and Dempsey is hoping previous titles can help them lift the MLS Cup.
"We've got to be more consistent through the year. We had too many injuries last year and with the international call-ups for some of our players there was a little bit of a lull in the summer period.
"To win the MLS Cup I feel the trick is to have as high a seed as possible in the table because you get home advantage in the play-offs and having that advantage puts you in a better position to win.
"If we are consistent through the year to finish as high as possible in the table, we'll have a good opportunity to win MLS Cup.
"To win the cup would mean me coming back to the MLS paid off. I was brought here to try and help the club win an MLS Cup and it would be something I would be very proud of.
"Hopefully I have the opportunity to do that because we won the Supporters' Shield and the US Open Cup. Now we have to win the MLS Cup. That's the only thing we are missing."
MLS returns to Sky Sports on Sunday March 6 when Chicago Fire face New York City FC from 7pm and Portland Timbers host Colombus. You can watch both match live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
