Ever since its creation in 1988, Major League Soccer has been seen as a place for soccer legends to play out their few remaining years. For greats such as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, and Andre Pirlo, the MLS is to them what Florida is to senior citizens. All three joined after they aged out of their European leagues and wanted a slower pace to play at.

However, in recent history, the face of MLS and even of soccer in the US has changed drastically. While it was on the brink of failure and almost had to declare bankruptcy just a little over a decade and a half ago, MLS has come roaring back. According to MLS statistics, the 2015-2016 season was the most successful one yet, with attendance averaging over 21,000 per game. The Seattle Sounders, the club with the largest fan base, boasted over 41,000 fans per game, surpassing the English Premier League club of Liverpool in average attendance and resting just under the Bundesliga average of 43,000 fans per game.

So why is the United States just now entering into a conversation that the rest of the world has been participating in for over a century?

One reason could be the increased awareness of certain dangers associated with playing other contact sports. Recently the NFL has been under fire, accused of fabricating research and statistics on concussions and other head injuries sustained from play. Additionally, an average of 12 high school and college football players die every year from causes ranging indirectly from underlying heart diseases to heat stroke, and directly from injuries sustained through play. While these tragic deaths rare, those numbers might make worried parents more likely to enroll their children in soccer rather than football.

Another reason for soccer's increasing popularity could be the nation's changing demographics. With the CDC projecting 23 percent of the population to be Hispanic by 2035, it's no wonder that soccer in America is on the rise. Furthermore, according to the data from the 2000 and 2010 US censuses, the states with the most drastic changes in overall populations were western states, especially Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Oregon. The Western region of the US, already boasting the immense Seattle Sounders fanbase and last years reigning MLS champs, the Portland Timbers, seem to be multiplying soccer viewership as well.

So what impacts will this increase in popularity have? Of course, the staunchly faithful, “I-was-here-first” soccer fans will most likely be dismayed by the influx of popularity when they see that ticket and jersey prices are also increasing, but in reality the implications of the soccer trend are much deeper than simply rising costs.

The United State's Men's National Team's modest success on the world stage could be blamed on the fact that most of our best athletes find glory in other sports, but recently the numbers of youth involved in soccer have surged substantially. In 2014, the US Youth Soccer organization reported a 9 percent increase in participation. There are many possible explanations for this upturn, the most obvious being that 2014 was a World Cup year and the excitement generated from the games directly influenced participation levels, but if this trend continues the team could add a few stars to its kit in a decade or two.

Although the US Men’s National Team has yet to progress further than the quarterfinals in a world cup, the US Women’s National Team has experienced great success. Since the inauguration of the Women's World Cup in 1991, the USWNT has won the tournament three times, most recently just last summer. In fact, the 2015 championship game was one of the most viewed sports events of the season, surpassing both the NBA finals and the final round of the Masters. The success of the USA Women’s national team is making headway in the name of women’s sports and increasing the female representation and heroes that young girls have to look up to. After the USWNT's win, the US Youth Soccer Organization reported a 35 percent increase of girls in its programs, while high school soccer leagues report an increase of close to 45 percent, proving that their success on the world stage is inspiring other young women to follow in their footsteps.

While US soccer has a way to go to catch up with the other major leagues, slowly but surely, we will dominate the world of the one thing we haven’t yet: soccer.

And who knows -- someday, we might even start calling it football like literally everyone else on the planet.

To end, please enjoy these attractive footballers: