How is the database? Is anything promotion/relegation based, or how do you advance?
There is no promotion or relegation for Major League Soccer. Basically the league is formed into two parts.
The first part is the actual league season which starts in early march and goes until early December. The top club who has the most points between the East & West conferences wins the Supporter shield, which doesn't really mean much other than bragging rights.
The second part is where the magic really happens and is what I look forward to the most every year. 8 clubs reach the 'playoff' round for the tournament. Clubs can secure playoffs early if they earn a high enough lead in points during the season and the tournament works a lot like your standard football cup. Eventually it comes down to the finals and whatever club wins the final, wins the MLS Trophy (or cup whatever). They also win a spot in the CONCACAF champions league to play against other top clubs across North/Central Americas & Caribbean regions.
The MLS doesn't work like most football leagues across the world. There are salary caps, "team allocation money" aka, TAM, and rosters can have a max of (i think) 3 designated players. Designated players are players on the roster that earn much more salary than their respective team mates (Such as Clint Dempsey on the Seattle Sounders who earns around $6.7M P/A). MLS Clubs can buy / sell / trade players within the MLS, and can sell/buy players from clubs outside of the MLS provided they meet the provincial rules/regulations regarding player movement.
We also have weird things like a 'super draft' , which allows clubs to sign rookies out of the NCAA which is basically all the schools across the United States that breed players for moving up into the professional circuits (football/soccer being one of them).
I probably missed a lot here but that's the jest of the MLS. Also don't expect big money by any means, most players in the MLS earn a median of $120-140k P/A with a few DPs earning in the 7 figures. The only way a team can join the MLS is by essentially bidding for it's entry, and paying a fee in the millions with ownership of a club. We just had two new clubs for the 2017 season, so we're up to a total of 22 clubs. Although the last 4 or 5 clubs to join the league have been a total joke, such as NYFC who play out of a baseball stadium.
