The Field is our Field: Foreign Players, Domestic Leagues, and the Unlawful Racial Manipulation of American Sport

N. Jeremi Duru

Abstract

Introduction: During the last several decades, international athletes' presence in professional American sports has reached unprecedented levels. Not all premier professional American sports leagues, however, accommodate internationalization to the same extent. While the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Major League Baseball (MLB) do not impose limits on international entrants into their leagues, Major League Soccer (MLS) does. Under a policy established at the league's founding in 1996 (the MILS Policy or the Policy), no MLS team may stock its twenty-person senior roster with any more than eight international players.