Well, I did it again. I clicked the "show in context" icon on Alexendrite instead of the identical one to add a link and nuked my comment. :-)

Summing it up:

1. Those poorly managed franchises occupy a cultural space in North America not unlike "sleeping giant" clubs in Europe, and the financial and other parity measures are designed to encourage fans to hope every year. Sometimes it even works.
2. The systems are different, largely arising out of differences between America in 1885 and England in 1885, but both have more than a century of passionate fan support and I find both compelling.
3. MLS is a weird hybrid, being both the perfection of the closed shop model, yet also participating in the global market for both aging stars and younger players of decent but fungible quality.