Fueled by the popularity of the USA-hosted 1994 FIFA World Cup, MLS was born in 1996. Originally, only 10 teams competed for the Rothenberg trophy (now called the Anschutz Trophy). Twenty-three years later, MLS has 24 teams: 21 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada, making soccer one of America’s fastest growing sports.

MLS has some odd rules though, compared to its European counterparts. Unlike the Premier League, La Liga, or the Serie A, MLS has made some changes to the rules. Let’s have a look at 5 football rules that only exist the American MLS.

No Promotion/Relegation

In all the major European football leagues, there is a promotion/relegation system in place. MLS does not have promotion and relegation, making Major League Soccer one of the only first-division professional football leagues in the world where clubs don’t have to fear dropping to a lower league. The only European league which has no relegation is the Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio in San Marino, but this is because San Marino is a small city state. MLS had the opportunity to implement a promotion/relegation system a few years ago. The television networks promised the league four times their current contract value, but the proposal was rejected.

General Allocation Money (GAM)

General Allocation Money (GAM) is money that is available to a club in addition to its salary budget. Each MLS club receives an annual allotment of GAM and that money can be used for a multitude of things, for example for signing new players. This is very different from Europe, where clubs don’t have a ceiling when it comes down to spending money on players. This has a huge influence on the game, as it is well-known that the rich clubs are more successful than clubs with less financial resources. In MLS, on the other hand, teams that fail to qualify for the playoffs receive additional money in order to balance out the competition.

Transfer Process

Compared to Europe, the transfer process is a bit complicated in the MLS. It is the goal of MLS to keep the league on an even playing field. And they have been successful, MLS has crowned 13 different champions in its 23 years in history. MLS wants to make it so that players are loyal to their team, that’s why the selling team only gets a part of the transfer fee. For example, if a player has been with the club for only one year, the club itself only gets 1/3 of the transfer fee, while MLS takes the rest. Salary cap regulations also make it so there is a limit on the amount of money a team can spend players’ salaries. Though, the Designated Player Rule does allow each MLS franchise to sign up to three players that would be considered outside the team’s salary cap.

Franchise Relocation

Franchise relocation of professional sports teams is a practice which involves a sporting club moving from one city to another city. The relocation of a professional sports franchise to another place is obviously not a popular decision with the hometown fans. Imagine if Manchester United would suddenly become London United? The fans would be outraged! So far, the only team that has relocated is the San Jose Earthquakes, who became the Houston Dynamo in 2006, moving from the West Coast to the East Coast.

Penalty Shootouts

When MLS initially started, the league wanted to make an effort to make the sport more appealing to the American public. MLS opted for a variant on the penalty shootout with players starting 35 yards out and tasked with beating the goalkeeper within five seconds. It essentially worked the same way a hockey shootout would. This rule was abandoned in 1999 and MLS eventually adopted the more socially acceptable penalty kick, just as is done in Europe.

For most people, summer is a vacation season. But not for thieves. They have the hottest time in both meanings. According to statistics, the number of burglaries in summer increases by 20%. If you don’t want to be added to the list, take measures to protect your place in advance! I will tell you how to protect your apartment from thieves during your holiday season and beyond.

• Install secure windows and doors

Thieves enter the apartment through doors or windows (surprise!), so you need to take care of their reliability. If you live on the first or last floor of the building, be sure to put a secure grate on the windows. If you have plastic windows, they can be equipped with anti-burglary accessories. The cost is not very high, and the benefits are obvious.

In addition, you can protect the window-glass as well. For this, there is a special cover-up that sticks to glass and makes it invulnerable even to stones or metal objects. This service is not cheap, but such a thing not only protects the glass from breaking but also has heat-insulating properties.

Thinking about how to protect your summer house from thieves? A good solution for that one or private home can be roller shutters. From the inside, they are opened and closed with a button, and from the outside – there’s security protection against burglary.

As you know, the most reliable door is made of metal, but not a Chinese one which can be pierced with a knife. The door should be heavy, made of quality thick metal. It is harder to crack the door that opens outward.

Locks are also very important. Of course, a thief-professional will be able to crack almost any lock, but, agree, if you have to deal with the lock for a long time, the chances of being caught increase. Not every thief would take such a risk. It is better to choose the lock that is mounted inside the door. Give preference to famous brands. By the way, the more key turns you need to make to open the door, the more secure the lock is.

• Use the help of professionals

The most reliable way to protect your property is to have your apartment guarded by a public or private company. However, this method is not available to everyone, because only the installation of security equipment will cost several thousand dollars. And also it will be necessary to pay a subscription fee ($300-$500 per month). At thieves’ home invasion, the guard on duty will receive a signal, and the police will arrive in a few minutes. Some security firms even offer material responsibility for your property.

To scare away thieves, you can install an alarm system at home that will sound loud in the event of intruders entering your home. This option is nice because you do not need to pay the subscription fee, but it does not give any guarantees.

There is also another type – GSM Alarm System. This device calls or sends a text to the host’s phone, and the latter in turn takes measures – calls the police, etc. Only this method is not very reliable, because a text message or a call is easy to miss when you are on vacation.

• How to deceive thieves?

When going on vacation, it is desirable to ask someone to look after the apartment, water the flowers, etc. Often thieves keep an eye on the apartment, for example, by inserting matches into the door. If a match does not stand still the next day, it means the apartment is visited. The long absence of the owners is also detected by a clogged mailbox, so ask someone to empty it.

You can use special light bulbs with a timer that will turn on in the evenings, or a lamp that imitates the flickering of the TV during the holiday.

Don’t spread the word about your plans to go on vacation – very often thieves find future objects by tip-offs. Many people like to post information about themselves on social media – don’t do that. You don’t need to tell the whole Internet community that you are away in a good place and will come back on such a number, etc.

When going on vacation, hide all the values and money, preferably in a few safe places – there’s a chance that thieves will not find all the hiding places. The main thing is to choose non-standard places, not to hide money under a mattress or in a drawer. If you have a lot of valuable jewelry, think about putting it in your safety deposit box in your bank.

• Bonus tips

Unfortunately, thefts do not occur only during the holiday period. Sometimes thieves only need a couple of hours while you are at work. So here are the basic security rules you need to follow at all times:

• Don’t forget to close your windows and doors.
• Don’t open the doors to strangers, whether they are employees of the Housing and Communal Services or beggars.
• Do not put the keys in easily accessible places – under a mat or in your mailbox.
• If you lose your keys, be sure to change the locks.
• Don’t give your address to strangers unless absolutely necessary.
• Don’t specify the hours when you’re at home (or away) when posting some ads in social media.

Many recommendations may seem trivial to you, but the main thing is that they work.

Be careful, take the necessary precautions and enjoy your rest!

Author’s bio: Damian Williams is a blogger for homecarechoices.org who frequently combines auto repairment with freelance writing. She’s passionate about Art Deco hotels, historical novels, Netflix, hiking and healthy living.

Home to the Red Sox, the Celtics and the Bruins, Boston is booming with sporting talent – making it a must-see place for avid sports fans.

With that in mind, here are six top tips to help you maximize your time when you visit.

• Create an itinerary

To get the best out of Boston, create a travel itinerary highlighting your coveted spots.

You don’t have to plan your trip to a T, but with a rough guide, you can start saving time before you’ve even left home.

So work out where the places you’ll be going are and the best order to see them in.

• Choose a central location

Make sure you consider location when choosing your accommodation. For instance, if you’re planning to watch a baseball match or two, try and find somewhere near Fenway Park – the last thing you want is to be rushing around to get there before a big game.

• Research the transport

Boston has an excellent public transit network to smoothly navigate you across the city. So do some research and work out the most efficient transport type for your travel activities in advance.

This way, you’ll be able to spend more time doing what floats your boat and less time traveling – check out the MBTA website for more information on public transport in the city.

• Read up on the restaurants

You’d be surprised how much time you can waste deliberating over where and what to eat – so be proactive.

Find out what delicious delights are on offer near your accommodation and the places you plan to visit – this’ll save valuable time.

And be sure to try some of the city’s specialties such as Boston Cream pie, Boston baked beans and New England clam chowder.

• Book your travel early

Be organised and book your travel as early as possible – it’ll be a weight off your shoulders and leave you with more time to focus on planning your Boston based activities.

If you’re flying to Boston, download a flight comparison app such as Skyscanner, which will find you the cheapest fares for flights to BOS from across the airlines.

• Pre-book airport parking

If you’re flying, avoid the stress of public transport and drive to the airport and if you pre-book with an airport parking site like looking4.com, there’ll be no wasted looking for a suitable spot, plus you’ll be able to take advantage early-bird deals for hubs such as LAX and JFK.

• Travel overnight

Traveling during the night is a great way to maximize time because it allows you to travel and sleep at the same time, so when you arrive in Boston you’ll be feeling refreshed and ready to shoot some hoops, watch a game or two and explore this awesome sporting city.  

Follow these tips and you’ll have plenty of time to play on your Boston sports adventure.

That’s our list! Share you time saving travel tips in the comments section.