The year: 2010. The setting: my grandparents’ living room. Young Kyle is watching his first FIFA World Cup, from Luis Suarez’s antics against Ghana to Landon Donovan’s dramatic winner against Algeria. That summer, I discovered the world of soccer. That means I should be allowed to sign every single one of those players before anyone else can, right? Unfortunately, younger me, that interpretation of Discovery Rights is very, very wrong. You didn’t even account for the now defunct Allocation List (maybe a different article for that)! Good try, though. It’s time for another Know Your League Explainer.

Welcome to MLS, where roster rules and regulations are too complex for my 10-year-old self to understand. We’ve probably all heard about a certain midfield maestro from a Manchester club that’s rumored to be looking for a move stateside, and you may have heard about some reports saying his Discovery Rights belong to Inter Miami (lol). Does that mean David Beckham was the first person to scout De Bruyne? Does it mean no one had ever truly watched him until the folks at Inter Miami finally discovered him? No and no, once again. If you’re anything like 10-year-old me, this mechanism makes no sense, and it’s about time we learn about it together.

Every team in Major League Soccer is entitled to a Discovery List of up to five players. These lists contain players who are not yet under contract within MLS and who aren’t eligible for any other assignment mechanisms (like the MLS SuperDraft). Considering how many professional leagues there are around the world, that includes tens of thousands of players. Whether it’s an American player playing abroad or a foreign player playing in their domestic league, the potential names for these lists go on and on. There are a few more nitty-gritty stipulations, but I’ll leave those to the article from the league.