no, widely credited for the resurrection in German football is the transformation of the youth ranks, which is one of the major areas MLS is doing work. As the Soccer Don said in his call, they spent $30 million on youth development in 2014 alone. Portland, Seattle, and LA will be running full USL Pro teams for developmental players next year. Sporting Kansas City is investing in a major soccer park to help aid with youth development and growth in the KC area.

All this shit is happening specifically BECAUSE teams like LA, Portland, and Seattle can make these investments without fear of being dropped out of the league if they hit a bad patch of form. Soccer specific stadiums are being invested in and built BECAUSE teams like Houston, KC, San Jose know they won't be thrown on the trash heap if they have a down year.

Advocating for pro/rel is naive euro-snobbery, plain and simple. The league is better for not having it, and will continue to not have it for all of the foreseeable future. It's frustratingly stupid (and naive) for Klinsmann to keep bringing it up.