Yeah, I always hear people comparing the Old Firm to Premiership teams - it's an inevitable comparison but a meaningless one. Each league is different. I think it makes a little more sense with the Old Firm though, because they play in Europe and so they do come up against a variety of top teams including Premier League sides..
Chivas USA is already an offshoot of Mexican team Chivas de Guadalajara, so it's happened before. In fact, this fall there was a story that Barcelona (yes THAT Barcelona) was hooking up with a Miami-based owner of a Bolivian team to possibly start an MLS franchise in Florida. Florida has been a tough market for football in America (two teams have already been formed and failed), but with a big club like Barca behind it (and, dare I say, perhaps a retiring-from-Europe TH14?), it might work. Lots of Latinos in Florida, though, baseball is a bigger sport down there. But who knows?
Last season I watched and attended as many games as I could, and followed Columbus very closely. From my perspective, Columbus and Chicago play good football by any standard. Period. Any football fan would have to admit that. It might not be top division football, but it is satisfying to watch for any but the most demanding fan. Several other teams such as Houston, DC United, New York, and Chivas USA can produce great performances on the day. Other teams are a further step down. LA is crap, with or without Landon & Becks (and it isn't completely their fault).
The soccer-specific stadiums are making a HUGE difference IMHO. because they create a football-exclusive space which is really helpful in forging the teams' identities in the public mind. Columbus has the first one to be built on US soil, and even though it won't blow you away visually it makes the game better for the fans.
Crew, Wednesday, Spurs. 