Good info. Hopefully the league can stay close to that kind of timeline in this off-season (and they should be able to, since there's no expansion to figure out, and the format is already set, with the simple "flipping" of the EvW hosting duties for 2013 relative to 2012 schedule, and Houston and MTL aren't waiting for their stadiums to get completed). fwiw, the home openers announcement last off-season was 9 days after the 2011 MLS Cup which was on November 20, 2011. The full schedule (as noted) came out on Jan 5th -- 65 days before first kick on 3/10 last season. If they can match that 65-days out timeline in this off-season, then the schedule (announced with first kick on 3/2) hypothetically would be announced on 12/27. But more likely than not, it will be the new year before MLS announces their 2013 full season schedule (subject to change, of course). One of these off-seasons, MLS might actually make it a priority to get their schedule announced in mid-December, to help in the push to perhaps sell some more season-ticket packages for folks doing holiday gift shopping. I'd enjoy seeing that this year, but I'm not hopeful of that. Although, in many respects, there aren't as many unknowns for the league and schedule maker to work through this off-season, as 2013 will look a lot like 2012 (with the hosting swaps of some matchups) and there no TBD stadium situations that will be changing in 2013 for the 19 teams apparently.
On the call Don G mentioned Florida but didn't really suggest Orlando or Miami, could this be why - http://theoffsiderules.com/File-Under-Out-of-Nowhere-FL-group-planning-400m-SSS/solo
So fans coming to Toronto to see a final in November is the same as getting them to come see TFC play Chivas USA on the same date? Riiiiiiiiiight...
And not to mention that there is no equating an MLSCup in a northern clime city as a neutral venue and MLSCup where Toronto is the home team. If Toronto made MLSCup as the highest seed, the stadium would sell out in minutes. The fans would be very interested, and would likely stay the whole game (unless it was a blowout by the other team). This is a case of apples and orange colored spider monkeys.
You are exactly spot on "falvo", Don Garber is constantly pushing the limitations to mentally get the American soccer fans accustomed to watching matches in weather less than ideal by American soccer fans standards. When this league first started back in 1996, many soccer fans wouldn't even go to MLS games if it was raining. Today things have changed and the fans in the Pacific Northwest have helped to change the perception that you can't go to a soccer match in the rain. As for those who said the Toronto MLS Cup was a failed Garber test, I would say think again. Fans showed up although there were many issues with ticket prices, lack luster teams in the Cup and the weather. Although some fans decided to leave early, many would have stayed if one of the teams in that MILS Cup was named Toronto FC, if this was the case you wouldn't have the same results with the fans who walked out on MLS Cup 2010 especially in Toronto. But what this Toronto MLS Cup test showed Garber, was that the fans would come out even in the cold weather to watch a soccer game. So now we have a new introduction to the MLS playoffs schedule where the top seeded MLS team in the Cup playoffs will now host the MILS Cup in their home stadium even if it's a cold weather team with the best record...that's what we got out of the Toronto MLS Cup test. As for starting the season earlier and extending it into December, it's another test ground for a Fall to Spring schedule switch with a mid season winter break. Slowly we are being conditioned to become more accustomed to American professional soccer matches being played practically year around with a mid Winters break in the months with the harshest weather like in many European leagues currently. As a side note: All the Canadian MLS teams have access to Domed stadiums and could play games in mid Febuary to late March in these stadiums. They could also host MLS games which include other MLS clubs from colder weather places like Chicago, New England and Columbus, and other MLS games could be played in milder MLS cities in the Pacific Northwest (Not saying that the weather in Portland or Seattle is ideal in mid Febuary, but it's better than Chicago and Columbus), California and Houston are also mild enough for MLS games in the first few weeks of the start of the second half of a Fall to Spring season schedule. This is all achievable through MLS scheduling, it's not impossible and I think this is where the league is strongly leaning to become one of the top soccer leagues by 2020 as Garber stated in the past. But I don't think Garber will switch the schedule until he adds more expansion teams in the Southeast and maybe the Southwest, so for now the current schedule is safe for all those MLS Summer/Fall loyalist.
Just an example..... Week 1.... NY@ LA COLU @ Chivas DC@ SJ RSL@ DAL NE@HOU PHI @ VAN(indoor), COLO@ MON(indoor) KC @ Toronto(indoor) CHI @SEA POR bye week..... Listed Portland as having a bye week in their first game just like KC had a bye week during the first week of the season a few years ago I believe.......
Lot of hypotheticals here, let me nail down a few things vis a vis Montreal. The team has signed a contract with the province till 2015 to rent the Olympic stadium "2-3 times per regular season" including the home opener Saputo is on record saying that irrespective of any contract, 3 is the maximum number of games he would voluntarily host there. The place is old, the atmosphere is poor, and merch/food sales are lower. Add the fact that they have to split all that revenue. This year the home opener will be there vs Toronto. The other game will be against a "marquee" team. Without Becks who knows what that is? Its the first thing i'll be looking for in the 2013 schedule. If this second game goes well/sells out, we can perhaps expect 3 indoor games in 2014. But the ideal situation is for as many games to be at Saputo as possible. There is NO WAY a third game indoors would be early in the season simply because its too cold. We've played outside in November and March in the NASL and we'll do it again as much as is nessesary This whole changing schedules business is silly. The current system works, moving up a week here and there is a valid experiment. But there is no sense extrapolating this into some winter league nonsense. Not gonna happen. For future discussion assume the Big O is a one shot deal. For all intents are purposes we do not have a indoor facility. On the other hand if Montreal hosts a MLS cup, it will certainly be there. It has regularly hosted Grey Cups, and 2 weeks ago near-sold-out for a Eastern conference final game vs Toronto. MLS will not be a problem.
I'm sure your Canadian derbies (Vancouver @ Montreal or TFC @ Montreal or vice versa) would draw quite well inside. The same can be said when hosting LA & NY. Especially if they get newer stars and knowing them, they will as Garber mentioned they need a new fan boys.
K-League and J-League start mid March and end early December; That is what I see MLS going to in the future, sorry to about your wet dream of a Danish League season schedule. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-League http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_J._League_Division_1
=if we simply cut the wild card games from the playoffs, we could have kept the start of the season the same, or if we get the playoffs down to a simple QF-SF-Final single rounds, you could get the start of the season maybe to April , especially if we get rid of some of the mid-season friendlies. My bottom line, I think we have more chance getting fans to come in November-December, than we do March or early April. Spring can be rain/sleet/snow, vs. Fall cooler/cold/early snow. Of course, depends on the city and like other posts, a dome is an option or simply playing in the south/southwest early on.
Eventually, like in Europe , I think playing for a Champions League spot should take precedence over these playoffs. I think the league and Concacaf should market this CL a little more or at least start offering more sponsorship dollars towards the competition because it could very well become something huge.
How, by the Jamaican and Honduran teams finally taking off in the U.S.? CCL is fighting a problem that Mexico is already way out in front of the rest of the region and MLS is more likely to join them then to fall back to the rest of the pack. It could be a great Mexico-U.S. tournament, but making it a regional tournament is going to become more difficult, not less, IMO.
Exactly as the rest mean nothing. Of course a Mexico-U.S. & Canada tournament and maybe Costa Rica will or could mean a lot of marketing and sponsorship dollars. Just like in Europe, who do you have? Spain, Italy, Germany & England and that's about it. I mean the rest (like France & Portugal make noise and) are along for the ride but its very rare they ever win much. UEFA/Europa Cup is being disbanded and they want an all out European Champions League but why? Its all about money.
Why should a Philadelphia Union vs Mexican club game be considered more marketable than a Union vs DC game? Not enough racism in the Union vs DC contest?
I agree. Now, there are perhaps ten big Central American clubs with a proud history and good support and it's good to include them in the mix IMO, but from a financial standpoint if you just had the Apertura winner and the MLS Cup winner meet in early December in a championship game, it could evolve into something huge. Of course, it doesn't help CONCACAF, which is why it won't happen. For purposes of this thread though, I think world-wide people are too hard on the clubs. Both FIFA and the Confederations are cramming more and more matches into the calendar -- many of them meaningless -- in order to generate more revenue for themselves. I see no reason why MLS needs to automatically move off some of the best weather dates so that CONCACAF can have the Gold Cup every two years, for example, or some national team can fly off somewhere for a friendly when no major competition is pending. To me, the needs of the clubs, who are paying these players after all, should take precedence. So I'm with the good Doctor on this one. I'm not going to push for MLS fans to sit shivering in the cold and snow so CONCACAF can keep the money flowing.
Me too as would a lot of casual fans across the country. Also, if sponsors started coming forward especially ones from Mexico, why wouldn't they want to fork over money for that game? Club America vs. Dc United or Chivas Guad vs. Houston Dynamo in meaningful Champions League games could attract a lot of fans both at the gate and on TV and this translates into money not only for the league but also for the clubs. Who wouldn't want this? Heck I remember 20 years ago that the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks hosted Hugo Sanchez & Club America at Spartan Stadium in San Jose and 27,000 fans packed in the place for a CCL match and the money generated for the club was huge and I remember SF Bay won and it was incredible. Granted there were a lot of Hispanic/Latin and/or Mexican fans there but that was also a long time ago when there was no league, no structure , no stadium , no players to really boast, hardly a national team to be proud of and nothing else to go by. This is a different time and I'm sure people would love to see these games played.
Even though that is the case those top teams from those countries have large followings throughout Europe that make people in places like Finland, Austria, Macedonia, and other countries whose teams rarely make deep runs tune in. Add to that the fact that they are some of the best teams in the whole world competing and the tournament has a long history people will watch regardless even if the likes Barca, ManU, and Bayern always seem to be in the semis. Right now the only teams in CONCACAF that have any real following outside of their own country, hell even their own metro area, are the clubs in Mexico. Compound that with their dominance (7 of the last 8 finalist) and that their fans still haven't embraced it as the pinnacle achievement like those in Europe do this is going to be a long uphill battle unless other leagues start to seriously challenge for the trophy as well as become strong regional brands. But don't get me wrong I do want this to be something teams in all leagues strive for.
In every confederation you have important clubs winning. This is a given. Still don't see how a CCL couldn't be a positive to market.
You mean the Super Liga? Of course that was a joke but also, Mexican teams thought so also. That was then though and this is now and MLS in 2012 , in the words of Garber, is a different league than it was in 2007. CCL is a much bigger and better competition , however and the portential to become even bigger is enormous.
MLS as well as the Superliga was more of a joke back then compared to now. Clearly , the Mexican teams didn't treat that competition as a serious even though they won and IMHO, MLS teams weren't prepared nor were they good enough to compete back then. You can't really compare the two periods or competitions either.
So my memory that the CCL competition was revamped by Concacaf after the success of the Superliga is incorrect? Because it sure seemed like Jack Warner saw money being earned with the Superliga and suddenly decided his competition should become important. You can imagine the CCL with all the trappings of the UEFA Champions League that you want to, but its impetus was the Superliga success.
Just something I've been thinking about, and perhaps there are better threads to bring it up in, but this one seems to be viewing the CCL pretty rationally here. I've been trying to suss out with friends whether or not growth in MLS would positively impact the quality of other CONCACAF leagues and clubs aside from MX? I am sure the success of MLS would positively impact these others nations' national squads, but I wonder if the future is instead of a straight US/Mexico dominance, perhaps a bit more likely to see tertiary competitors finding success?