Golly! I'm sure glad MLS plays from fall to spring!

Another hint from Garber that a calendar switch is coming eventually:

“We’ve spent a lot of time looking at a major schedule revamp, and I think until we get into the major change or the total shift, we’re tweaking our playoffs and opposed to changing them.”

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...eline-any-potential-playoff-changes-if-any-ar

 

That is a comment about the playoffs not the regular season.

 

I read it as "we are looking at a major schedule revamp" ie the entire season, and until we do that we aren't going anything major to the playoffs.

 

A lot of factors in here support that things will not change immediately.

• This whole Qatar WC has everything in flux. There's no telling what will be the ultimate result in the FIFA match calendar or the big 4's season. There won't be any consensus there for at least another 5 years.
• MLS will not have an extended break mid-season. It was big news when they had a two week break in the 2010 WC. No way are they going to break for 6 weeks. MLS needs a fix where the teams can play during winter. Maybe the ETFE tech would work but that requires money and time.
• Having extended road games just won't work. Less than half the teams, even after expansion, would be able to play in winter. You can't play all 24 teams if only 10 fields are available.

 

This is the part I hear on this website a lot that I don't get. I'm almost certain that this is what they are considering - a longish, six-week-or-so, winter break.
There is no way they could make a switch without it.

I think you are right that this idea is probably a bit longer-term, though. I'd be surprised if it happened any time before expansion to 24 was done.

 

That's why they will be playing games in Europe during winter.

 

We have now had the polar vortex swoop down into the lower 48 multiple times and winter is not even close to over...

 

Even a six-week break, which would be tough for the league's perception, might not be long enough. December 7 was that bitterly cold MLS Cup final. Six weeks from that? That would be January 18. So if the league had shut down after the weekend of December 7 and took a 6 week break there would have been league games again on January 25-26. The Midwest and Northeast are in the deep freeze with lots of snow. Even here in Houston we had an ice storm on Friday and we're supposed to have another one tomorrow.

So let's say the league went until December 15. That would just push a six-week break back one more week. Do you think it will be that much better on February 1?

When I see people say take a six-week break I don't think they have really looked at when that would end.

 

the midwest is freezing right now--even florida has experienced cold temps this winter. Tomorrow the temps plummet again in NYC.

 

We get it ... it's a record breaking winter. It gets tiresome when people use that as an argument

A) Record breaking by definition means not normal
B) Nobody is implying there would be soccer in the middle of January
C) Even if there is bad weather in mid december or early march that could affect some markets some times the world will not end. Mid season games are easy to reschedule.

It's not hard to conceive of a schedule where games are kept away from cold cities from around mid December to early March with no games at all anywhere from Xmas to late February. Even colder cities like Boston and Chicago average highs close to 40 during those times. You can pretty much play a soccer game down to around 28 ... even with snow ... as long as it's not a blizzard which are typically pretty rare. With those parameters how many postponements would we really be looking at per season. Maybe 4? 5? 6? To me it seems extremely manageable and a small price to pay for freeing up some down time during the summer during World Cups, Gold Cups etc ...

 

yeah, you can play, but the point is, nobody is going to want to come to games regularly being played in 40 degree weather, let alone 28 or colder.

 

Playing in hot weather is no walk in the park either, but at least the ground is not frozen solid. That would be important if you were to be fouled or if you were to lose your footing and fall down. You want a field that has some give. Which brings to mind the issue of groundskeeping and taking care of the pitch. In Red Bull Arena they were resorting to using giant lamps to keep the grass in decent (not great) condition during the winter. It could turn into a real mess to play regularly in the winter (denuded pitches, mud bowls if melting snow etc.)

 

In Minnesota 40 degrees in Dec-March would be a heat wave the fans in our state would show up for a day like that during anytime of the year.

 

Those temps aren't that bad.

It's the wind & precipitation that keep people away (rain / freezing rain / sleet / snow) and hamper travel (both public & private).

 

It may, but snow loading for live loading is going to be a major concern, as evidence by well, you know, the Metrodome.

 

That's the spruce goose of ideas. It will never fly.

You know what would be much, much better than that idea? Lobbying Europe to switch to our calendar. The UEFA boss has already stated he thinks that's a great idea.

 

It's not hard for me to conceive of a lot of things that are highly unlikely to happen, because they are solutions to problems that don't really exist.

 

Why the ******** would anyone want a nearly three month break in the season?

 

MLS already follows this pattern. It's called the offseason.

 

They wouldn't get played at those temperatures regularly. The temperature does rise as you progress into March.

Weather is a non issue in this argument. We already play into December and March and there is no crisis. Moving 3 weeks deeper into December and maybe 1 week earlier in spring will not make the sky fall ... Cold city teams will have to survive at most 2 more cold weather games more per year than they already do now. 2 more cold games out of a 34 game season is a pretty minor issue IMO. Worst case scenario you reschedule a couple of games if it really gets that bad.

As far as people coming have you seen day games in 100 degree July weather in Dallas, Chicago, New York over the years? Or even worse torrential thunder/lightning downpours? I've seen plenty of summer games over the years that took a hit in the stands due to extreme summer weather. You can't have a 34 game schedule on a 8 million square mile continent where you can guarantee perpetual perfect weather for everyone all the time. You have to suck up a little cold and a little heat on both ends of the spectrum and life will go on. If you have a handful of games in December that take an attendance hit the sky will not fall ... I promise

 

Is it record-breaking? Its certainly the closest we've had in a while, but I was under the impression (perhaps mistaken) that it wasn't record-breaking. Which means we can expect it to happen again occasionally.

Its hard to convenience of why the league would want to do that for the many, may reasons that have been brought up multiple times in these threads but seem to get ignored.

 

I personally have no problem with spring to fall season and winter break being the offseason.

Where it becomes a problem for me is what happens if the fall part of the season extends deeper into December ... You start flirting with weather interruptions during the playoffs ... games that are much harder to reschedule. A mid season game is infinitely easier to reschedule in the worst case scenario. Besides having your showcase playoff games in May and June ensures the best likelihood of good weather, good playing surfaces pretty much in the entire league. That's really my only concern. I don't give two shits about copying Europe.

 

Actually its pretty much the only issue. I give you Commerce City...on March 22nd

 

Except an average midseason week in February has 10-11 games, the average playoff week in December has 1. The odds of having to reschedule go up significantly.

Hell, the Super Bowl is being played the first week of February in the same zip code (practically) as a MLS team and the NFL has been forced to put together a realistic plan for moving the game day and/or time to handle weather conditions. But we're supposed to accept that same circumstance as "no big deal" for MLS games every year?

 

It's not ideal, but for me it's a smaller price to pay than spending several weeks each summer watching crap MLS games because all the best players are off to the Gold Cup right in the middle of when the heat hits and you need the extra legs on the squad. Even the WC takes a noticeable toll.

This league doesn't have enough stars to be able to afford losing key players for 1/4 of the season at times. If it means extending play into December to get these guys to miss a few less games I'm OK with it. Personally I don't give two shits whether it's spring to fall or fall to spring ... I only mention switching because I'm a little skeptical about having more playoff games in December ... November is iffy enough as it is