24 teams East Chicago Columbus DC Montreal*(Olympic Stadium) New England New York Philly Kansas City Toronto*(Rogers Centre) Charlotte* Atlanta* Orlando* West Chivas* Colorado Dallas* Houston* LA* Portland* Salt Lake San Jose* Seattle* Vancouver* Phoenix* Las Vegas* The regular season would be 34 games over 32 weeks (2 games vs intra-conference (22), 1 game vs inter-conference (12)) Using the 2012-2013 Calendar, the season would begin the weekend of August 11th and go until December 15, where there would be a one month break. The season would resume the weekend of January 19th and run until April 13th. The playoffs would follow the current format, with wild card matches played on April 17th and 18th. The 1st round would take place between April 20th and April 25th. The conference Finals would take place between April 27th and May 2nd, With MLS cup taking place May 12th. The two biggest complaints I hear against going to the FIFA calendar are that MLS would be screwed going up against the NFL/NCAAF and that the US is too cold. My argument against going up against the NFL, is that they already go against the NFL. Currently, MLS goes head to head with pro/college football for 12 weeks. These are also the most important weeks for MLS as it is the stretch run of the season as well as playoffs. In my format they would go head to head with football for 15 weeks, but it would be the early-mid part of the MLS season that would be overshadowed, instead of the end. Also, MLS would return NFL conference championship week, which only has Sunday games, so they could play Thursday-Saturday games that weekend and Super Bowl weekend. If MLS cup was played Sunday afternoon (to avoid NHL/NBA conference Finals), then its only competition would be early season baseball, instead of going head to head with late season Sunday Night Football (I don't know about you but I'd rather go up against Braves-Cardinals on TBS than Cowboys-Eagles on NBC). As for my argument against the cold, in this format there are 15 teams that could host winter games (*-above). MLS cup this year will be played December 1st, and it could conceivably be in Chicago, New York, etc. In my format the schedule would be lighter in December, January, and February with only those 15 teams hosting games. With the ridiculous 8 game home stands that teams building new stadiums have faced, it wouldn't be that out of the ordinary for teams like Chicago or Columbus to have 5 or 6 game road trips (that would be broken up by the winter break anyway). This could be made up by having teams like Dallas and Las Vegas start the season (August/September) with 5-6 game road trips to cooler cities. Cold weather teams in need for a stadium (DC/NE), could build stadiums with a retractable roof to add even more teams that can host winter games. Im not saying I'm in favor of switching to the traditional calendar, but it definitely does seem like it would be possible. (I know that was long but thanks for reading)
Good thoughts. 2 things. Not really buying the midseason break for NA sports leagues. What does Toronto do with BMO Field if they are going to play at Rogers Centre? Are they paying back all the Naming Rights and sponsorship money? How are they going to compensate the City of Toronto for lost BMO Field dates?
I admire your effort. I see the rationale for going to fall spring calendar Myriad arguments for and against on myriad threads So not going there But my main disagreement is the short winter break January is too early because of weather ( regardless of roofs etc ) and the fact that the nfl owns it and always will My main premise, which one is free to reject , is that the winter break can be longer than the summer break We are a young soccer nation and eventually most people won't care I think a roughly July 4 to Mid December and March 1 through end of May or early June ( all depending on WC and GC starts) would work well. I would rather start in March end the season in December. Why ? Because the season will be long and glorious with only a break for summer tournaments The offseason would square with north American sensibilities There would also be enough time to free up for international play and have the media focus on it -- something I think is critical to the growth of the game here
it may work some day. I don't think it was ever ruled out completely. in your example you had to add 5 southern cities. Which MLS may or may not do, but if they do it won't be because they want to change their schedule. You also forced two Canadian teams to leave their newly built/renovated SSS and rent behemoth arenas for winter games. And you also have Seattle and Portland as winter locations. I mean, that's possible. No one will freeze to death. But it's far from ideal. You'd be downgrading their fan experience. So yes, it's possible. Some day. Right now you just don't have enough locations. I guess you could take the winter period slow and then jam the schedule later on. But really, it's a question of what's better rather than what's possible.
[WYNALDA]You know if Brazil switched their schedule then Brazilian players would have more of a chance to be transferred abroad.[/WYNALDA]
I should note that the MLS season has been getting longer and closer to the international calendar. Code: [B]Length of MLS Season from First Kick to MLS Cup[/B] 2007 - April 7 to November 18 2008 - March 29 to November 23 2009 - March 19 to November 22 2010 - March 25 to November 21 2011 - March 19 to November 20 2012 - March 10 to December 1 If I project forward Code: 2013 - March 2 to December 10 2014 - February 15 to June 12, World Cup Break, June 27 to December 12
they barely stop from playing.they have the national championship(20 teams) after which they play a championship inside their own state.
Code: 2013 - March 2 to December 10 2014 - February 15 to June 12, World Cup Break, June 27 to December 12 ---------------------------------------------------------- I do think a summer tournament break is inevitable But I think it will be short. Like three weeks Some overlap with the tournament Why? Because I don't see the league starting feb 15. That's still too early I think the start date will be first weekend in march And final as late as second weekend of dec. This is plenty of soccer for the tv partners, fans, and the players All international dates might not be able to be dark for MLS. But with smart scheduling conflict can be minimized and the play of all teams emphasized
But during a time that is mostly meaningless in throwball "instead of the end...which will be overshadowed by the NBA and NHL playoffs" Who's tradition? Can you figure out a schedule that's possible with the teams we have, instead of the warm-market teams you'd like to have?
In the US, there is no such thing as meaningless football. Even Preseason NFL has great ratings NBA and NHL playoffs combined cant outdraw the NFL, and are similar to NCAA football. NHL and more so NBA playoff ratings usually don't get large until the conference finals, but by then they only have 1 game a day. You could easily have a full MLS schedule all day Saturday and Sunday and a few West coast 10:30 games. During the Fall, Noon-Midnight all day Saturday and Sunday are dominated by Football. No need for semantics, you know what I mean. No, but my argument isn't that I want to go to the "Western European Fall to Spring Schedule" right now; It is that it could be possible in the future with southern expansion and creative scheduling.
You'll get amazing ratings even for shit games, but as the playoff picture starts firming up, and definitely during the playoffs, there's more than just a ratings issue. NFL football after, say, Week 7 is an all-encompassing social event. It dominates sports radio, even local sports radio of the towns with shit teams. The NFL is a behemoth, and one that becomes increasingly more difficult to deal with. Baseball has proven that you can at least compete with the early season. This is where coming from Boston is a detriment (and yes, the only time). Do people in the Other 45 really care more about College Football than the NHL and NBA Playoffs, combined? I do, but the semantics are important. Otherwise you're claiming a concensus that doesn't exist. By claiming that one schedule is "traditional" without qualification, you're making it seem like the US is at odds with what the Rest of the World is doing, which isn't true. In fact, based on your below "Western European" comments, you might not know what you mean, either. Are you aware that there are 'Western European' leagues that don't follow the "traditional" schedule? As long as you understand that it's a pipe-dream based on Expansion to cities who haven't even sniffed at entering the league, I'm pleased enough.
The problem with "creative scheduling" is that it creates a brand new problem that isn't present in the European Fall-Spring double round robin league, extended home stands and road trips. Would it really be fair to have a single table when a few teams get a schedule with no more than two straight weeks home or away while others have significantly front or back loaded home schedules?
Actually yeah, depending on where you are. Austin, Texas ? Absolutely. Pretty sure Lincoln, Nebraska .... South Bend, Indiana .... etc etc Outside of the NBA Finals, the playoffs as a whole don't draw more than college football does. Outside of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it isn't even close. College Football really is a monster. http://www.nba.com/2011/news/05/02/playoff-ratings.ap/index.html ^ some playoff ratings numbers from last year's NBA opening round. First-round games on ABC, ESPN and TNT were watched by an average of 4.15 million people. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=526398 ^ 2010 numbers, but the ratings were "up" to an average of 564K .... yeah. I know they did less than 1m average last year too but can't find a good link. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...innebraska-in-college-football-battle/105679/ ^ from the two October 1, 2011 games on ABC/CBS Saturday Night Football. ABC game did 5.6m and the CBS game did 7.6m Going through the different dates, the lowest on either of those networks for the Saturday Prime Time game was in the 4m-5m range. Not even looking ESPN games up at this point (or any other networks that carry college football). I'm not, because the premise is based on a pipe dream to begin with. The whole thing is bogus. Essentially, it's "make shit up as I go" ....
