MLS needs to abolish playoffs

to my knowledge no other notable soccer league in the world has playoffs, and for good reason, they are stupid. the actual top team(s) has nothing to gain from it and the mere process of it degrades the league champion status assuming they do not win. plus it's not exciting.

some may suggest playoffs makes the league more competitive and gives a higher amount of teams more to play for. this is a disillusioned standpoint. making the playoffs underscores averageness and gives a false sense of accomplishment. we hear it often but it should never be a team's goal to make the playoffs.

a further problem with building a league around averageness is that fanbases and executive personnel of struggling clubs get needlessly impatient and sucked into this whole ridiculous concept of making the playoffs as if it is some cure-all, whereas if there was one league table with one league champion everyone would just be focused on winning games and the importance of league play and climbing as high as you can since 19 of 20 teams are in the same situation (of not being champion). the bottom line is league play is king and playoffs undermines this.

but what about playoff revenue? easy, have derbies instead and make a bracket out of it whereupon a team will eventually be crowned derby cup champion. as far as the league? one table. 20 teams. one champion. top four american teams and top canadian team get into CONCACAF champions league.

eliminate: rivalry cups, US open cup, canadian championship, MLS cup (playoffs), MLS supporters shield, MLS all-star game.
introduce: MLS champion, derby cup champion.

clean, simple, professional. who knows, if they do something like this and raise the salary cap the MLS might actually be internationally respected. how would you like to see the league changed from this standpont?

but then how would NY have a shot at winning... anything?

The league is in the US. Whether you like it or not, the playoffs are here to stay FOREVER

It gives the end of the season meaning as we don't have promotion/relegation.

I also highly doubt people from around the world look at MLS and say "you know why they aren't 'professional'? They have these stupid playoff things".

Last point. How does the third team from the Championship get selected to be promoted into the Premier League the next season?

*Popcorn*

Sincerely,
Jim Mora

Obligatory.

Playoffs do not inherently reward mediocre play. They do when too many teams are allowed into the playoffs which is currently true with 10 out of 18. MLS just needs to let less teams in and advance higher ranked teams to later rounds (for my preferred format, see Rugby Super League).

Why do I get the feeling that "notable" to you means European? Mexico, one of the top three leagues in North and South America, has a playoff.

I am not sure what to say about you thinking playoffs are not exciting. I think playoffs are extremely exciting. I don't watch much regular season hockey, but I watch a lot of the Stanley Cup playoffs precisely because of the drama and excitement.

lolz well sry guys i don't really board here and can't be bothered to search history just felt like saying that I'M ALL FOR LOCKING THIS SHIT IF YOU GET THIS ALL THE TIME

BONUS FOR MJ GIF KING OF POP

i watch nhl playoffs because it is exciting.
i don't watch much mls playoffs because it is not exciting.

Ummm you don't know what the top team is until AFTER the playoffs are over. So they have everything to gain from it.

I prefer playoffs. It separates our league from others around the world and offers something different and it fits the US sports culture while at it. I would have less make the playoffs though.

Mods, please move this thread to the Indian Ocean. Preferably off the coast of Somalia somewhere.

LUL you don't make any sense. league play proves what the best team is due to the volume of games and synonymous competition. playoffs are wank and only tell us what we already know; that any team can win on any given day or even over the course of a few weeks. 7 months makes a champ though.

your wit and sarcasm is life-changing

The Mexican Primera, Belgian Jupiler Pro, Colombian Categoria Primera A, Australian A, Ecuadorian Serie A, and Uruguayan Primera have two things to say:

1 - we have playoffs

2 - you're pretty freaking dumb.

(Also, the Japanese J-League is contemplating introducing playoffs)

Also, you're opening comment on playoffs and your subsequent change of stance on them with your admission to liking the NFL playoffs shows just how much of a tool you are.

i said nhl not nfl playoffs so we've established so far that you cannot pay attention.
further, all i mentioned was i find the nhl playoffs entertaining, it has nothing to do with my stance on whether or not i believe mls should continue to have them. i did not contradict myself they are two entirely separate opinions. so we've re-established that you cannot pay attention.

tool and dumb coming from.....you?

chill the ******** out

MLS also needs to sign Lionel Messi. I'm sure both will happen next year.

You ought to expand your knowledge. Many other soccer leagues have playoffs to determine their champion: the Mexican 1st division, the Australian A-League, many African domestic leagues. Many others use playoffs to determine promotion relegation, such as the lower divisions in countries like England and Argentina.

I generally prefer not having playoffs, but I know they're inevitable in US sports. I'd settle for having a playoff system that's not bloated so that you actually have to be pretty good to make the playoffs. I think MLS' bloated playoffs devalues its regular season. I think MLB is the closest to having the right proportional balance among US sports.

I like the playoffs. But 10 teams for the playoffs is too much.

Well since you seem to want to get rid of a way of determining the club champion of another country which has nothing to do with MLS (Canada) why not ban playoffs in other countries as well. No English FA Cup (stupid playoff system) and hell why not while were at it get rid of the damn World Cup because they use the same playoff type format to determine a champion. After all nobody gives a crap about the World Cup, right?

Read the first sentence of YOUR COMMENT again:

First sentence, says what ? .... yeah, you're a tool.

Wait, so you said NHL playoffs ..... tried to play it like you didn't say that ... and are now saying that all you mentioned was the NHL playoffs ....

You're stupid.

And yes, you DID contradict yourself. Your original statement on the topic was THIS (emphasis added because you can't even keep track of what you've said):

To summarize your original point using the exact things you said:

Playoffs are stupid and aren't exciting. They underscore averageness and give a false sense of accomplishment. The concept of making the playoffs is ridiculous.

You then stated that you follow the NHL playoffs because they are exciting. That directly contradicts your original statement.

Yes, you're a tool and are really freaking dumb. Coming directly from me, a guy that apparently knows what you say better than you do.

Dumb ass.

I agree, although I think once the league expands further, a ten-team playoff might make some degree of sense. In an 18 (soon to be 19) team league, it's pretty odd.

MLS will not give up the playoffs any time soon. It's a huge promotional tool for the league, and I think everyone involved with the league would rather see its champions celebrating after a hard-fought, one-off final for all the marbles than a scoreless draw against a last place team, which is what you risk when you don't have a postseason. I mean, the atmosphere at last year's final in Toronto was dead as a doornail, but the game itself was still very dramatic and an entertaining end to the season.

That's not inherently true either. The NASL also brought a lot of teams to the playoffs, and yet the Cosmos were almost always around at the end. That's because their series were best 2 out of 3, with a real home field advantage (as the MLS playoffs used to be), and the Cosmos won about 90% of their series. It's really more about your playoff format than it is the number of teams.

Think about it this way, MLS's playoffs next year are like last year's 8, except the mediocre teams have to win an extra round just to get to that 8.

I get what you are saying, the right playoff format will still reward the better teams during the playoffs. What I was trying to get at was that allowing too many teams into the playoffs rewards mediocre regular season performance. I would like to see higher standards for playoff qualification.

For the record, I think half of the league qualifying for the playoffs is too many, but the silver lining you mentioned does comfort me (the fact that the last few teams that get in only half get into the playoffs because they have to win a game to make the quarterfinals).