And prior till 2012 it was every fan base was affected by this(exceptions 97 DC,02 NE,11LA). I personally like MLS Cup being at team with higher point total.
I like the hosted game format, much better atmosphere. One set of fans gets screwed, well; that could happen anyway. Next week's final has to be closer to one set of fans, unless it was in Colorado. Come to think of it, maybe every final should be here! I like the playoff structure, the one game randomness of the Wild Card round punishes low seeded teams. Away goals rule doesn't work well with teams from the same league; remember the low scoring Chelsea-Liverpool champions league games last decade?
I disagree; the MLS should take good things from both. The international game can be combined with our sporting culture to make a unique North American league.
To be completely fair to each team, they should draw a line between the two teams home stadiums and play at the stadium/field/parking lot/patch of dirt nearest the center of that line.
I just calculated that the game should be played in the Akron, Colorado cemetery. If the MLS doesn't do this, they are idiots who hate the fans and are trying to kill soccer in the US.
Surprised to see 46% for the current format. At least it's not an absolute majority. Pretty disappointing since it is the most illogical outcome to a playoff you could possibly design
I can easily design a more illogical format. Here goes: Two games, aggregate goals, both games at the home stadium of the losing semifinalist who got the most yellow cards in regular season games in the month of May.
Why don't we just have all the MLS teams play a schedule of their own choosing. USL, NASL, MLS, NPSL...whatever. And then, at the end of a 10 game season, we ask some journalists and computers for the 2 best teams, and have them play in a championship game. See, it's not too hard to come up with something dumber than the MLS Cup playoffs
I'd vote no playoffs altogether. Or maybe adopt something like the Belgian Super League where the top 6 teams play each other home and away and the club with the most points in the end is the league champ.
If MLS ever decides to have an absolutely massive 16-team postseason, I think it would kick ass, but it's probably unworkable.
For now, I think it's most important to play more games. The more games the better, so 3 sounds good to me. At some point in the future, though, it might make more sense to switch to one game at a neutral site. How about a 3-game aggregate? Home and home, then a neutral site. Advertise it as MLS Cup Week.
That would be unique but if the aggregate was far apart after two games the neutral site could have low attendance.
That is a risk, but I don't think it's likely. Parity is amazing in MLS, the NHL may be the only place where it's better. For the time being, I don't think blowouts are probable in any type of MLS championship games and this would be a way to monetize that advantage pretty reliably.
The whole point of changing to the current format was to get away from the neutral site final. And it seems doubly stupid to me to play an MLS Cup match in front of one team's fans, play a second MLS Cup match in front of the other team's fans, and then award the trophy in front of neither.