Perhaps this has been discussed before, if so I apologize, but certainly I cannot be the only one that this annoys.... Can we please get all the teams on the same schedule? I don't see how Montreal has played only 14 games while we have a good number of teams on 17 games. It doesn't make much sense to me. I don't know if a minority on this, but in my honest opinion, it would be a whole lot nicer if we could get everyone on the same page. It would be nice to know where each team really stands.
I agree. In England differences in games played are caused by advancing in cup competitions or weather. In MLS differences can be caused by the CCL (like when Montreal reached the Final and was given time off in MLS early in the season), friendlies against other clubs, and when some but not all clubs play while national teams play qualifiers or the Gold Cup. Having a 3 game difference in games played makes a big difference in the standings because of how close the clubs are. Currently the most points per game is exactly 2 and the fewest is exactly 1, for a difference of 1. In 2016-2017, La Liga had a 1.92 points per game difference from first to last.
The biggest wildcard in MLS is stadium control. If you control scheduling, you have the ability to have that nice home away home away scheduling balance with a full slate of games each week. There are a handful of teams which do not have full control, Atlanta, NE, Seattle, NYC, Minnesota, and Vancouver. TFC has come complications now with the Argos and Dallas has some high school events on the calendar. Aside from that we have the weather which causes some challenges in March and April. I am sure travel requirements play a role as well since many MLS teams have short road trips which exceed the longest away trips made by teams in the Europe.
The season doesn't have enough weeks to have only weekend games and many teams choose not to have games on international dates. This means midweek games, and the league chooses to space them out rather than scheduling everyone on specific weeks and nobody on others. Some of this is about venue control, some is other events like CCL, some is convenience for the various teams.
Some is due to TV and what matchups the media partners want to show and when as well. This isn't just an MLS thing either. The same thing happens in the NHL, MLB (to a much lesser degree) and the NBA.
Another part on the schedule, I would recommend... MLK, Start of Preseason Presidents Day, Start of Opening Season Memorial Day, Close of Opening Season June 1 - July 31, Tournaments (World Cup, US open Cup, Transatlantic Cup, Americas Club Cup, etc) August 1, Start of Closing Season October 31, Close of Closing Season November 1, Start of Playoffs Black Friday, MLS Cup Saturday after Black Friday, Start of Offseason
Blame Canada! Canadian Championship May 23 Vancouver Whitecaps 2–1 Montreal Impact May 30 Montreal Impact 4–2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC June 21 Montreal Impact 1–1 Toronto FC June 27 Toronto FC 2–1 Montreal Impact
One word: Stupid. A few more words: Taking the entire months of June and July off would be idiotic. Half the league cannot play in February (and March and November suck royally). Starting playoffs in November would be awful. Having the final on a Friday would be awful.
Tell me what you really think... What's even more idiotic is MLS playing right in the middle of the World Cup.
Sure, but MLS does not do that. There is already a break for the World Cup...although it should be a bit longer. However, taking every June and July off because the World Cup comes around once every four years (and 2022 will be in the Winter) is beyond idiotic. Basically, you are advocating taking June and July off every year because the World Cup will interrupt the season once in the next 9 years or so. And, then, you invent some idiotic tournaments to justify your idea. My original statement stands. Stupid.
The Friday or Saturday might not be awful if it was during Thanksgiving. Families get together to watch the NFL, why not MLS?
If you have to phrase that in the form of a question, I think you have your answer. Families do not watch MLS Cup finals. You know that. I know that. MLS knows that (even if The Don does not want to admit it). The answer is: MLS Cup final English-language viewing numbers (household rating in parenthesis): 2016: 1,411,000; FOX network (0.79) 2015: 668,000; ESPN (0.5) 2014: 964,000; ESPN (0.7) 2013: 505,000; ESPN (0.6) 2012: 797,000; ESPN (0.7) 2010: 748,000; ESPN (0.8) 2009: 1,141,000; ESPN (0.75) 2008: 907,000; ABC (0.65) 2007: 1,097,000; ABC (0.8) 2006: 1,245,000; ABC (0.8) 2005: 1,137,000; ABC (0.8) 2004: 840,000; ABC (0.8) 2003: 876,000; ABC (0.6) 2002: 1,169,000; ABC (0.8) 2001: 1,031,000; ABC (1.0) 2000: # not available; ABC (0.7) 1999: # not available; ABC (0.7) 1998: # not available; ABC (1.0) 1997: 2,200,000; ABC (1.4) 1996: 1,330,000; ABC (1.4) http://worldsoccertalk.com/2016/12/13/2016-mls-cup-ranks-tv-ratings-previous-finals/ NFL ratings for the Thanksgiving Day games are about 30 times higher. I don't have a nice chart, but from news reports, the Thanksgiving games draw 7-30 million. http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/28/media/nfl-ratings-thanksgiving-games-cowboys/index.html http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story...nksgiving-night-game-sets-two-ratings-records
But how much of that number is due to the time of year they play it at? Sure they won't get anywhere near the NFL numbers, but I think they would get a boost over what they are getting now if they move it two weeks earlier. It wouldn't be much of a problem if they compress the playoffs into Midweek/Weekend splits between the international breaks.