for the last time, single table and playoffs are not mutually exclusive this is america we need a playoffs but conferences make no sense single table+seeded playoffs=rokzorz
Quick thought I had about this: For the people that say they like the schedule that favors more regional games like for example, how LA plays Chivas four times in a season - in a balanced schedule where everybody plays each team twice, each meeting means so much more. I have a feeling that a casual fan might think to themselves, "Well, I have four chances to go to HDC to watch this Superclasico, so I can miss this one and catch one of the next three." Why spend money four different times to watch the same game when you can pick and choose which games? If they were limited to two games, I'd like to think the games would be that much more intense. One of the best games I've watched this season was the first meeting between LA-Chivas. It seemed like the fans were really into it and the players were playing really hard. The fans had the entire offseason to get ready and get excited about that one game. It's just my opinion that having more games minimizes the importance of the rivalry. Wasn't that quick of a thought, but oh well.
Life isn't fair. There will be unfairness no matter how it is done. But for a more intelligent response... having two match aggregate playoffs kind of eliminates some of the lucky break action. I also like the idea mentioned earlier about reseeding after each round.
Why do you think all sports in the US have conferences or divisions,to cut travel costs.Fewer 6 hour bi costal flights.
Without playoffs, MLS would be a disaster. Teams without a shot at the Supporters' Shield would start tanking the season early in the year. And until there are a bunch of those tournaments that reward a higher finish in the table, say the top 5 or 6, it is simply not worth it to go without the playoffs. Currently, the playoffs give every team hope going into September and October. It keeps the fans in the seats and generates more publicity late into the season.
When MLS gets to 16 teams, I would be in favor a single table, with each team playing eachother twice. I think having the single table would help to make most of the games meaningful, whereas in past years, we've had champions who have been middle-to-bottom third of the league, yet still win the title. The playoffs create 11 meaningful games, but single table would create many more, as games in april count as much as those in october. (sidenote: with a single table and no playoffs, the season could start in may and run to the beginning of november, so as to avoid the nasty april weather that often stunts attendance). To keep the teams that are out of the title hunt early from tanking, the season's final standings will determine qualification for the following year's events. The top 2 will qualify for CCC, the top 4 will qualify for superliga, the top 12 will qualify for USOC (with the lower teams still needing to play qualifiers against each other, like what was done this year). Single table could also help attendance and increase the number of sell-outs potentially. Since rivals will only be coming to town once a year, a game like RBNY v. DC, Houston v. Dallas, RSL v. Colorado, Chicago v. Columbus, etc. (with the proper marketing) could sell-out. This increase in ticket sales would help make up for the modest ticket sales that playoffs would bring. I know that's somewhat hopeful, but I think that MLS could make it work with increased marketing. If MLS sticks with playoffs, though, I wouldn't be terribly upset, its always fun.
Hmmm... you mean like this: http://www.rrac.net/singletablemls/ I know I've seen that link somewhere. Anyway, once we get to sixteen I think a home-away round robin schedule makes the most sense, otherwise you'd have some teams meeting only once a year. But there's no reason that you can't still have divisions, it's kind of goofy though. Because what you are doing is potential penalizing better teams in order to have at least a certain amount of teams from each region in the playoffs. For divisions to make sense there needs to be a greater proportion of matches played within the division. Every league that has divison/conference splits plays more games between teams within the division/conference. The league round robin is only 30 matches. If they added an extra six games then you could have four divisions of four teams that play an additional internal round robin. The top two teams from each division then go to the MLS Cup quarterfinals. THAT, would make every game meaningful. Even so, you only have one third of your total matches within the division, so it's still a little goofy. It's either got to be some teams only play each other once a year or we extend the season to allow more intradivision games, otherwise single table is the only fair way to go.
I understand the Mexican League has playoffs. A true single table season would only be 24 matches long. Too short. If given the option, I would have voted for a four team playoff, rather than the current 8.