MLS Format 2026 (with 32 teams)

Discussion in 'MLS: Commissioner - You be The Don' started by Lucho305, Apr 25, 2019.

  1. Lucho305

    Lucho305 Member

    Inter Miami CF, Junior de Barranquilla
    United States
    Jul 9, 2008
    Miami
    Club:
    Miami FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ok, first of all I would like to state that a 32 team league, and having a team play everybody is ridiculous, what is more ridiculous is divisions amd unbalanced schedules!! So, here is my idea to solve this if we get to atleast 32 teams within the MLS.

    First the MLS will split into two separate leagues. Still the same entity, but will be two different leagues. There will be an East League and a West league, to which there will be a champion in the east league and a champion in the west league, per year, period!! They will not play one another in this format. For this tournament. There will be 16 teams in the East and 16 teams in the West, they will play home and away against everyone (which will equal to a total of 30 games in this competition) single table.

    Now, during the season there will be another tournament within the MLS (this will be the play off format) playing a one game playoff at the higher seed. This will be played through out the year in during the East League and West League campaigns. Now the way this tournament gets setup, is by the each teams position in the previous season (in East League and West league standings from the single tabke competition mentioned above). So, Top 8 East teams will be seeded against lower seeded West teams (9-16) and on the other side of the bracket Top 8 West teams will be seeded against lower seeded east teams (9-16). This way standings will be important through out the year to get seeded in the top 8 of your league to have homefield advantage for next seasons MLS Survivors Cup (just made up that name) tournament.

    Another, competition or a two game final (Recopa) can be at the beginning of the season, having the East League champion play the west league champion in a home and home final, champions gets braggin rights at the beginning of the year, and silverware for the trophy cabinet

    This idea came about, because thr idea of having 32 teams and having one champion a year, people going to lose interest in there team and fast, if they are not competitive that season, therefore with all these competitions there wll always be a chance at winning a trophy thru out the year within the MLS.

    So here are the tournaments available in MLS woth the new format:

    East League Champion West League Champion MLS Survivors Cup Champion Recopa Pre season Champion

    Thoughts? Or maybe share your ideas on restructuring of the MLS if they expand to 30, 40?

    Vamos Inter!!!


    upload_2019-4-25_22-20-30.png
     
  2. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL have 30 to 32 teams with one champion, and they don't have two champions or do something else to keep fans interested. Fans of the bottom teams may want to lose to get the top draft picks, especially in NFL and NBA. Unless every team makes the playoffs, there will be teams that are eliminated weeks before the playoffs regardless of how the playoffs are seeded, and if too many teams make the playoffs then fans complain that it's too easy to make the playoffs. The NFL has every team's last game be against a team in their division, so eliminated teams could beat rivals.

    With 32 teams, you could make 8 divisions of 4. Playing teams in your division twice and 28 clubs once would be 34 games. I don't care if divisions are used for playoff seeding, but it would be a logical way to make a schedule with 32 clubs if you want every club to play every other club. If clubs in opposite conferences can only meet in the playoffs, fans can't go to games with all of the top players. If clubs played half of the clubs in the other conference, they would host clubs in the other conference every four years, and if stars were in MLS for under four years they would never play at some clubs in the other conference. That applies to older players (Rooney, Ibrahimovic, etc. who have made some fans call MLS a "retirement league") and players who go to Europe quickly like Matt Miazga and Cyle Larin.

    You put the wrong clubs in the bracket for W15 and E15.
     
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  3. midfielder467

    midfielder467 Member

    Jul 20, 2014
    Club:
    Central Coast Mariners
    32 teams spilt between East & West.

    East & West have a H & A. ie 30 rounds.

    Take the top 3 from each and call them gold,
    Teams 4 to 7 from each and call them silver
    Teams 8 to 10 from each call them bronze

    Then play a 10 week round of H & A by each group

    You have a gold cup winner, silver cup winner etc.

    Total season is 40 weeks

    Teams 11 to 16 miss out on playing for the gold, silver, bronze cups...
     
  4. DannyTRadio

    DannyTRadio New Member

    Chicago Fire
    United States
    Mar 4, 2019
    Yup.... what he said. If anything this format makes the Supporters Shield gain more credibility. With only three teams that you play twice, it's much easier to determine the best team in the league. Rather than the current 24 team format now.
     
  5. mschofield

    mschofield Member+

    May 16, 2000
    Berlin
    Club:
    Union Berlin
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    MLS has been pretty clear on sticking to 34 games. If you're going to determine a league champion in a 16 team league, with 34 games, you can't have anyone play three times, it has to be home and away. There are then 4 interleague games available, the new MLB model, rather than the old one.
    That said, why would this change the playoff format? The top sides in each league would meet (long history of this in US sports) to determine the overall champ. The interleague play vanishes at 36 teams. It would all be called MLS, though. East and West, each with a Supporters Shield, which I think quite a few fans would be excited about.
     
  6. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm not saying MLS should do this, but if there were 2 conferences of 16, and each conference had 4 divisions of 4, clubs could play one inter-conference division per year so clubs in the same division play the same inter-conference schedule. The NFL does that. I prefer the term "conference" over "league" because all the clubs are competing for one playoff title, and MLS is "Major League Soccer," not "Major Leagues Soccer." MLB has two leagues while having the singular word "league" in the title, but the NL was created before the AL. If MLS changed the term from "conference" to "league," it would still be the same clubs. It wouldn't be half of MLS being a league of new clubs.
     
  7. SilentAssassin

    Apr 16, 2007
    St. Louis
    I think by 2026 there will be a closer relationship with Liga MX. Not sure what form that will take exactly, but it could mean there are less than 34 games in the domestic league.
     
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  8. Initial B

    Initial B Member

    Jan 29, 2014
    Club:
    Ottawa Fury
    Yeah, I could see the path forward to a North American Super League: A single table of the top 9 Liga MX and top 9 MLS clubs with a 34 game schedule. The lowest ranked Mexican and MLS team at the end of the season would be relegated to LigaMX and MLS respectively, and those league champions would be promoted in their place. Salary cap would be set to $100 Million USD for the ceiling, $20 Million USD for the floor, and no player restrictions. How does that sound?
     
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