News: MLS owners approve fall-spring calendar and season format changes: Sources

Celebrate the Return of Major League Soccer
From July 16–19, experience MLS at Fanatics Fest NYC. Test your skills, explore exclusive merchandise and limited-edition drops, catch player appearances, and enjoy interactive soccer experiences all weekend long.

$857.04 for 4 adults for the 4 days

 

That's the cost of tickets for Fanatics Fest. MLS is just one of the participating vendors at the event.

https://www.fanaticsfest.com/tickets

 

https://www.sportcal.com/news/liga-...on-ends-payouts-to-second-tier-clubs/?cf-view
Liga MX owners separate from FMF and end pro/rel.

 

Not surprising. But I bet they still want 55% of FMF presidential votes.

Argentina will be next.

 

It's a league without pro/real continuing not to have pro/rel. That's a long stretch from a global movement.

 

Yeah, Liga MX hasn't relegated anyone since 2017. Nothing new here.

 

It's going global. Look for Argentina to be next.

 

I don't think it will happen in soccer in Europe. Other sports, like rugby and cricket are moving towards franchise models.

 

Etihad Park will open the new Calendar.

NYCFC CEO Brad Sims explained that the home opener at Etihad Park will not only be one year from tomorrow but it will be first MLS game played in the new calendar format.

He couldn't confirm the opponent but said it won't be Messi & friends.#NYCFC #EtihadPark #MLS pic.twitter.com/WpJxX9MR2u

— Glenn Crooks (@GlennCrooks) July 16, 2026

 

July 11 according to the FIFA calendar.

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49434125/mls-capitalize-world-cup-don-garber-commissioner
The debate continues about where this league might go in the future is hard to believe after the World Cup. Sounds like they've settled nothing yet.

 

A tale as old as time. They also claim they want a $400M+ TV deal per year. Dreaming cost nothing so I'll give them that.

 

Nothing will be settled until the new CBA is signed.

 

I'd be shocked if MLS got anywhere close to $400M+ for it's next broadcast deal. They're certainly not getting anything anywhere near that number from NBC, Disney (ESPN/ABC), Paramount and/or Fox. Even combined, they're not going to get that.

 

The Premier League gets $450 million essentially for a couple of games at lunchtimes on a weekend, with an average of 535k viewers per match.

It's not out of the question that MLS gets that for a higher volume of content.

 

EPL is the most watched football league in the world. EPL also has a superior product in terms of overall quality.

I don't want to be a bobby buzzkill, however, we need to look at the reality of MLS' situation. MLS' season will now be in direct competition with the NFl and College Football seasons. The playoffs will be running concurrently with the NBA and NHL playoffs. There's loud calls for MLS to "go back to Cable TV!" Which, btw, is eroding subscribers by the millions quarterly. Not only that, NBC's schedule is packed during MLS' new season. Ditto for Paramount(CBS) and Disney (ESPN/ABC). Fox has some more room in their schedule, but they also have big commitments to the NFL, MLB (World Series) and College Football/Basketball. So what is MLS ultimately trying to get other than more money? They currently have a partner that allows them complete broadcast flexibility. None of the traditional major broadcasters are going to offer MLS that. They're also not going to pay MLS a boatload of money and produce all of the broadcasts either.

One would have thought the negotiations for the current broadcast deal would have sobered up MLS and its' owners. It sounds as if they are still blackout drunk on their own bathtub Koolaid.

 

EPL is a league headed for a spending cliff run mostly by a bunch of NFL owners who don't understand soccer.

 

A bunch of American owners (not necessarily NFL) who want the bigger teams to retain more and more of the revenue.

Not that that wasn't a trend before the American owners took over, they just have access to more capital.

 

Advertisers don't care about quality, they care about numbers.

If the numbers that MLS is leaking are anywhere close to accurate then they can average 500k for marquee weekly games. Hopefully they wont be stuck out on FS1. Nobody watches FS1.