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

Super Bowl is on a Sunday. They can restart the season that same weekend just not schedule any games for that Sunday.

 

MLS 3.0- becoming part of the world soccer schedule- mid-Summer to late Spring- coming in 2027

MLS 4.0- the salary cap- cancellation or major modification- new ownership groups with deeper pockets will have to come- but it will come if MLS wants to play with the big world leagues- within 5 years

MLS 5.0- promotion-relegation- within 10 years

 

Just measuring the proposed transition season, wouldn't this be closer to a Half Cup? And if the Half Cup measure is made of wood, "woodent" it also be closer to a Half Spoon?

 

I don’t think we’re still in MLS 2.0.

 

Absolutely. Since at least part of the reason for the season shift is broadcast revenue, one issue is whether Apple TV would allow the matches in the 1:30 time slot.

<sarcasm alert>
They might be persuaded if heat was not provided to the broadcast booths, to help make the broadcasts more realistic.
</sarcasm alert>

 

I never thought MLS would actually do it. Wynalda's followers on the dead bird site are strongly in favor of this, for what it's worth. This won't be dull.

 

I hope USL doesn’t change, no soccer around the Fourth of July timeframe would just feel wrong.

 

Even the official MLS website is calling it that; I guess they delineate 2.0 as being when the DP rule was introduced.



MLS to align calendar with top leagues around the world | MLSSoccer.com

 

That’s pretty funny when you compare today’s MLS with 2007.

I always thought 3.0 began with Dempsey and Bradley and the idea of American players being able to make legit pro salaries in their own country.

 

Not just smart teams but quite possibly all teams. During the winter window MLS teams are by far the big movers and since MLS can't compete against MLS the less prepared teams could barely make a move. In the summer window they will have a lot more opportunity.

 

I'm reasonably confident that if this is a total disaster, MLS will have zero qualms about reversing course immediately.

 

Garber described the owner support for the measure as "overwhelming" and basically said he was surprised for many groups voted for it while admitting they would have gone ahead with the change with less support.

Steamrolling to me suggests that a smaller group with disproportionate power pushed through a change detrimental to everyone but it seems like there was broad agreement. Not everyone was happy but that's not how league governance works.

 

After thirty years of Spring, Summer & Fall seasons, I'm OK with conforming ourselves to the European schedule. I'm so tired of all those international breaks that MLS plays through with largely second and third tier players while our top tier players go off to play for their national teams. Cold weather may be a problem, but it's usually not too bad in Maryland until New Years and our weather tends to break towards Spring by the second or third week of February. That's when I usually start packing my wool sweaters away. One dodgey aspect is that MLS playoffs will be competing with the NBA and NHL playoffs, as things are now MLS playoffs compete with the NFL and college regular seasons -- so it's a wash in my opinion.

 

For me:
1.0: Original 10, + 1998 expansion + Tampa/Miami contraction.
2.0: Expansion phase with DP.
3.0 Calendar switch.

If you wanna wait until after Chivas contractsxto call Phase 2.0, fine. Though SSS opening in 1999 is also a good transition point. Though contraction comes after.

Original 10. 1996-1997.
Early expansion/relocation/Contraction. 1998, 2005, 2014.
The rise of SSS. 1999- now
Rapid expansion & DPs.
Schedule change: 2027

There is some overlap. But those are the biggies.

 

The first thing on your list is an attempt to solve a problem, namely, how MLS interacts with the global transfer market. Secondarily, as the player pool has improved, avoiding playing through FIFA dates has become more and more important.

The second thing, well, I can imagine a world where it solves a problem, but that world doesn’t exist yet. Right now there’s nowhere near enough value in being more competitive with Mexican and other CONCACAF sides.

A world where pro/rel solves a problem is hard to imagine, like a world with abundant, cheap, clean energy, like if we wove the cold fusion problem. Suggesting p/r is silliness.

 

Hey now, hopefully the Revs will be in their new Boston (Everett) stadium by then! Also hopefully they'll include a roof that can be fully closed, HVAC, and a heated field.

 

A couple of images from Ben Wright on Bluesky that are beneficial:

https://bsky.app/profile/benwright.bsky.social/post/3m5m4k36mad2q



https://bsky.app/profile/benwright.bsky.social/post/3m5m5ixxdr22n

 

I know I'm working both sides in this thread, but there is a difference between November/December play-off games and November/December regular season games.

I think it is perfectly okay for people to acknowledge that the other side's concerns are valid.

 

I would add that MLS teams will also be able to sell players at a higher price at a more beneficial time. As an example, the Seattle Sounders are shopping Obed Vargas around. His value to a European team as a mid-season (winter) addition is less than if he were a beginning of season (summer) replacement. The Sounders are also more likely to accept an offer made to him during the summer than they would have been under the current calendar.

Except FIFA is already talking about moving the World Cup to a Fall/Winter competition.

Single table is a bit of a misnomer, isn't it? 5 of the spots will be assigned to division winners.

How so? Apertura starts in early/Mid July and Clausura starts in mid January.. Liga MX will be a month into their season while MLS will be coming in from a 1 to 2 month break.