News: MLS owners approve moving to a Summer to Spring Schedule

At first glance I"m not a fan.

I feel like this will create a competitive disadvantage for us giving our 'not so great' weather.

Maybe if we had a stadium with a retractable roof might I give it some more thought.

Selfishly, what is sad is that I have really enjoyed the kids 4v4 tournaments at Gillette Stadium that take place during the summer. Those are my favorite days of summer....play a 3 or 4 game tournament, tailgate with the team, and then watch the game togetehr.

 

Dumb. Any uptick MLS gets from the 2026 World Cup will be undone by this.

Not looking forward to more games with orange soccer balls.

 

"I feel like this will create a competitive disadvantage for us giving our 'not so great' weather."
Also, don't forget that the Kraft's won't spend on these better players, so we'll be chillier and suckier.

 

Most infuriating paragraph I've read so far on the calendar switch comes from The Athletic:

"And perhaps more importantly, the northern fans turned off by cold weather will be replaced and surpassed by the fans who latch onto the league, whether on TV or in person, because they are no longer consumed by American football during MLS’s most dramatic games."​

And there you go. The league believes that those of us who have been going to Revs games for nearly 30 years now will be not only replaced, but surpassed by Patriots fans, who simply haven't realized yet that Bob Kraft also owns a soccer team. Just wait until they find out! They'll probably have to open the upper deck for those upcoming February home games against DC United on a Saturday Night with wind chills in the single digits.

 

I've followed this club since the beginning and like many of you I'm a current season ticket member. I love the sport and follow it closely. The Revs just aren't compelling enough to make me enthusiastic about being real uncomfortable for 2 hours watching them in December, February and March. I won't go.

Have to think more than a few parents of the kids who want to go will draw the line as well - at least in terms of attending. They may still buy the tickets, but those cold weather games will be poorly attended and they certainly won't make for a great TV product. There will be no walk up folks, that's for sure.

I also think a lot of the people who've been calling for this are like the promotion/relegation types on X - they love the concept because its done that way in Europe. Forget that many of the USL operations are poorly financed and likely losing money. These people also don't buy tickets to support MLS clubs. There remain economic realities of the sport here that have to taken into account.

 

Well see how it goes.

One thing this fixes is our perennial summer signing issue, where they're added toward the end of the window, then the ITC takes a while, then they need to travel and integrate, and then whomever was signed only ends up playing 5 games (or fewer!)

 

This is insane. Sure, we'll have our schedule stacked with games at Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, etc during the cold months, but so will every other team with cold-ish winters. The only reason for this is the transfer window. Imagine how different our season might have been if we got Dor Turgeman in May, and not when the season was over.

The flip side of the transfer window is how appealing will MLS be to players from warm-weather countries? Turf and snow? It's all about business, not fans.

 

Any indoor stadiums with grass? I think Real Madrid has the grass field that goes underground into a greenhouse, but not sure the details. No matter what, that isn't going to make a stadium in Everett cheaper.

 

Worse yet, are they THAT naive to think that viewers will be tuning into the NBA and NHL playoffs over MLS playoffs?

 

I feel that the NER will continue to play at Gillette for years beyond this calendar switch. I think both November and February games have proven to be possible in the Boston Area. It remains to be seen if the MLS schedulers will avoid the north or just make that part of the the home/away experience (advantage?).

Is the overlap of the MLS schedule and the NFL schedule (preseason, regular and playoffs) extended or reduced? I am concerned that the field dimensions seem reduced once NFL overlap starts and, well, there is the issue of the football lines too. I'm going with a July to December overlap, call it 5.5 months, vs. a July to (typically) October overlap (only 4 months) now.

 

While I'm not in favor of this change, it will make it more enjoyable to go to playoff games when/if the Revs play in them again. One of the benefits of being a Revs fan was that we didn't have to freeze attending November/December games!

 

It's proven to be possible to survive being bitten by a rattlesnake.

But it's also generally unpleasant, and not an experience that many would be excited to repeat on a regular basis.

 

My wife will not go near Gillette before May nor will I venture south during ski season. If (big IF) they build a new stadium, I might change my mind. The wind in Foxboro can be unbelievable, even in October or May. Interesting to see if they will offer a warm weather partial season pass.

 

I don't disagree. But I'm not sure I want to see them play all those games as away games. Like it or not, turn it into a homefield advantage.

 

Is it an advantage if the team has excessive injuries compared to other teams from playing numerous games in stupid weather?

 

What kills me is the comment that any fans turned off by attending games in freezing rain, snow, sleet, or temps below 40 degrees will be replaced by new fans.

Really?

Almost every single game I've attended in the past 30 years has been full of groups of kids, families, youth teams, etc. Are these folks still going to come in bad weather? Maybe some will, but a lot fewer. And even among "die hard" fans, sure, I'll go to some cold games, but not as many. Also, the cold games will be run-of-the-mill midseason games, nowhere near as critical as decision day or playoff games.

 

I was also willing to put with the cold late February/early March games due to the excitement of it being a new season and dying to see live soccer again. I won't be as interested in seeing cold mid-winter games in person, especially if the team remains mediocre (or worse).

 

"And perhaps more importantly, the northern fans turned off by cold weather will be replaced and surpassed by the fans who latch onto the league, whether on TV or in person, because they are no longer consumed by American football during MLS’s most dramatic games."

I read this replacement of the northern fans to be spread out across other teams on a league wide basis over the course of the season. More markets will like this change than will dislike this change and the league feels like this will produce increased attendance year over year. I bet that they are right.

The league is not worried about the Revs losing 10,000 fans on a cold night in November, December, or February. I do not mention March since the Revs had three home game last March. They feel like they can make up that 60,000 spread across games elsewhere. What are we talking about, maybe six Revs games that might apply? Two in November, two in December, and two in February? Other than that, the Revs schedule would pretty much remain the same.

I can imagine the league trying to create cold weather events in December and February like the NHLs' "Winter Classic" on New Years. I can imagine "Winter Classic" ticket packages.
I can imagine "Warm Weather" season ticket packages.
I can imagine a Patriots double header in November or December with a train?
I can imagine better packages for the college kids. Maybe one in the fall and one in the spring?

I cannot imagine Bob Kraft cares either way. A rising tide lifts all boats. Somebody told him this will put more money in his pocket at the expense of a few fans and he said "sounds good. ka-ching!"

I wonder how the Canadian teams feel? I wonder in Toronto would ever try for a game at the Rogers Centre?

I think the Transfer window action will go both ways. It will help MLS remain a seller without disturbing the current season, which is a problem today. It will help MLS bring in talent as well.

I think a 14 game mini season at the start of 2027 is silly. I hope this does not happen. I would rather see some kind of tournament. I can imagine a longer than normal pre-season in 2027.

I wonder how this will impact European teams coming to the US in the summer for pre-season, if at all?

I wonder if there could be other unreported, gentleman's agreement sort of benefits for northern MLS teams to make this more appealing? Neutral site MLS Cup games? WCQ games? Euro games? Who knows?

Will this impact the CONCACAF Champions League? The US Open Cup?

I think this might impact any boost to MLS from hosting the World Cup, but the fans who go to a World Cup game and decide to go to an MLS game afterwards will still have games in person through October 2026 and on TV through December 2026. They will not know much better. They might not think twice about waiting until next July 2027 for the season to start because that is when it started for them.

I have no strong feelings on the matter. At this time I can only follow the Revs here and on TV. As I have said elsewhere, I was a 12 year STH for the Revs before moving to Cary, NC where I have been a STH for various forms of the Railhawks/Courage/NCFC (our USL team just folded and lost to Khano and Herivaux in their last game without a hint of anyone caring. It was very sad.). I have attended many more "way too hot" games in NC than I ever did "way too cold" games in MA (probably due to the schedule not including so many cold games when I lived in Boston). This change was always coming to pass. It was always a matter of time. Who knows how well it will work out? Time will tell. I think the single entity will benefit financially from this move and that is all that matters to the owners.

 

A Patriots/Revs doubleheader? How would that even work? The Pats sell out (especially now, that they are 9-2, 8 wins in a row) Are they gonna just have the Revs play in front of a Pats crowd who are either barely interested at all or disguised as empty seats? Or maybe lt Revs fans buy Revs tickets and also get the Pats as a bonus game

 

Not to mention pointy-ball gridlines and flying Elvis's at center circle.

 

Not sure if I've seen it mentioned here.

MLS Season Pass going away next year. Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+) subscription will be required instead.

Major League Soccer is coming to Apple TV starting in 2026
MLS Communications
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025, 04:30 PM

 

I guess I just freed up a couple of hours a week. I refuse to chase these sports that try to see how far they can get fans to go. I don't have Amazon Prime, NESN, or any other special streaming service to watch pro sports.

 

We'll have a stadium in Everett ten minutes after forty two pink unicorns dance the minuet in Fenway Park.