MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and championship

But no, it's not.

Not for finals.

Champions League, UEFA Cup.
Granted they can sell unlimited tickets while MLS will struggle to sell 30k at a neutral site.



EDIT: (Nix what I said, it was just for the first round)

Yeah, it probably makes sense for the first two rounds and I'm willing to be persuaded that it makes sense for the final(s) but you've got to make more of a case.

 

Yeah, because that idea was a dismal failure. Stupid Lamar Hunt.

Please tell us how your plan would work if the final were MetroStars vs. Kansas City, and both home stadiums had NFL games scheduled on the MLS Cup dates, which have to be set months in advance in order to get a timeslot on ABC.

 

And we'd want to do this why? Not doing something just because the NFL does it seems like pretty weak reasoning.

Actually I think we should be more like the NFL and have single elimination all the way through.

If we had home-and-home in both the conference semis and conference final what's the reward for finishing first?

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

Technically, the system in place already meets the criteria you are talking about. The "second round" is the Conference Final. But the Conference system is silly, so I think it should be home and away for that too. The Final on a neutral ground has plenty of non-NFL precedent: FA Cup for example.

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

Having the 2nd game of a home-and-home series at home is a good reward. It means you know what you're up against, and can rally with your home crowd to a big victory. Like San Jose vs. LA last year. If the first game had been in San Jose, do you really think the scoreline could have been 5-2?

 

Frankly, what I'd like to see is the first to 5 points system, up to 3 games. Lower seeded team gets first game. Higher seed gets game 2 and, if neccesary, game 3. Tie breaker would be goals scored in all three games. Only OT in game three if both teams have the same amount of points and goals in the 3 matches.

Lee

 

You're kidding, right?

Home and Home series for first two rounds, neutral site for Final, thats how the league will grow.

As for the NFL comment and MLS only having eliminations instead of series, you need to think about this, NFL can't play twice a week, MLS can.

 

Another newbie starting another MLS playoff-format thread... A pox on the rest of you for actually posting in this.

 

I personally favor the MFL system (home & away with the higher seed advancing if the aggregate score is even). MLS Cup should stay the same for the time being...

 

EDIT: Lets just keep it like it is for now! Look to address it again after second round of expantion.
Theres is a novel idea...keep one system inplace and not change it every year ot two so there is a bit of structural stability in the format. Ahh that would never work!

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

No just no.

 

You play them in the middle of the week, when you have no competition from the NFL. (And don't mention basketball or hockey. MLS doesn't compete against them at all.)

I really don't care if ABC shows up or not. It can air on ESPN. Otherwise, FSW would gladly show them, including the Cup ceremony at the end.

 

And that results in

gridiron lines on the field

Crowds of 4500 people.

Great concept.

 

Because we all know the important part is the trophy presentation.



I shouldn't be stunned by that kind of thinking, but I am.

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

You tend to put forth many good ideas.

This is not one of them.

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

I think he is trying to say fox sports will be smart enough to know the significance of televising a champions event in full.

The sport will only grow if it is treated seriously.

He believes FSW knows this and ESPN does not.

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

Thank you.

I'm interested in the whole thing. Including celebrations and presentations. Nobody cuts away from the other sports, I don't want them cutting away from soccer. Is one time a year too much to ask ABC or ESPN to hang it there?

 

ABC/ESPN will show the trophy presentation if MLS pays them for time after the game to show it (assuming the game doesn't run over if it goes to overtime). Maybe if every game on ABC/ESPN earns a 1.8 that will change, but not for now.

I see a couple practical problems with home-and-home in the playoffs. First, playoff games are a money loser for most if not all teams. Especially if they are played on weekdays.

And if they're held on Saturdays, that's one less week available for the regular season. Which means either starting the season earlier (not a bad idea actually), finishing later, and/or losing the opportunity to take a week off to not conflict with the national team.

Second, home-and-home minimizes the advantage of the higher seeded teams. That's exactly the reason it's used in the Champions League and Copa Libertadores, where one team hasn't earned an advantage. Note that last year, the MetroStars chose to rest players against New England rather than try and earn the second game of the first round at home.

And if nothing else, there's something weird about a game that ends 4-2 going to overtime. I realize it happens often, but it's still different.

 

First of all, in a few years many clubs will have their own SSS and you won't have to worry about gridiron lines.

Secondly, I'll always believe the fans of the two clubs in the finals are entitled to have a chance to witness it. They do in baseball, basketball, and hockey. American football is the only sport which doesn't lend itself to a "series" concept for playoffs.

The neutral site Super Bowl-model is what's really an artifical concept, not the home-and home idea. I'm not saying it wasn't a stroke of genius on the part of Pete Rozelle way back when. But I don't find any compelling reason for MLS to blatantly ape the NFL.

I understand people bringing up Champions League single-match finals. I could just as well mention tournaments that are two-leg throughout, such as Copa Libertadores. It's done both ways. What's best for MLS is the question.

I think two-leg is more desirable in the sense it's a more difficult test of endurance and depth, and has always struck me as more "fair," minimizing the impact of fluke goals, bad calls, etc., along with giving the opportunity for each club to play before their own rabid fans.

As far as when to play the series is concerned, there are only two choices: during the week at night (when competition from other sports is minimal) or on weekends (competing directly with college football games on Saturday or professional games on Sunday).

What's more desirable? Both have drawbacks. Neither is perfect. With a two-leg series, you could play one match during the week and the last match on the weekend. You at least get whatever benefits both may have to offer.

The sooner it's done, the sooner people get used to the idea that this is how soccer operates. Don't mimic the NFL. It's not the proper model for MLS.

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

I could give a rat's ass about the presentation, but to cut the potential audience by 50, 60, 70 million just to show a trophy presentation is pretty damn stupid for a league trying to grow its fanbase.

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

1) Good ideas

2) I don't necessarily agree with them

3) Learn to use the enter key

 

Re: MLS should maintain the home and home system throughout the playoffs and champion

I saw faint football lines at the Home Depot Center last fall. High school pointyball I think.

How about aping the FA Cup, then?

 

Well like most others, I think it's a bad idea for the final. I have no problem with it for the semifinal ON ONE CONDITION...

There has to be a substantive advantage to finishing higher in the regular season standings. Simply having a potential overtime of the 2nd game at home is not sufficient, IMO.

The tiebreaker should go to the team that did better in the regular season. In other words, the lower seeded team has to WIN the aggregate series within the 180 minutes. The higher seeded team simply has to not lose. No away goals, no overtime, no 'super goals'. If there's equality, reward the team that did better during the regular season.

This makes the regular season count for something more than eliminating one team per conference.