MLS Winter Season

would you want to play a game in Chicago or Boston in December?


True Dallas in July isn't much more pleasant, but at least it's milder at night.

Winter is out of the question, let all the other American sports have their glory winters, we don't want to be competing against the NFL, at least not any time soon.

 

I like cheese.

 

OK, I'll answer you seriously (not like an idiot that many on here will treat you).

First off, NHL really CAN'T switch to a summer season even if they felt that they wanted to get away from competition with NBA or some such thing. You already have problems at places like Dallas & Phoenix when they get into the late playoffs keeping the ice in decent shape. With the temp in the 90's outside and so many warm bodies and, the real killer, humidity, dragging in from outside, by 2nd & 3rd periods, the ice is total crap.

Second, why would they want to switch to the summer where their only competition is baseball? College footbal will be over in 2 weeks. Pro football will be over in just over a month and then NBA / NHL will be it for pro sports until baseball starts up.

Also, if they switched their season to summer, the playoffs would be either running at the same time as baseball playoffs or before baseball's playoffs when baseball is coming down the stretch with penant races. What part of baseball season do you think the NBA & NHL would rather compete with -- the end or at the beginning when things are just starting up?

 

Winter MLS

Mmmmm...MLS in the winter...you know what this means...

 

hockey in its nature is to be a winter sport. it wont change

imagine soccer in new england/chicago/ny/dc at this time of year. games would be snowed out and no one would go.

/end thread

 

I agree for all of the aforementioned reasons that MLS should remain a summer sport plus the following:
MLS likes the fact that it only has to compete with baseball during the summer season and (later) college and pro american football.
Basketball appreciates that it only has to compete with the NHL (who has no choice but to play in the winter) because it gets better attendance, and only worries about the NFL on Sundays and one game per Monday.
Also, I think we need to factor in that the other major four leagues may now be factoring in the idea that MLS is a credible, respectable league who they may not want to compete with in the coming years.
A negative impact would also be seen in some MLS games if they were to play in winter, too- those nasty grid-lines; not all teams are going to have a SSS in the next two or three years, and if the games were played the day before NFL games, it could make for some ugly soccer- see: Dallas, KC, Colorado, etc.
Overall, I think the schedule and seasons are just fine as-is right now, especially for MLS.

 

MLS will never be taken seriously worldwide as long as it continues refusing to operate like major leagues (Premiership, Serie A, Bundesliga). MLS has to stop considering its competition to be the NAFL, NHL, NBA, baseball, etc. Its competition is the major European and Latin American soccer leagues, and until they start trying to compete with them instead of the 'American' sports, it will never get anywhere. That means, no player draft, the end of single entity, and a WINTER season.

Here's why an August to May is the only way for MLS to go. 1. Copa America. For the fourth time in a row, the US national team is sitting out a Copa that it has qualified for in order to avoid having players away from their clubs. This is a huge disservice to USA fans who want to see their team in this tournament. USA can be competitive in this tournament and is just wrong that we are not participating. 2. The World Cup. Assuming MLS stays in its summer schedule, the 2006 will be the third consecutive Mundial that MLS has tried to compete against directly. It is rediculous. During the last two World Cups, MLS has been reduced to A-League status while the best MLS players have all been off playing for their countries. During 1997 and 2001 most of the best South American players were off playing in qualifying matches (and Copa America). MLS to be honest has got a lot of nerve to ask the ticket prices they do while these tournaments are going on. 3. June and July in Dallas and Kansas City are much less favorable for good soccer than December, January and February are in Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, etc. Think about it...3 of 4 years, the best players in the league are gone during these months, leaving marginal starters and reserve players to plow through games in 80-100 degree heat. I can tell you that if you try to play in that heat it will sap your energy within minutes. In order to last the match you have to slow down. The extra fatigue also leaves players more susceptible to injury. What you get then are not very good players, going 1/2 to 3/4 speed. Not my definition of 'Major League' soccer. 4. The absolute best weather in combination with stadium availability is in April and May. A Cup Final in mid May would make all MLS venues feasible for hosting the game with no poor weather or NFL conflicts. 5. A winter season could and probably should include a 4-6 week winter break, ala Holland and Germany, from Christmas to mid February which would avoid the worst of the Great Lakes/New England weather, but even in those months, enough games could be scheduled in the South/West coast to avoid a lot of the cold weather anyway. 6. The argument that no one would come to watch soccer in cold weather is hogwash. Real fans will show up. If Green Bay Packer fans will sit in sub zero weather for 3 plus hours to see NFL games, why would New England Revolution or Chicago Fire fans not do the same? There was a full house in Columbus in 2001 for the USA/Mexico World Cup match, I know cause I was there. It was a great game and no one seemed to mind the weather(except for the Mexicans but they still showed up). 7. If you analyse the current MLS schedule, at one point the league is going up against every single other major sport, pro or college. In the summer, when there is only pro baseball and the WNBA to compete with, Sportcenter is not making extra time for MLS highlights. Sportcenter is never going to take this league seriously until it makes a case for being the best soccer league in the world. That's never going to happen with third rate players, and a league that refuses to adopt international standards. MLS has a lot of improvements to make, the first is to BAN CHIVAS and to go to a real season.

 

While your part on the WC has merit the other stuff is soooo ignorant and should never be mentioned again. NOW ENOuGH OF THIS CRAP, NEXT TOPIC!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Well in snowy countries they have a winter break. In Austria the season is on hold until March. Sometimes the summer break is only a couple of weeks long (depending on whether it is a tournament year), while the winter break is more than three months long.

I'm not necessarily saying that's how MLS should do things, but snow and cold weather shouldn't be considered a hindrance.

 

In an incredibly dumb thread, these statements attempt (with some success) to plumb the depths of stupidity. I guess it doesn't matter if the MLS makes a profit. It doesn't matter if the only people in the stands when it's snowing and below freezing are a handful of Eurosnobs. At least we will have RESPECT. Of course the league will be out of business in less than six months. I mean to say, this whole concept is mononic--you blow off the American fans for what--are the Latin Americans and the Europeans going to charter flights to come in and see the MLS go bust? Really, does anybody here give a flying whatever if we get taken seriously by someone who worships a foreign league? The US is developing great players and the league is starting to finally become a success. That's not good enough? It's a friggin' miracle! We'll get their respect the real way--when our teams beat their teams. Until then--try to get a grip on the reality of the situation.

 

Well I'm out of things to say now... who likes cheese again? I want some, I'm kinda hungry.

 

Ummmmmm cheese.

 

Dude it's like your taking words outta my mouth...

 

It has crossed your mind that, for whatever reasons, there are MORE Green Bay Packer fans than Revolution and Fire fans, right? And that MLS hasn't really achieved the status where it can expect people to pay lots of money to be physically uncomfortable for a few hours, right?

We'll let you slide on the fact that MLS isn't the only summer league on the planet, either.

in any case... it's time to pause for a word from this thread's sponsor...

 

Two words: college football. 100,000 at the OSU game, 300 at the Crew game. "Real" fans or not, you do the math (a lot of "real" fans like other sports too). The league would be dead by the Rose/Cotton/Capital One/Bob's Lawn Mower Service Bowl. Also, Russia and Scandinavian countries, as someone else pointed out about six threads ago, play spring-fall schedules.

Soccer in this country will make it, and will be taken seriously, regardless of the season in which it is played, if the league is run in a first-class manner, and if the teams can compete on a worldwide scale. Neurosing over teams names, logos, and the time of year the game is played is asinine. The world won't end if a team called the Cougars (or Blue Sox, or Blazers, for that matter) one day wins the MLS Cup, played in November instad of May.

Stop being so anal and enjoy the game.

 

this is just eurosnobbery gone run a muck!

 

Norwegian soccer won't be taken seriously until they adopt a winter season!

 

Screw Worldwide, I just want it to be taken seriously here. The US has the economic power to bring in the stars once the nation gets behind the sport. The rest of the world can kiss my ass when their top players start to come play in america.

 

Scandinavian countries as well.

Not sure playing in the winter is a good idea, but there should be an effort to give the league a break on FIFA dates.

 

I think you're right!

 

After the Gulf Stream shuts down due to global warming, and England and most of Western Europe is covered with glaciers, do you suppose the people who want the EPL to go to a summer schedule will be called Amerosnobs? Just wondering.

 

What color is the sky in your world?

The facts of MLS are that there are about 3,000 - 6,000 REAL fans TOPS in any MLS city. You put a sub 32 degree game in January, you are looking at 2,000 - 3,000 fans tops. Everyone else at MLS games have their own agendas.

If you want to see how many REAL fans there are in MLS - take a look at US Open Cup attendance. Those are the real fans.

And comparing MLS to NFL attendance is riduculous. You are talking about the richest, most powerful league on the planet to league that has had one team turn a profit in one season in 8 years.

And then comparing winter MLS to a vital World Cup qualifier between two of the pre-eminent regional powers again shows that you do not have a firm grasp of the business reality MLS must deal with.

Do I want to see the Nats in Copa America. Hell yeah. Would I rather see players play in 75 degree weather. I guess so. And aside from the facts of ticket demand and stadium conflicts we might see it happen.