the new MLS schedule will run between mid-July to beginning of December; mid-February to end of April; then the playoffs- ITS THE RIGHT MOVE the weather issue will be a trade-off where the crucial part of the season leading to the playoffs will be during better weather and uninterrupted (its the opposite of what we have, but this is its last season- adios) the league has finally come to the point where it needs to align with the FIFA and other major leagues schedules- our days of being an outlier league are OVER next will be the salary cap debate- and that will be even more dramatic and scrappier then will come the time for promotion-relegation and amalgamation with other pro and semi-pro leagues but i probably wont be around to see all that happen EMBRACE CHANGE OR BE LEFT BEHIND
He says, while clinging to the antiquated P/R model. (Also, there's no such thing as a FIFA calendar when it comes to league seasons. Only for international breaks)
Be left behind how exactly? From 0 teams to 30 teams among some of the richest in the world in 30 years. How is that being left behind?
VANCOUVER HAS SOLD OUT ITS PLAYOFF MATCH VS. LAFCThe Whitecaps announced they are expecting a crowd of over 53,000 fans for their Western Conference semi-final against LAFC on November 22. The attendance will rank among the top two highest-attended matches in the club's MLS… pic.twitter.com/xi0IRbSd7C— TrueNorthFoot ⚽️🇨🇦 (@truenorthfoot) November 14, 2025 Vancouver-LAFC is officially a stadium sellout.
17,224 in Chester for USA vs Paraguay. Considering that the majority of empty seats were in the middle, my guess would be that prices were extremely high.
Has the usmnt gotten less popular since '94? They were getting 100k crowds of mainly pro us fans 30 years ago when soccer wasn't even a thing. Now they can't fill half a lower bowl with half the fans cheering for the opponent. Usmnt might be the 40th most popular team at their home world cup.
The average attendance for friendlies the year before the last home World Cup was 13,057 and that included 52,397 against Germany. 1993 friendlies Denmark 13,215 Tempe Romania 9,127 Santa Barbara Russia 13,651 Orlando Russia 25,789 Stanford Canada 5,743 Costa Mesa Iceland 3,143 Costa Mesa Colombia 17,652 Miami Bolivia 9,578 Fullerton Peru 5,500 Mission Viejo Mexico 23,927 DC Ukraine 4,298 High Point Ukraine 7,896 Bethlehem Jamaica 5,318 Fullerton Cayman Islands 3,612 Mission Viejo El Salvador 7,618 Los Angeles Germany 52,397 Palo Alto The average attendance for friendlies this year was 21,519. In general attendance for friendlies dropped off a cliff in 2015 and I've documented that several times.
If US Soccer wants attention at friendlies, it needs to win something outside CONCACAF. Also, needs to beat Mexico consistently. Every time. Every year. Every competition. You can lose to Banana Republic once in awhile, but you absolutely have to beat Mexico.
If MLS is an outlier league because it does things better and more rationally than elsewhere, then there's no need to come into alignment. So, no: don't adopt the financial practices of leagues where teams routinely go bankrupt, and don't adopt the ridiculous and shambolic competitive formats of league that are so puny and broke that teams are ritually defenestrated every year because there aren't actually 20 legitimate major league clubs.
That's one of the reasons attendances have dropped. The massive friendly attendances in in the 00s came against England, France, Brazil and Germany. Playing Costa Rica, Canada and Mexico repeatedly isn't going to pull them in. Plus tickets appear to be priced to milk the most loyal fans as opposed to appealing to casual fans and families. Also I think being outnumbered by opposing fans doesn't always feel comfortabl, no matter how benign they may be. The one NT match I watched in Vegas was constantly interrupted by arguing between Mexican fans with two fights breaking out in the area I was sitting.
There's quite a few factors. 1.) US Soccer has grown into a viable business, with real expenses that need funding to cover 2.) Modern Stadiums cost a lot of money to operate, therefore the rents are higher. 3.) Soccer Specific Stadiums are smaller, so ticket supply is smaller. 4.) TV dictates when the games are because they actually cares to show the games now. 5.) Not meeting greater expectations leads to lower turnout due to a competitive entertainment market. This all leads to higher prices for all seats. Which leads to lower attendance.
While all that is true, I think that's a result of very short-term thinking. I guess stadium rent and lack of control over concessions revenue doesn't help.
its not rocket science- the FIFA schedule has an impact, especially on MLS - we are now have a 2-3 week break IN THE PLAYOFFS which is absurdly absurd; we also had FIFA competitions in the summer that went on-and-on and international MLS players were missing from regular MLS games- now MLS can make a schedule that fits the international schedule neither of these will happen once MLS is on the soccer world schedule- coupled with a common trade schedules, its another growing up win- if you want to play with the big leagues in the World, you have to play by the rules which means a mid-summer start until the following May next up will be the salary cap a Pro-Rel in MLS -- thats a big mozza ball of controversy, but there has to be a conversation sometime in the future
So where is this "soccer world schedule" you speak of? In the FIFA bylaws somewhere? I assume it details out exactly what schedule a league should follow? So then its obvious that leagues like Sweden and Brazil are rogue nations doing their own thing? Oh right, none of that is true, because a "soccer world schedule" doesn't exist. Its just an appeal to authority fallacy to try to make an argument stronger. I guess I can't really blame you, even Don Garber has used the same fallacy. The only "international schedule" that exists is FIFA's list of international match windows.
This break is MLS' choice though. It doesn't have to be this way, but the league CHOOSES to prolong it's playoffs. They could easily fit the playoffs in before the international break by going to a straight KO format and playing Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday.
Short term, yes. Long term, it would make more. Compare interest in the playoffs in 2022 and today. Increased interest, will lead to higher viewership numbers for the playoffs. That in turn will lead to an increase in sponsorship dollars, and eventually more lucrative broadcast deals. MLS still largely runs like a small family business.