Tagging onto the Espinoza news, Walker Zimmerman is leaving Nashville and will become a free agent, too. He'd be a massive addition to the backline, and Sogut did indicate at the STM meeting that he'd consider using a DP on a defender if the right one was available.
Maybe they’ll shift games to the daytime? The average highs and lows in February are: Feb 1: 44*/29* Feb 11: 46*/31* Feb 28: 51*/35* We’ve had 70*/close to 80* in recent years in February here. We’ve also had polar vortices that plunge us close to single digits (which can happen November - March these days). It can snow, be windy as hell, or quite pleasant. All of these extremes will continue with global warming accelerating. MLS has one of the largest geographic footprints in the world. There’s not a one size fits all that works perfectly for a league with teams in Vancouver, San Diego, Miami, and Montreal. Hopefully this brings about some more daytime games, but I’d much rather bundle up than sit and sweat through a huge chunk of the year.
Moving away from the summer makes the league more dependent on adult ticket buyers, especially for the midweek. When the kids don’t have to go to school in the morning, Wednesday night matches are a neat night out for the family. Right, but aren’t all or most of those matches season openers? Opening Day is different from the midseason. How folks will feel and think about Opening Day (after the winter break) remains to be seen. What I’m saying is, that number is encouraging, sure, but not directly comparable.
Given how much Russia’s population skews West, I’ll bet there are years when MLS is the biggest. There was a YA who played at Vladivostok back in the day, and the club was in the top league at least one season. Russia has a whole lot of almost empty space.
Brazil is the only one that comes close, but many of the teams in Serie A are close to the coast and the climate is more homogeneous. One of my favorite fun facts, since we’re on the topic: the northernmost part of Brazil is closer to Canada than it is to the southernmost part of Brazil.
Fair, but all afternoon games are more palatable for families with kids than any night game is since you can remove bedtimes from the equation. Had the same thought re: season opener vs. 2nd half of the season opener. I'd imagine it falls somewhere between a true opener and a regular game. An 8-10 week break is long enough to have a bump from people missing it, recent DCU product examples aside.
Interesting. I’d wondered what they were going to do in this gap. It’s really a shame they can’t do all of this in 2026 and piggyback right off of the World Cup.
I've been going to season openers for 26 years and the Cold Opens since 2020 (absolutely frigid vs. Colorado) have been dramatically more sparsely attended. You can post any MLS attendance numbers you want and I won't believe them--no offense. I'm an attendance denier. I have no memories of any crowded cold-weather games. The game in 2015 when Pontius scored deep in stoppage to beat Galaxy 1-0 was deserted. And I know how dead the last few openers have been.
I think something that’s being lost in this is that MLS and the owners may just be accepting the risk of having a couple of games per team with diminished attendance because they see the changes as a long term catalyst for the league in terms of overall quality, transfer values, and the ability to compete better on a regional and even global level. Hell, removing a FIFA break from the playoffs alone is probably worth a 10-15% dip in some team’s February/early March attendance for a couple games.
One possible benefit from this schedule change might be increased longevity for some older players. While July and August matches will be steamy, the rest of the schedule will be held in more temperate weather for full physical exertion. Teams that emphasize a pressing style will not have to try to maintain that in the middle of the summer which is midseason right now in MLS. Also players on the "wrong" side of 30 likely will benefit from not playing twice a week in the summer to fit the current MLS schedule into international breaks and MLS cash grabs like Leagues Cup.
Matches in Europe are postponed because of pitch issues caused by weather events. Sort of like electrical storms in the US during the summer delaying, interrupting and suspending matches.
Also, the free press MLS has gotten by announcing this over a dead weekend has been fantastic. Not sure how much it moves the needle long term, but we’ve gone from almost nobody talking about MLS this weekend to literally almost every soccer fan in the country plus some media/online discourse. Well played on that end.
Come on, man. Let's not be disingenuous. There is nowhere in Western Europe with winters nearly as brutal as New York, let alone Montreal or Minnesota. Yes, lots of people saying, "I don't want to expose my children to hypothermia, that sounds completely awful."
Good news! At 10* Fahrenheit with 50 mph winds, you still aren’t in significant danger. Though to be fair, I’d probably stay inside for that one, too.
Apple did just hike the rate around 25%. I’ll be canceling during the offseason as a result. Save a few bucks and I’m not currently streaming any shows on there (and rarely do, FWIW).