Hello! Figured I would start a thread here so that we can discuss what MLS should do if it restarts the season after we return to some semblance of normalcy. Personally, I like just restarting the season and playing intraconference games. The league is already heading towards having separate schedules for each conference and this could be a good way of introducing it to the fans. This method definitely sucks for the teams that started out the season well, but if they do go with intraconference, I'm not sure how you can work in the games that were interconference...
We're already "OK" with imbalanced schedules, so what if they all play 2x intraconference after they get back going, and leave the two results already existing as standing. Kind of a "happy middle ground"? That means some teams will have inter and some will have 3x against some intra, but gives at least something to the teams which started off hot.
I disagree. This is going to be a lost year for the Republic in their preparation to join the league. I think the only sensible option would be to delay it until 2023 to ensure that they are properly ready to join the league. It really is for the best. Trust me.
With 13 teams in each conference, that would idle two teams each weekend when they could be playing each other. Not a good idea when trying to fit everything into a cramped calendar.
Cross Posted from the NASL Lawsuit thread of all places: Perhaps Garber looks to what the NFL did for the 1982 strike shortened season. A one time expansion of the playoffs. You could go to 8, 10, 12 or all 13 in each conference. These are extraordinary times, a little flexibility in terms of scheduling / post season should be expected. It might go a ways to help fan bases in Miami and Nashville who must feel like the rug was pulled out from beneath them. *Edit* Actually come to think of it if you "scrap" the first two weeks and reset with just intraconference matches to determine post season tournament seeding, you could easily go to all 13. You could then add the points from the first two matches back in for the purpose of draft position, shield position so those points are not totally ignored, but are also not used to determine tournament seeding.
Unless you're also trying to take advantage of midweek dates, at which point you need to have idle "matchdays", otherwise you'll run into exhaustion issues over the course of months.
When the whole league was odd-numbered, it was mathematically necessary for one team to be idled. That's different from idling to teams that could very easily play each other just because of a format choice.
And in this scenario the conferences would be treated as different leagues. This is something that is going to come up when the league ultimately splits anyways. Having an odd number of teams in each conference is not an issue that can't be overcome relatively easily.
Since this is the thread to be totally selfish on, F no to anything that eliminates the first two games. Teams shouldn't be penalized because of this. If the rest of the games want to be intraconference that's fine, but we start from where we are now and accept that things won't be exactly even because of the pandemic.
The idea that the league is going to ultimately split is a fact not in evidence. This year it is not split, and it will need to squeeze some kind of season into a limited window. Creating a format that artificially forces bye weeks is not conducive to that goal.
It's a weird thing to have to try to figure out. Every other time there's been an abbreviated season it's been because of a work stoppage, so you've never had to deal with BOTH existing results AND a long delay followed by a re-work. (The only exception was MLS post-9/11 when they had played enough of the season to just decide to end it and use the current standings.) Keeping the existing results is going to make scheduling weird, because some of the teams have played in-conference, some haven't, and some have split. Some have been home, some have been away... there's nothing you're going to do that's completely fair. I was actually kicking around the idea of just randomly splitting the teams up into groups, World Cup style, and playing a round-robin, for the event that the season re-starts so late that there's just not time for double-digit matches. But 26 is a number of teams that's not convenient for that, either. If the time-span is short, you could just have everyone play one match against every conference opponent. Some will be home, some will be away; them's the brakes. 12 matches. If you want to avoid the bye-every-week scenario, each team could play ONE out-of-conference match to fill the gap. Again, however -- until we know just when things resume, and how much time will be available, this is all spitballing.
I think your idea could work. Let's say we have time for 12 games. Then split the league into: EAST 1 Tor Mtl NE NYFC NYRB Phi DC EAST 2 Mia Orl Atl Nas Clb Cin Chi WEST 1 Van Sea Por SJ LAG LAFC WEST 2 Dal Hou RSL Col KC Min East divisions play home and home within division West divisions play home and home within division plus two other west teams. If you only had time for 10 games, drop the 2 extras in the West, and East Teams play 2 division teams only once.
If we get some sort of season, everyone will be so happy, that nobody is going to be too bothered about schedule unfairness. I read an article in the athletic about why baseball doesn't change the schedule in shortened seasons (they've had a few due to strikes and lockouts) because it is more complicated than you think. Arenas and hotels are booked up due to other events in cities (such as the political conventions this summer), so you kind of just go with the remaining schedule, with a few adjustments to make sure everyone plays the same number of games. I just posted ^^^^ that to a different thread.
It sucks for fans who attended those first games too. Plus, I hope the league isn't going in the direction of only intra-conference games, and I don't believe it is. Exhibit A - Toronto (and Montreal) would never play Vancouver. That would be wrong. Also Chicago would never play Minnesota - again, wrong.
I generally agree that it seems unlikely that they move to intra-conference only seasons. The league that is closest to doing something like this is MLB, and they're moving AWAY from keeping their two leagues separated, because they've found that it increases ratings and support.
Picking up that season on the last week of May and finishing on December 6th with playoffs would probably have teams miss 4or 5 games. You would need games mid week right up to the Cup on December 19th or 20th to keep all 14 teams. Just picking up on the last week of May makes them lose about 13 games on average with no changes. . Personally I don't think they play this year if they aren't playing in May because they are going to need a few weeks of camp to get in some kind of shape. Maybe change the rules for roster size and more substitutes for the first few months of the season might be needed.
It's an awful situation, if MLS picks when all the other sports and soccer leagues also come back, will the TV numbers be so bad that it was not worth the expense of playing? It would be hard to compete with Euro leagues returning, delayed NHL and NBA play-offs; and then football. And, if when stadiums open, will people be too afraid to go, and thus the numbers so low? I don't know. I want some soccer, on TV first would be fine, but then in a stadium.
If the season doesn’t open up until late... just book all the teams to travel to Florida, California, etc. and knock out all the games in a couple weeks. Playing 1-2 games a day.
Pretty much... I mean, I think we need to come to grips with the fact that 2020 is a lost season. Even if league play resumes, which I believe it will, I sincerely doubt we’ll allow fans... which is primarily the reason (other than resting and recovering players) the league is spaced out so much anyways.
What's the shortest length half that FIFA allows, 30 minutes? If it's 30 minute halves and if five subs are allowed as rumored, two games per team per match day is definitely possible. Match days could be Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday/Sunday using Monday and Friday as rest days. Teams that play Thursday would be guaranteed Sunday, then Wednesday. Teams that play Tuesday would play Saturday then Wednesday. Or, if needed, scrap the "guaranteed rest days" and all teams could play any day of the week. Heck, if you go 30-minute halves with five subs per team, you could *probably maybe* do four games per week. Maybe.