Wynalda wants MLS to change it's season to match rest of world...

Lets focus on making it 5 times in a row first.
Yes I know we made it 7 times a in a row from 90-14, but now we have made it 0 times in a row.

 

Love your optimism and god, I hope I’m alive to see that

 

Why was a dead thread from Feb resurrected? Is there any new news?

 

Because this is the you be the don forum...not the news forum. Why are you posting in the thread just to be a jerk? If there is nothing that interests you just move along...it is real easy.

 

My apologies. This might be the only thread I follow in the Don forum so I assumed it was the News thread and you dug through pages to bump it back to life. Carry on.

 

It is on the first page of threads in the You be the Don forum so, no digging was required

 

Good: Arguing for a fall-to-spring schedule

So this is my second post I was told this is the right place.
I tried to start a new thread on this but for some reason they wont allow me to so YOU do it.
Why a new thread ? well this is perfect timing for MLS to take it seriously and make the change NOW
I truly believe this is the right time to move the season to start at end of July to end of May.
I would love to have a serious discussion on it for everyone to post their "Case for a July Start"
I dream of MLS Cup in May/June Respect FIFA dates and World Cup/Olimpics etc
Schedule from July to Dec and Jan to May. 4-6 weeks brake in between
January games to be hosted by teams in the south + teams with Dome stadiums in North

 

There is no case for a July start. And the lazy "north teams play in the south in cold weather, south teams play in the north in warm weather" ignores massive problems with that idea.

 

I could think of 100 reasons why this has to change, and i have no idea what problems anyone sees, but enlighten me
If you in favor of this change i need you, we need to do a petition,call the Don, email call, call every owner, reporters,soccer shows, this has to be done and now it is the best chance for this

 

https://www.bigsoccer.com/search/

 

It's too fricking cold and there aren't enough warm weather teams to make up for that.

 

Hi, this is the 2022 World Cup! We're being played in November/December in 2022! Just passing by though.

Also, the Summer Olympics aren't always held in June/July. The 2000 Summer Games were played in September. As were the 1988 games. Here's a history of when the Olympic games have been held: https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/olympics/dates.html

Also, the Olympics aren't a FIFA event, and for Soccer they are largely comprised of U23 players which many teams don't release for this event anyways (foreign and MLS clubs alike).

 

All the crying and whining from the fans and the league about how MLS teams are at a disadvantage when playing in the champions league . All the crying and whining and ridicule how MLS is playing thru the WC and major tournaments.
All the crying and whining how MLS teams lose out on trades vs other leagues. All the crying and whining how teams that don't make the playoffs have a long off season ( MLS is considering adding a winter tournament ) .All the crying and whining when MLS teams have to release players for international tournaments, and more crying and whining but you can fill in the blank.................
I suggest Make yourself a list of the Advantages and Disadvantages and you will see the advantages outnumber by a mile the disadvantages.( but i can't think of any) I think we are past the conflict with the other sports, we can stand on our own feet now, so take that out of your equation.
The fact is we cannot get away from the cold, this year we started at end of February., so starting at the beginning of February it wont make that much difference. We have enough teams now in the south warmer climates that can host 3 games plus you have a couple of Dome stadiums that could host.
The WC will switch back to June i am sure once it comes to USA, what will MLS do then, keep on playing. This is the perfect time to do this, start in July play thru Dec 15, with 6 weeks off , restart early February with MLS Cup at end of May or ealry June. Teams that don't make the playoffs can/could start play in US Open Cup. Take another 6 weeks off and start the new season. What is the problem, I need you to push the league to make this change NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You're wrong.

 

a. That's why we have a new format.
b. If the league only restarts in February then the league faces exactly the same challenge.

I don't hear any crying and whining from MLS fans. Teams have the option to play during tournaments. I'm from the UK so I'm used to rugby and cricket teams playing on during international callups.

Name a few.

How does moving the season help with the length of the off-season?

You're repeating yourself.

OK I've made a list and it came out strongly on the side of the status quo.

Of course it does. It would mean you have to play more games during the colder weather.

We don't have enough teams in warmer climes. Check out this season's fixtures.

And we don't have any domes. We do have 3 roofed stadiums but I don't think Saputo wants to play any more games at the Stade Olympique.

The 2014 World Cup ended on July 13th. The 2018 World Cup ended on July 15th.
With 32 teams the 2026 tournament will probably end on July 19th or 26th.

That would conflict with the start of the MLS season.

Meanwhile your 2025/26 MLS Cup final would take place after the WC NTs have already assembled. That's a problem for US and Canadian based players.

 

Since you are the one dredging this back up....how about you....

 

I love summer evening games when MLS is not competing with other leagues or even much youth soccer. I like that the final is not directly up against the Champions League final, FA cup final, or Euro league finales. I like that the phase is different, Euro leagues start when MLS summer drags a bit, play-off push and play-offs are when Euro leagues drag a bit. MLS excitement of new season is when Euro leagues are really dragging, although midweek Champions League is great (both Euro and CONCACAF). I agree it'd be nice to have play-offs not compete against Football and be in peak weather, but I'd hate to waste May and June on just the good MLS play-off teams. Plus having them compete with NBA and NHL play-offs is a good point.

On the transfer issue, I'm not even sure it hurts. Euro teams in January have crystallized their needs, it gives MLS players an opportunity. But yeah, November Ok if Rapids actually in the play-offs, late Feb or early March OK in excitement of new season, but leave our summer doldrums to... the pleasantness of summer.

 

Good list.

I would like to add that even if we did have enough southern clubs it would suck for season ticket members, players, coaches etc of cold weather cities to play 4-5 away matches in January/February every year. I don't even think most fans would like 4-6 weeks in a row at home in July/August either.

 

I don't see why a move to a Fall-Spring schedule would really result in a change in dates. You could begin in mid/late July and play through the new year, with December games allocated to warmer climates and domed fields. Restart at the beginning of March and get to the business end of the season, with playoffs beginning in May. June will be the US Open/some Canadian tournament, MLS teams without internationals and every smaller domestic club down the table. Plenty of summer games.

This is better for a few reasons. The business end of the season is not up against football, it really is only up against the NBA playoffs which can be scheduled around. NHL finishes much earlier in march, NFL in Feb and baseball playoff not until Oct. The problem with going up against football is college/NFL consume Sat/Sun, there is no way to not schedule against it. Football is WAY more popular than basketball or hockey and leaves no weekend room for MLS. Even during the NBA playoffs, MLS can get playoff games in without directly conflicting with NBA, even during weekends. A tournament during the summer when internationals are out is also preferable, plenty of games with better parity as internationals are out, scheduling can be flexible to back world cup or other international games, and all these games can be removed from the rest of the calendar and packed into this 4/6 week period. MLS regular season and playoffs should be 100% unaffected by international windows. CCL will coincide with the business end of the season. international windows in Jan when the league is off Jan/Feb and in summer, in between seasons and

Schedule should go to Dec 31, without (decent) bowl games there is a big gap in the sports calendar from Dec 15 - Dec 31. MLS is not in the same time windows as Euro soccer, its preferable to have games on the same day so on boxing day for example, MLS games can back EPL games. Scheduling should favour colder climates at beginning (Aug/Sept) and end (Mar/Apr) with warmer climes (where July games are miserable) playing more games in Nov/Dec. People in Orlando or Houston don't want to sit in the sun in August either. If playing in Dec is not feasible then there is still plenty of space Mar-May and July-Nov.

This would help align with FIFA windows, CCL and a majority of the international transfer market. It would preserve the relative timing of games (Mar-Dec), and would help promote the US Open/Canadian Tournament. I cannot stress how bad it is to have the business end of the MLS season during football. I love soccer but I'm watching my college team Saturdays and NFL on Sundays, and so are most sports fans I know. Put the business end of the season at a time when soccer fans expect and at a time when it doesn't have to compete with football every Saturday and Sunday. There will be plenty of games throughout the summer (and spring and fall).

 

Ah.. never mind.

 

Stop right there. If its not going to change the dates then why do it? Because none of the reasons you listed will be any different if we don't change dates and we just call the start of the season the middle and the middle of the season the start.

 

Because it will result in the playoffs and end of the season being in a better time of the year, spring, when it does not have to compete against NFL and CFB. That's the main point, align the MLS playoffs with the CL and league ends in Europe, its what most soccer fans expect and it allows the playoffs to avoid NFL and CFB which cannot be scheduled around (unlike NBA Playoffs in May).

Align transfer windows with season beginning and end in Europe, largest market for players. Much easier to buy and sell when the end of the seasons align, rather than trying over the winter period or in the middle of the regular season in summer.

While games would continue to be played from Mar-Dec as now, the summer tournament during the June intl window is preferable to having regular season games where a number of players are out on international duty. This isn't a big deal in a domestic tournament, it will level the playing field if anything which is good (and into departures will not have an effect on the season). This will also increase the profile of the domestic tournament and will ensure there are a number of games to go to in the summer.

Better alignment with FIFA Calendar, CCL schedule, and stuffing all of the domestic cup games into one month frees up space elsewhere in the schedule. The only point in saying the actual period games are played would not change (Mar-Dec) is to show the weather is a non-factor.

It's a mistake to put the MLS playoffs in the middle of fall when CFB and NFL are in full swing. That's every Saturday and Sunday, with game days starting at 9am and games going to midnight. I miss most of the MLS finals because there is a good football game on at the same time. Football is the most popular sport in the country, avoding competing with it during the most important part of the season should be the number one priority. Yes, NBA finals are in May as well, but half the games are on weeknights, and most start after 3pm, so there is plenty of time for MLS to claim a playoff window on a weekend without bumping into other major sports. This cannot be done from Sept - December with football playing. The rest of the stuff about transfers and the fifa calendar is really just a helpful by product (although I do think there is a tremendous benefit to having the MLS end of season coincide with all of the other major leagues - this is when the vast majority of the worlds soccer fans are tuned in expecting end of season drama, not in November).