MLS to mirror European football schedule

[Kirk Van Houten]

Right but half the season will be competing against football, which trumps all.

Regular season games on Apple TV I think they'll be fine with that it's not that they're getting masive numbers now.

"Under the proposal, MLS would begin early August and run until mid-December before a winter break. The season would resume in February and run until the spring, with the MLS Cup in late May."

So starting roughly when NFL preseason does, which despite everyone saying they hate, millions watch and it gets more attention than even the playoffs of some leagues, including MLS. Couple weeks later college football starts. Get to September and NFL regular season. October MLB playoffs and NHL & NBA seasons start, plus WNBA playoffs will continue to be pushed/marketed. During those proposed opening months of the MLS season there's also the PGA Tour with a major & the FedEx Cup playoffs. Plus those months cover the final stretch of the season for American motorsports, with NASCAR even going into the first weekend of November.

So that's a rough time to start a season.

Winter break, come back in February, presumably avoiding the Super Bowl which is not too many years from being pushed even further back in Feb. So beginning of 2nd half of season NFL is still taking up all the air. Get to March and you have March Madness and spring training/opening day/week of MLB.

MLS Cup playoffs in May, H2H with NBA & Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yikes. Good luck with that Revolution-Red Bulls playoff series going H2H with Knicks-Celtics or Bruins-Rangers, or both.

There's always competition. Tough to find space in the U.S. sports calender but if they do change, it looks tough.

So pretty the way their setting this up is to push big for the second half of the season and the Playoffs. That's a big gamble there.

 

[varsaku]

It's long overdue. Playing in the summer and overlapping the international tournaments isn’t something a serious league can do.

Mess in the transfer market, as well.

many leagues play in the summer too. Brazil's league plays similar to MLS.

 

[Jumptheshark]

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I think their schedule is part of why they've been successful. Sure things get hard at playoff time with so much going on in the sports world but competing directly with the NHL and NBA regular seasons, + almost the entire NFL & college football seasons for a good chunk of the season? Tough one.

I am looking at the fact that they would more or less splitting the season in half. Avoiding "Winter" all together in some norther territories could be interesting. Places like Florida and California. Some of the norther teams play in cities where it does not warm up till late april

 

[PCSPounder]

I am looking at the fact that they would more or less splitting the season in half. Avoiding "Winter" all together in some norther territories could be interesting. Places like Florida and California. Some of the norther teams play in cities where it does not warm up till late april

It’s easier to dress up for cold than to dress down for the heat in Orlando, Houston, etc.

It’s WAY easier to play in same. Conditions are often downright dangerous for players in the south in an MLS schedule.

But I also note that a fair number of Swedish stadiums have domes or retractable roofs for a summer schedule.

I thought Bundesliga used to have a couple months of winter break… it’s 3 weeks. Certainly MLS can work with that.

 

[Voight]

I am looking at the fact that they would more or less splitting the season in half. Avoiding "Winter" all together in some norther territories could be interesting. Places like Florida and California. Some of the norther teams play in cities where it does not warm up till late april

They won't be avoiding winter, unless they ensure all of the most northern teams play away games in warmer climates.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

They currently start the season in late February. They'll resume the season at the same time, maybe a couple weeks earlier at most.

And they probably play Leagues Cup over the break in warm weather locales, starting in early January. So the actual break is probably 3 weeks, 4 at most.

 

[jetsmooseice]

This is ludicrously unworkable. It will never fly. No one is going to sit outside in Toronto, Montreal or Minnesota in January to watch soccer. Probably not in Chicago, Columbus, Denver, KC and NYC either. I mean, maybe you'd do it once for a rare special occasion but not for a routine who-cares regular season game.

And putting cold-weather teams on the road for months at a time isn't any more practical.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

"Under the proposal, MLS would begin early August and run until mid-December before a winter break. The season would resume in February and run until the spring, with the MLS Cup in late May."

So starting roughly when NFL preseason does, which despite everyone saying they hate, millions watch and it gets more attention than even the playoffs of some leagues, including MLS. Couple weeks later college football starts. Get to September and NFL regular season. October MLB playoffs and NHL & NBA seasons start, plus WNBA playoffs will continue to be pushed/marketed. During those proposed opening months of the MLS season there's also the PGA Tour with a major & the FedEx Cup playoffs. Plus those months cover the final stretch of the season for American motorsports, with NASCAR even going into the first weekend of November.

So that's a rough time to start a season.

Winter break, come back in February, presumably avoiding the Super Bowl which is not too many years from being pushed even further back in Feb. So beginning of 2nd half of season NFL is still taking up all the air. Get to March and you have March Madness and spring training/opening day/week of MLB.

MLS Cup playoffs in May, H2H with NBA & Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yikes. Good luck with that Revolution-Red Bulls playoff series going H2H with Knicks-Celtics or Bruins-Rangers, or both.

There's always competition. Tough to find space in the U.S. sports calender but if they do change, it looks tough.

Dont forget the Daytona 500 is usually Presidents Day weekend. That usually gets north of 8 million viewers

 

[varsaku]

This is ludicrously unworkable. It will never fly. No one is going to sit outside in Toronto, Montreal or Minnesota in January to watch soccer. Probably not in Chicago, Columbus, Denver, KC and NYC either. I mean, maybe you'd do it once for a rare special occasion but not for a routine who-cares regular season game.

And putting cold-weather teams on the road for months at a time isn't any more practical.

I would imagine they would have a longer than normal winter break and schedule cold weather teams for more away games during that period. That would effectively run the season during the same time period of the year, however, offseason will be much shorter.

 

[LadyStanley]

MLS is exploring a calendar overhaul. The case for (and against) change is clear

Major League Soccer faces pressure to shift its season calendar to align with Europe's in order to maximize playoff exposure and synchronize with global transfer windows.

sports.yahoo.com

Discussion coming this month. Decision in April/May 2025 for 2026 season.

 

[PCSPounder]

MLS is exploring a calendar overhaul. The case for (and against) change is clear

Major League Soccer faces pressure to shift its season calendar to align with Europe's in order to maximize playoff exposure and synchronize with global transfer windows.

sports.yahoo.com

Discussion coming this month. Decision in April/May 2025 for 2026 season.

The best point the article makes is that MLS already spends more than a month with Leagues Cup, and this year the dwindling crowds were obvious.

They’re better off playing that in the south- and, very odd suggestion, maybe some games actually IN Mexico- during bowl season and through January. (I know, I know, the money is El Norte… but will that be the case for long?)

Still, the prime question… who pays for this? While the Apple contract is for 10 years, once Messi is gone, will Apple dump it? That’s where the concern and the opportunity lie.