jpg75 Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 MLS are taking a two week break next summer during the WC. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=676848&cc=5901 Major League Soccer will take a two-week break during the group phase of the World Cup for the first time next summer. MLS announced Wednesday that it will not play any games from June 11-25. The league also does not plan to schedule games on the days of the World Cup semifinal and final. This means no games will played on the weekends of June 12th-13th and 19th-20th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcmurph Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 How nice of them I think reality will sink in because no matter how die hard a club fan we might be who is going to watch MLS when Spain, Brazil etc etc are going at it? Even the MLS players will be checking the WC scores during their games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 ^ you are SOOOO wrong. i would choose San Jose v Real Salt Lake any day of the week over some measly World Cup semifinal match that only comes once every 4 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 quote:Originally posted by tmcmurph How nice of them I think reality will sink in because no matter how die hard a club fan we might be who is going to watch MLS when Spain, Brazil etc etc are going at it? Even the MLS players will be checking the WC scores during their games. I doubt the games would coincide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Don't think they really have a choice. I mean how bush would it look if they were playing during the WC? Ug. Would also expect there would be a few important players absent from the league on international duty at the time to-boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Cheeta Don't think they really have a choice. I mean how bush would it look if they were playing during the WC? Ug. They played straight through three World Cups already. As more teams become primary tenant in their facilities, the scheduling issues become easier. From what I'm hearing, the season may start two weeks earlier than this year, meaning the second weekend of March. Brrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I wonder what I would do Holland-Germany or TFC. Any guesses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdroze Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Rudi As more teams become primary tenant in their facilities, the scheduling issues become easier. From what I'm hearing, the season may start two weeks earlier than this year, meaning the second weekend of March. Brrrr. Nope, the regular season will start March 25 and end October 24: http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090916&content_id=7000180&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklefan Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 MLS should have taken a break during all the WC tournament. I doubt I'll be watching TFC instead of a WC match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 quote:Originally posted by canucklefan MLS should have taken a break during all the WC tournament. I doubt I'll be watching TFC instead of a WC match. And when do you propose they make that month up? In December? As I said earlier in the thread, I highly doubt any MLS games will be played at the same time as any WC games, so no one has to choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 it's not the fans having to choose that's the biggest worry, it's the players. a month when the best players are not playing is not a good thing for the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 With the league being at 16 teams there will now be a balanced schedule as well. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/09/mls_will_take_world_cup_break.html#comments Will the league now go single table or still have 2 conferences? If they do keep 2 conferences, what is the point? When the league grows to 18 teams in 2011, will the league schedule increase from 30 to 34 games? I know that there are no answers yet to these questions but they are definitely questions that need to be considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 quote:Originally posted by SthMelbRed it's not the fans having to choose that's the biggest worry, it's the players. a month when the best players are not playing is not a good thing for the league. More MLS players were missing for the Gold Cup than will be gone for the World Cup yet MLS didn't have a problem playing through that tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Rudi They played straight through three World Cups already. ... Yup. And I believe one of the less harsh descriptions of that past practice being thrown around at the time was "bush". And quite rightly. Playing during the group stage and or the round of 16 of the WC is stupid. Doesn't matter if there is a 12 hour time difference or no. Don't do it. The league is evolving in more positive ways all the time, especially as expansion seems to be bringing in some real footie minded owners (or at least owners who're sensative to the footie fans). Not playing during the busiest period of the World Cup Finals is just one more of the little moves which are adding up to a bigger positive. P.S. Two week shut down is fine. By the time the quarters roll around there'll be plenty of nights for domestic and international football to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmynow Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 very few MLS players will be going into the quarter finals and beyond. based on past experience, most of em will be heading back after being unsuccessful at the group stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklefan Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Rudi And when do you propose they make that month up? In December? As I said earlier in the thread, I highly doubt any MLS games will be played at the same time as any WC games, so no one has to choose. I suppose MLS will be the only professional league that'll be active at same time that WC. PATHETIC. To answer your question, one of the many solutions would be to make some fixtures during the weeks, some weeks teams would play 2 games in a week (one the weekend, another during the week). This is the same with the WCQ for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 quote:Originally posted by canucklefan I suppose MLS will be the only professional league that'll be active at same time that WC. PATHETIC. To answer your question, one of the many solutions would be to make some fixtures during the weeks, some weeks teams would play 2 games in a week (one the weekend, another during the week). This is the same with the WCQ for example. They already do that, and aside from Toronto and Seattle, attendance PLUMMETS during the week. It seems that they'll be taking the hit next year, as the season is technically shorter than this season, so more mid-week games is definitely in the cards. It's very easy to say that MLS shouldn't be playing in the World Cup (a sentiment I agree with). It's another thing to actually impose a workable solution, as the teams are dealing with a very defined window of good weather for most of its clubs, plus they are second (or third) tenants in some cities, they'll be throwing away money due to terrible attendance in midweek matches, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklefan Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Rudi It's very easy to say that MLS shouldn't be playing in the World Cup (a sentiment I agree with) I think this comment contradicts your previous comments. Anyway, if you always find an excuse no to make your point then ask FIFA to make WC after MLS playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 quote:Originally posted by masster More MLS players were missing for the Gold Cup than will be gone for the World Cup yet MLS didn't have a problem playing through that tournament. They shouldn't be playing through either tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 quote:Originally posted by canucklefan I think this comment contradicts your previous comments. Anyway, if you always find an excuse no to make your point then ask FIFA to make WC after MLS playoffs. How do you figure I'm contradicting myself? I agree that MLS, all things being equal, should not be playing through FIFA dates and the WC. However, I also - unlike many here - acknowledge the fact that all things are not equal. FIFA schedules the World Cup to coincide with the European off-season. This immediately works against MLS given the weather here, especially the the northeastern US markets, plus Toronto, Chicago, Columbus, Colorado and Salt Lake. June-July is prime weather in those markets in which the window for passable playing weather is very small, and that affects 60-70% of the league right there. MLS does not control their own venues, and as such is at the mercy of other teams/entities where scheduling is concerned. This is rapidly changing, although as of the beginning of 2010 Seattle, New England, Houston, Kansas City, and San Jose will still be in buildings in which they are not owner/operators or they are not the prmary tenat (although SJ s not as affected by this). In 2011, Vancouver comes into the league sharing a venue as well. Going forward, the venues issue should change, and conceivably only Seattle and New England will be playing in shared stadiums. This should make scheduling aroud FIFA dates easier. That still doesn't solve the problem of the short weather window (no northern team is going to want to consistently start every season on the road for a month and a half) or the fact that domestic soccer simply is not strong enough on this continent to schedule too many weekday games, effectively throwing millions of dollars away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 quote:Originally posted by masster With the league being at 16 teams there will now be a balanced schedule as well. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/09/mls_will_take_world_cup_break.html#comments Will the league now go single table or still have 2 conferences? If they do keep 2 conferences, what is the point? When the league grows to 18 teams in 2011, will the league schedule increase from 30 to 34 games? I know that there are no answers yet to these questions but they are definitely questions that need to be considered. I think the reason for having 2 conferences is that the balanced schedule planned for next year is only going to exist for a very short time. Once the league is at 20 teams (if not before), they will be forced to go with an unbalanced schedule again, at which point it'll make sense to have 2 conferences to reduce travel as much as possible. So in summary, why eliminate the conferences if you have to bring them back in 2-3 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Another reason for keeping the conferences is the existence of bonuses in the CBA for players on teams that win the conference championship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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