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General MLS Talk 2020


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MLS Expansion: New timeline released for inaugural season of newest clubs

MLS announced a new timeline for the inaugural seasons of three of the four expansion clubs in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Austin FC, which was announced back in January 2019 and made significant progress before the onset of the pandemic, will remain on schedule for a 2021 launch. The other three clubs, all announced in the second half of 2019, will each have their expansion seasons rescheduled by one year. The updated schedule follows below:

  • Austin FC: 2021 inaugural season
  • Charlotte: 2022 inaugural season
  • St. Louis: 2023 inaugural season
  • Sacramento: 2023 inaugural season

The decision was made by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, in conjunction with the league’s expansion committee.

“We have always taken a thoughtful and strategic approach to our expansion planning and have delivered successful launches for every new club,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber in a league statement. “It is important for each club to take the necessary time to launch their inaugural MLS seasons the way their fans and communities deserve. With the extra year to make up for what has been a challenging 2020, these teams will be well-positioned for their debuts and for long-term success.”

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Speaking of Canada, anyone notice how many Canadian products/companies/institutions are advertising at MLS is Back?

Off the top of my head:

BC Recycling, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Blue Buck (Phillips Brewing), to name a few of the more surprising ones. 

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1 hour ago, Obinna said:

Speaking of Canada, anyone notice how many Canadian products/companies/institutions are advertising at MLS is Back?

Off the top of my head:

BC Recycling, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Blue Buck (Phillips Brewing), to name a few of the more surprising ones. 

I find this CGI advertising behind the goals fairly disconcerting.  A cleared ball off a corner suddenly disappears then reappears while on one play during the Caps/SJ game In-beom briefly became part of the Captain Morgan logo:  what's Korean for "Aaarrrr!" I wonder? 😉

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3 hours ago, Obinna said:

Speaking of Canada, anyone notice how many Canadian products/companies/institutions are advertising at MLS is Back?

Off the top of my head:

BC Recycling, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Blue Buck (Phillips Brewing), to name a few of the more surprising ones. 

I am wondering if  only Canadian viewers can see those while US viewers see cgi ads from US sponsors. 

I also notice that TSN doesn't block out the entire audio as much when there is swearing on the field for games that Wileman, Caldwell Schad and Dolan call.

 

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On 7/21/2020 at 4:07 PM, Obinna said:

Speaking of Canada, anyone notice how many Canadian products/companies/institutions are advertising at MLS is Back?

Off the top of my head:

BC Recycling, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Blue Buck (Phillips Brewing), to name a few of the more surprising ones. 

Yes!  That caught my attention from day one.   It was just not possible beause the advertizer would not pay to publicize in a market that is not theirs.  so why?

it has to be all virtual.  Including the boards.   I never saw the ads that you mentioned.  You must be seeing them in your market only.   The ones i always see are:  BMO, Saputo, Canadian tire,  Continental tire,  a few distinct quebec companies that more know of in Quebec.   I m certain that the american viewer is not seeing all those ads for canadian entities.
 

Edited by Free kick
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21 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

I am wondering if  only Canadian viewers can see those while US viewers see cgi ads from US sponsors.

 

I am pretty certain that is the case.  What i am intrigued by is the companies Obina listed.  I never saw those.  They must be segmenting by regions in canada or through the various TSN regional channells.

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3 hours ago, Free kick said:

I am pretty certain that is the case.  What i am intrigued by is the companies Obina listed.  I never saw those.  They must be segmenting by regions in canada or through the various TSN regional channells.

Definitely seem region specific.

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4 hours ago, narduch said:

Impact advance thanks to a Cincinnati win.

Cin looked to be playing for a draw, which would almost killed Montreal’s chances.  This is one of the more extreme case of “Parking the bus” that i have seen.   From the openning whistle, Cincinnatti just retreated to their box (and a few metres in front of it) and just stayed there all game.  The one rare time the ball got out of the FCC’s end of the field, it resulted in a goal.  Two scoring chances all game and they got two goals.  Amazing but frustrating to watch.  Actually, watching NYRB’s lack of ideas and imagination in trying to deal with this,  was more frustrating.  
 

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MLS's (tentative) post tournament plan: 18 games, 9 home and 9 away.  6 games each between the Canadian teams.  I'd been wondering if there was going to be a way to sneak the Voyagers Cup in between the end of the tournament and the possible resumption of play, but this is a pretty tight time line:

Major League Soccer is still in the throes of the MLS Is Back tournament, but a tentative plan for the league to resume its regular season following the conclusion of its Orlando competition has emerged.

According to multiple sources, the tentative plan would see the regular season resume on Aug. 22nd, a little less than two weeks after the MLS Is Back final is held on Aug. 11th. Teams would play six games between Aug. 22nd and Sept. 13th. The league’s three Canadian teams — Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps — would remain in Canada and play only against each other during this phase of the regular season. 

The tentative plan also works around a couple of the largest questions regarding a possible return to play. The Canadian teams would play only against each other for Phase One, minimizing the impact of the currently closed border between that nation and the United States. The hope is that Canadian teams would be cleared to travel to the United States by the second phase of the plan. Sources said it’s not entirely clear what MLS’s backup plan is if the three Canadian teams aren’t allowed to travel back-and-forth across the border by that point, though one additional source said that Toronto FC is moving ahead with the idea that they’ll have to shift operations to the U.S. at some point this fall. It’s not clear if Montreal and Vancouver are proceeding similarly.

https://theathletic.com/1950606/2020/07/24/mls-regular-season-2020-return-plan/

Edited by Watchmen
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One of my favourite moments of the tournament, speaking of course about the play-by-play (much more entertaining than the matches, for how lame it is). 

Forget which game, as they bantered about the league continuing after the tournament, they said: "And I guess the Canadian MLS teams will have to find a way to play all their games in the US". Then a huge long silence, they sat there in total silence like 20 seconds, with the play on. 

Just long enough for everyone to think what everyone is thinking: so because Canada is taking the pandemic seriously, these teams are the ones that are the bothersome outliers. You could sense they were itching to say it, but held back.

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So if the MLS is planning to have the Canadian teams play only each other as part of the 2020 (ir)regular season, how would that factor into qualification for the post season? It can’t really just be points based, could it?   Would they just allocate one (or two) playoff spots for the Canadian teams and award it/them based on the final rank among the 3?   Just curious if there is any indication of how this might work.  

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