the time span for MLS playoffs is ridiculously long. It will be a month tomorrow that we were knocked out. Really kills the interest level.
MLS Cup Playoffs 2016
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
The goddamn international breaks are to blame for that.
I don't even care about international teams or any of that anymore. Seems so pointless.
Could just make it like promotion playoffs in Europe - single-legged ties, higher seed (based on league finish) gets home advantage. You'd cut down the number of games by almost half just by doing that.
Yea, absolutely agreed. I think it'd be find someone to disagree actually haha. I can't recall how far in advance they announced it the last time they made a playoff format switch, but I'd assume they'll switch it soon. Based on coverage, articles, podcasts, etc... the TV partners aren't happy with the format, either, so I'm sure they'll push for some sort of switch.
Personally, I'd like it to single game / knock out from the start of the playoffs.... higher seed gets home field. Though, Taylor Twellman and Grant Wahl were discussing an interesting idea of having a group stage at the start of playoffs, and then single elimination for the final four out of the groups.
Three most critical thing to change for me: 1) End the season before the international break; 2) play MLS Cup before it's approx. 5 degrees outside (most important game of the season shouldn't be played in crap weather); and 3) fix the current issue with lower seeded teams actually having the advantage in these two-leg series.
I think you'd still run into the international break which would completely break-up the momentum of it.
International breaks ruin European seasons, too, I think.
For the record, I think I suggested earlier in this thread to move the season back a month to finish before the November international break, in order to avoid a two-week pause in the playoffs.
If I had properly researched, I would have known that there is another international break in October. In 2017, it will be October 2-10, and then November 6-14. That's only a four weekend window. Even if you condense and cram a postseason into that window, you still have the issue of top players being out for the final game or two of the regular season.
In other words, I'm thinking MLS probably has it right. The frequent international breaks during our autumn are just something we need to deal with so long as we are on a Spring-Fall schedule.
That said, I still would rather see a group stage pre-November break, and then a single-game knockout bracket after the break.
EDIT: Maybe the eventual solution, once MLS has fully matured and "made it" as a league, is to petition FIFA to slide the November break back 2-3 weeks, to give summer leagues like ours a chance to finish up before losing players to national teams again.
If I had properly researched, I would have known that there is another international break in October. In 2017, it will be October 2-10, and then November 6-14. That's only a four weekend window. Even if you condense and cram a postseason into that window, you still have the issue of top players being out for the final game or two of the regular season.
In other words, I'm thinking MLS probably has it right. The frequent international breaks during our autumn are just something we need to deal with so long as we are on a Spring-Fall schedule.
That said, I still would rather see a group stage pre-November break, and then a single-game knockout bracket after the break.
EDIT: Maybe the eventual solution, once MLS has fully matured and "made it" as a league, is to petition FIFA to slide the November break back 2-3 weeks, to give summer leagues like ours a chance to finish up before losing players to national teams again.
I have always wanted the league to put the MLS Cup on Thanksgiving Weekend.
There's also another drawback to having the season potentially start a month earlier:
Mean temperature Montreal February: 20°
Mean temperature Montreal March: 32°
Mean temperature Minneapolis February: 26°
Mean temperature Minneapolis March: 41°
Mean temperature New York February: 37°
Mean temperature New York March: 46°
Source: https://www.wolframalpha.com/
For sure. But northern cities like Vancouver, Minneapolis, and Montreal have indoor venue options, and you can always just schedule Seattle, Portland, Colorado, Chicago, Toronto, New England, New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia on the road for their first three games or so each year.
What if they started the MLS season a few weeks earlier?? Season ends the weekend before the break (Last weekend of September instead of mid/late October). Group stage occurs between October and November international breaks, then have a single game knockout bracket after the November break.
This allows for a break before the group stage and the knockout rounds, instead of awkwardly splitting up the playoffs. This would be best with a group stage and knockout round, but may also work with the current home and away match-ups.
In the above image, the past years season (2016) ends on October 2nd (green), since MLS likes to end on a Sunday (instead of on the 23rd as it did this year). International break occurs, then the first of five group stage games happen on the 15/16, 18/19, 22/23, 29/30, and 5/6 of October and November. November break occurs, then back to the action with the knockout round that can incorporate either the top 2 or 3 from each conference's group stage month long battle.
Also causes the final to occur in late November or early December (depending on amount of teams), when the weather is definitely colder, but also not as bad as it can get in the middle or latter part of December.
Attachments
Moving the MLS cup game earlier puts it in conflict with either college or pro football. This weekend is almost empty of college football. Most conference seasons are over and the bowls don't start for another week. The only game this weekend is Army/Navy. Move the MLS game up a week and you're competing with conference championships. Move it up 2 or 3 weeks and you are competing with rivalry games. Put it on any of those Sundays and you're fighting the NFL.
If six teams make it, one game versus each of the other teams. I forget who brought it up, but the higher seed would be home and the lower seed away for the games. Makes earning a higher seed that much more valuable.
I think the consensus would be to have an Eastern Conference group of four and a Western Conference group of four. Which would result in just three matchdays and reduce the amount of potential dead rubber games. If you got rid of the knockout round (unlikely), you could actually fit the entire tournament in the five matchdays between the international breaks.
That would be in danger of backfiring, and it would certainly get shot down. FIFA has for well over a decade now advocated that it believes all top-tier leagues should consist of 18 teams, no more, no less. They actually tried to put their feet down and force all of Europe to comply back in 2006, but it didn't quite work out for them. They now tolerate associations going outside of this guideline but as soon as choices to do otherwise cause conflicts with FIFA then they get a bit uppity about it.
If MLS/USSSF were to go to FIFA and ask them to change their international fixture scheduling to help MLS fit its own schedule around a play-off system for a 22/24/28/32?-club league then they would almost certainly respond by simply rejecting the proposal and countering by pointing out that MLS could make their schedule far more concise if they reduced to 18 and then cut out the play-offs entirely.
While possible true, it's very narrow minded. They have to realize that not all leagues and markets are the same and sometimes unique (or extremely unique) models have to be implemented.
It's also why I said MLS will need to have a LOT more years under its belt before it would have the kind of power necessary to request something like that.
FIFA? Narrow-minded. Sorry, you're right. No-one would ever accuse them of being narrow-minded. Better drop that one entirely...
I think fitting the playoffs in between the October international break and November international break would be ideal, and feasible in the long run. Would be perfect... October international break would provide an ideal pre-playoffs rest period (for most players) and the perfect marketing tool to boost viewership going into the playoffs.
I think the primary problem MLS faces right now with regard to all of this is that they NEED to have more games (regular season and playoffs) because the teams/league are so dependent still on in stadium revenue. The elite leagues in the world see a far higher ratio of their revenue come from TV, sponsors, etc... but MLS is not quite there yet.
I think in the long run, the only solution is to make the playoffs quicker (e.g., fewer teams and/or fewer games) and the regular season shorter made possible by fewer games and less travel between conferences. This would allow the league to maintain the current start date, and still end earlier. Really, there's too much wiggle room in the regular season as it is currently... teams know they can basically take a break, be awful for a while, and then go on a late season run.... If we're going to have playoffs (which I'm all for!), then the regular season doesn't need to be quite as long in any case.
