New CONCACAF Champions League format?

[Fantazma]

Ok so here is the latest rumor ( though it is being mentioned by the Nicaraguan FA so maybe its about to be official)

Long story short the new Format will be like this:

- There will be 2 Tournaments ( Fall and Spring) with a total of 31 teams for both tournaments.

Fall Tournament
-16 teams will take part in the fall portion of the league ( 2 from from every Central American team plus 3 Caribbean and 1 from Belize).

- Bracket based Elimination 2 leg series from 16 teams down to one champion

- This will take place from August-October.

Spring Tournament

- 16 teams will also take place ( 4 MLS, 4 Liga MX, "Fall Champion", 1 Canadian Team, 5 winners from CEntral American leagues: Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala. Plus 1 Caribbean)

It is assumed that this will also be bracket based two leg series but no dates were given. Again this was what the Nicaraguan FA said in a press conference. Not sure if this will start in fall 2017.

https://twitter.com/x/status/809069089343868928

 

[adam]

We miss out right when it starts getting good. :/

 

[Fantazma]

We miss out right when it starts getting good. :/

If this is correct we would of started in early 2018. Maybe No villa no Pirlo, and maybe only one DP plus the other yearly changes

 

[FootyLovin]

If this is correct we would of started in early 2018. Maybe No villa no Pirlo, and maybe only one DP plus the other yearly changes

So currently MLS teams that qualify for CCL play their first CCL game 8 months after MLS Cup the year they qualify.

Are you saying this actually pushes that to the point where MLS teams will play their first CCL games 14-16 months after they qualify?

That makes no sense to me.

 

[Fantazma]

So currently MLS teams that qualify for CCL play their first CCL game 8 months after MLS Cup the year they qualify.

Are you saying this actually pushes that to the point where MLS teams will play their first CCL games 14-16 months after they qualify?

That makes no sense to me.

thats based on what what was said in video above....he gave no dates but i assume it will take effect in fall 2017 since the current champions league is still going on. but yes on the face of it, doesnt seem to make sense, teams can be massively changed from the team that earned the spot. So if we had the spot we would start in spring 2018.

 

[adam]

So currently MLS teams that qualify for CCL play their first CCL game 8 months after MLS Cup the year they qualify.

Are you saying this actually pushes that to the point where MLS teams will play their first CCL games 14-16 months after they qualify?

That makes no sense to me.

I agree. If they make this change it now works within the MLS schedule. Let the MLS Cup winner and other qualifiers just show up in round 2 a few months after the MLS Cup.

 

[sbrylski]

It looks to me like there was a lot of negotiation in this - it has the messiness of a design-by-committee approach. The North American Zone probably wanted to go back to a 16-team tournament with heavy representation (basically the spring tournament). The Central and Caribbean Zone fought hard against getting shut out in that scenario, so they built a separate fall tournament for them that will probably revenue share with the spring tournament.

Not sure how I feel about this yet. Slightly underwhelmed for now.

 

[sbrylski]

Each portion of the tournament would now last eight matchdays instead of their current six, which could push the tournament earlier into our preseason. Really wish we got a calender flip out of this, with the biggest stages happening in the fall.

 

[Fantazma]

It looks to me like there was a lot of negotiation in this - it has the messiness of a design-by-committee approach. The North American Zone probably wanted to go back to a 16-team tournament with heavy representation (basically the spring tournament). The Central and Caribbean Zone fought hard against getting shut out in that scenario, so they built a separate fall tournament for them that will probably revenue share with the spring tournament.

Not sure how I feel about this yet. Slightly underwhelmed for now.

yep feels like the old "copa UNCAF" for the fall season...basically a preliminary tournament for the "main tournamant" in Spring

 

[franchise646]

yep feels like the old "copa UNCAF" for the fall season...basically a preliminary tournament for the "main tournamant" in Spring

Yeah it seems interesting if so I hope the brand both tournaments differently. The Fall Tournament Copa UnCaf or Liga Centroamericano. And the Spring Tournament be the SuperLiga Or North American Super League.

 

[Fantazma]

Yeah it seems interesting if so I hope the brand both tournaments differently. The Fall Tournament Copa UnCaf or Liga Centroamericano. And the Spring Tournament be the SuperLiga Or North American Super League.

back then i never trully followed copa UNCAF...i knew it qualified you to the Concacaf "Champions cup" but never knew how intense or serious it was taken by central american teams.....i never was able to watch back then

 

[franchise646]

back then i never trully followed copa UNCAF...i knew it qualified you to the Concacaf "Champions cup" but never knew how intense or serious it was taken by central american teams.....i never was able to watch back then

Me either but one way to keep the confusion low is to name 'em two different things.

 

[Falastur]

So currently MLS teams that qualify for CCL play their first CCL game 8 months after MLS Cup the year they qualify.

Are you saying this actually pushes that to the point where MLS teams will play their first CCL games 14-16 months after they qualify?

That makes no sense to me.

Yep, that's the case. It's kind of an inevitable by-product of an international club competition which is fed from national competitions which operate both Summer-Spring and Winter-Autumn.

That said, it could be worse. Rosenberg in Norway qualified for the 2017-18 Champions League in September (2016), and played their final league games in November. If they were to - against all odds - make it to the final, they would be playing their final Champs League game 18 months after the last league game which qualified them, and 20 months after actually securing their place in the tournament.

 

[joe]

I would love to see better tv deals for both CCL and USOC.

 

[FootyLovin]

Yep, that's the case. It's kind of an inevitable by-product of an international club competition which is fed from national competitions which operate both Summer-Spring and Winter-Autumn.

That said, it could be worse. Rosenberg in Norway qualified for the 2017-18 Champions League in September (2016), and played their final league games in November. If they were to - against all odds - make it to the final, they would be playing their final Champs League game 18 months after the last league game which qualified them, and 20 months after actually securing their place in the tournament.

I accept that it could be worse. But if you are feeding me a dead rat you found in the subway and telling me it could be worse if the drunk guy passed out in the corner had just peed on the rat, I don't feel a lot of consolation. I'm still eating a raw subway rat.

This is a situation that could easily now have a simple quality fix by letting MLS CCL qualifiers from the fall play in the CCL tournament the following spring. So obvious. To ignore it is horrible in the extreme.

 

[Seth]

I don't feel a lot of consolation. I'm still eating a raw subway rat.

Well that's your problem right there, you're not cooking them first: http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm

 

[NickA]

I thought they were simplifying the dumb acronyms...

Anyways. This whole setup seems sloppy. Maybe I'm just partial to European football as I've watched it much longer...but why not just copy how UEFA handles Euro & CL. It works. Copa is a great competition, but why the odd years? Is it not a specific gap? Wouldn't it make sense to have it between World Cups like Euro? On to UEFA CL..It's one of the most beautiful tournaments in the world. CONCACAF is wack. No offense to those who love it.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

I thought they were simplifying the dumb acronyms...

Anyways. This whole setup seems sloppy. Maybe I'm just partial to European football as I've watched it much longer...but why not just copy how UEFA handles Euro & CL. It works. Copa is a great competition, but why the odd years? Is it not a specific gap? Wouldn't it make sense to have it between World Cups like Euro? On to UEFA CL..It's one of the most beautiful tournaments in the world. CONCACAF is wack. No offense to those who love it.

Because CONCACAF only has two good leagues and three NTs that are perennial threats.

 

[adam]

I thought they were simplifying the dumb acronyms...

Anyways. This whole setup seems sloppy. Maybe I'm just partial to European football as I've watched it much longer...but why not just copy how UEFA handles Euro & CL. It works. Copa is a great competition, but why the odd years? Is it not a specific gap? Wouldn't it make sense to have it between World Cups like Euro? On to UEFA CL..It's one of the most beautiful tournaments in the world. CONCACAF is wack. No offense to those who love it.

Is the plan to continue to combine Copa with CONEMBOL and CONCACAF? I thought it was a one time thing for the anniversary. Eventually both confedirations should merge, but I think our domestic leagues need to start the process.

 

[Ulrich]

Is the plan to continue to combine Copa with CONEMBOL and CONCACAF? I thought it was a one time thing for the anniversary. Eventually both confedirations should merge, but I think our domestic leagues need to start the process.

If the domestic leagues merge for shared tournaments, we're talking about serious frequent flier miles for players and the league will have to figure out creative scheduling to give our teams days off before/after travel to Uruguay and Argentina - I cannot imagine how jet lagged Vancouver players would be flying to/from Buenos Aires.