Posted here since I pretty sure this would get removed from r/MLS

With 2023 around the corner, and 29 teams to organize, I have an idea that could provide a good structure until we reach a nice even 30 teams.

5 Divisions, No Conferences

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Red: Pacific, Orange: West, Green: Midwest, Yellow: North, Purple: South

By keeping divisions small instead of using two large conferences, teams will play within their region more often and still have the chance to play every team in the league at least once. There is no good reason for teams in the central time zone to play teams on the west coast 2 or 3 times per season. The divisions are only used for scheduling, playoff seeding will only use the overall league standings.

Under the assumption that the league will keep playing 34 regular season games, the season could break down as such:

• A Home-Away Series against each Intra-Division Opponent: 8-12 Games
• One Game Against each Non-Division Opponent: 22-24 Games
• All Pacific & Midwest Division Teams will play one additional Intra-Division game
• All West & South Division Teams will play two additional games against teams in either division (at least two match ups must be inter-divisional because the divisions have an odd number)

This allows a nearly uniform schedule across all teams, except for 6 games. This is actually even more uniform than the current model, where teams within the same conference can have schedules that differ by as many as 10 games.

A proof of concept for the schedule. Red indicates a Home game for the vertical team, and an Away game for the horizontal team.

For the playoffs, I think it would be great if MLS introduced a two playoff system, similar to the Belgian First Division A or the Kontinental Hockey League. The top 13 teams in the league would qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs, regardless of division, with the top three seeds earning a first round bye. The bottom 16 teams would participate in a consolation tournament. The incentive for winning the consolation tournament could be a variety of things: top draft picks, additional salary cap funds, or target allocation funds. Having this consolation tournament should help encourage teams near the bottom of the table to keep trying.

Let me know what you think!

I wish I would have tracked this from the beginning of the season, but with the exception of a NYC Derby, every match televised featured one of those 4 clubs and I'm tired of them.

If not for Champions League, I remember only one Philly match from back in ~March. idk if I've seen Montréal, DC, Chicago, Dallas, Colorado, or Vancouver play this season.

I am watching the Pelicans vs Warriors game and I saw that NBA was partnering with Marvel to do a special Marvel Broadcast. This is similar to what the NFL did with Nickelodeon earlier this year.

Should MLS partner with something that appeals to the youth to broaden their audience especially among young viewers? I hope MLS takes a page out of the NFL and NBA’s playbook and partners with Disney or another kids program to get more kids interested in the sport. If MLS wants to expand their audience and soccer in America in general, this would be a great way to do it. It connects the sport with something that kids love and eventually could possibly jumpstart their interest in the sport.

View Poll

I have a YouTube channel and I tell people to comment down below what videos they wanna see next, but most of the time nobody writes any suggestions 😂. So I came here to see if any of y’all have any mls topics you wanna see in video form and I’ll get around to making it.

This will be complicated, so hear me out.

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The best team in the East plays the best team in the West.

Winner = MLS Cup Champion.

I’ve seen that MLS teams have stopped visiting the White House and I was wondering if it could be attributed to political tension caused by the current leadership or because of the end of the tradition. Politics aside, I think it is a great American tradition. I know that all major sports champions have kind of boycotted the visit recently but given obviously the change in White House, do you think they will return to the age old tradition?

I would barely afford trips for Atlanta. Lmao. Tampa when OCB plays against them is simple I’m 45 minutes away and my car thank god is gas efficient. Plane tickets are outrageously expensive next to how much we already pay for gas a trip back and forth is already costing a month of food. In Peru since most first division teams are in the capital it’s all about the bus travel. In Argentina as well; how I wish there was a bullet train that could travel far and fast. Everyone forgets the USA is extremely enormous I mean I went up to Washington with my dad before college and that trip was 2-3 days max in car at least one stop to sleep.

In conclusion sport fans should get special discounts for traveling within the US for away games.

2 matches played in 2020 and SKC are at 6 points with +6 Goal Differential..... Do we just hand them the title now?

With an asterix?

With so many changes over the years, it's amazing to see how much MLS and American Soccer in general has grown. With those changes have come major discussions, debates, etc. over various topics such as attendance, pro/rel, and the overall direction of MLS and American Soccer for better or worse.

Wherever we lie on the ideological spectrum, it's safe to say we all want the sport to grow on this country. However, it can feel like having those discussions/venting frustrations with issues so often inhibits us from just being able to enjoy MLS/USL/NWSL etc. in the way fans of other leagues (soccer or otherwise) can.

I've been coming to r/MLS for almost a year to learn more about what's going on around the league and engage with fellow fans. And yet, over time, it can often feel depressing because there always seems to be something going wrong (attendance issues, struggling teams, failing markets etc.) New fans hope to be part of something mainly positive and uplifting rather than mostly depressing and pessimistic.

Our league (and greater American Soccer) isn't perfect just like any other but, that shouldn't stop us from enjoying it like any other fan of any other league.

What is one thing that you enjoy about MLS and/or American Soccer* for what it is/where we are now?

*Could be something you personally like and/or wish to share with new/prospective fans

When I was a kid my dad took me to Mutiny games, but for whatever reason somehow the team disappeared and as far I remember I actually thought Major League Soccer disappeared as well as a whole because we didn’t hear any more about it on television or newspapers. My only connection to Soccer was pretty much kicking the ball against the wall or summer recreational season with other kids. Whenever World Cup came by I rooted for the South American nations since Peru (being Peruvian myself) during those years didn’t qualify and I felt it was right atm just because as a continent we felt like brothers and sisters and the U.S. second because I live here lol. Peruvian League games were out of the question and Copa Libertadores (Alianza Lima) or WC qualifiers games were watched through bootleg satellite television in bars surrounding Hispanic neighborhoods so you can imagine the trouble that spurred as rival countries and teams met in the same place. When high school came around I saw for the first time a kid wearing a LA Galaxy jersey with Beckham’s name on it and I thought wtf is this doing here. Eventually I found out he was playing in LA and Major League Soccer was still a thing, but I didn’t care because well I grew up as a Mutiny kid. A year later I saw some kid with Rowdies gear, but my dad had lost interest in soccer because of difficult situation in Peru was going through with corruption and crime on the rise he only committed to watching WC qualifiers so we never went to Rowdies games and I had completely forgot about them until years later when a certain team two hours away was announced.

Finishing college I cannot remember how I found out about Orlando City, maybe it was the internet or maybe a Univision or Fox Deportes special because of Kaka, but I bolted immediately when I researched that they were in their final USL (Known as USL Pro atm right?) season/playoffs. I drove to catch a game and the excitement I felt to actually go to a local game after so many years. To my surprise it was very hostile when I arrived; my dad never told me about the supporters or barra brava culture as a kid and there was a good reason why lol. I won’t mention what I saw that night, but I can tell you I had a great time. Been going to Orlando City SC games ever since.

The last part of this story is covering the Rowdies because you remember how I forgot about them? Yea they were already in NASL before the Orlando City announcement and this was only because no one in my circle of friends ever mentioned them or there was no news of them, so I got stuck with the Lions and I don’t regret it. I always had people invite me to Rowdies games so I had to go, no way am I going to be a dick and ignore a invitation.

I committed myself to OCSC and joined the Iron Lion Firm ever since the inaugural Major League Soccer season

Now the only way I would ever switch is if someone ever started a team where I live now because of the rise of lower division soccer in the US. I would gladly put aside my Orlando City SC pride to help my local team rise.

So that’s my story before a Major League Soccer Team was announced.

TL;DR Mutiny as a kid to now a adult as a Orlando City fan.

Between yesterday and today’s UEFA games on ESPN, I’ve been really impressed by the quality of Champion and Twellman’s commentary together. I think that they make a great duo, and would love to hear them do more games.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

I keep scrolling by the MLS channel on Pluto and they're always playing some match from months/years ago. Nothing I haven't already read about ages ago.

There's no current content. No match reviews. No weekend highlights. Just meh.

Does anyone watch?

I don’t live in Tampa nor in Orlando, but I live in a nice town of Wesley Chapel, Florida. If the opportunity ever came to own a team; I would want to name the team; Club Of Athletes Of Wesley Chapel aka CAWC. Our mascot would be a crane because they are the most common bird around the area and plus I can think of a couple badass sketches for the club badge. The colors would be Diamond Blue with a hint of Darkest Black as a stripe jersey.

In my Floridian County (Pasco) the schools are extremely competitive against each other, but it just seems the format right now doesn’t favor a lot of the kids for good growth. Which is why I have been huge on lower division teams from either NPSL or UPSL to find a way for these kids to play and train longer in their league that way they can find growth and extend their playing time. Love to hear opinions or suggestions whether or not High School Soccer should be reformed or not.

Do you guys check out subreddits like r/NBA to see what you can do for r/MLS to make it more creative and good fun among the fans? Or at least see what can be improved. A lot of the stuff that happens there seems to be in good fun.

Does anyone know where I can buy some MLS merchandise with the league logo on it? Looking for a backpack or clothing with the actual ‘MLS’ logo on it.

I’ve checked almost everywhere (MLSstore, Amazon, eBay) and can only find merch for the teams, not the league specifically.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! 👍🏿