Players and coaches among those who favor seeing MLS shift to an international calendar
1 month ago

Players and coaches among those who favor seeing MLS shift to an international calendar

Associated Press  

As Major League Soccer readies to open its 30th season, some players and coaches are advocating for a fall-to-spring calendar, a major move that would align the league with its international counterparts. Complicating matters is Major League Soccer’s already crowded schedule — and top players called in and out of their national teams during the busy summer months. There’s also the ongoing CONCACAF Champions Cup and this summer’s Leagues Cup featuring teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX. Former U.S. national team goalkeeper and Hall of Famer Tim Howard, now an investor in the Houston Dynamo and its National Women’s Soccer League counterpart, the Dash, is among those in favor of the idea.

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MLS Embarks on 30th year with a 30th team, a crowded schedule and, yes, more Messi
1 month ago

MLS Embarks on 30th year with a 30th team, a crowded schedule and, yes, more Messi

Associated Press  

While the main attraction is still Lionel Messi, it’s perhaps fitting that for Major League Soccer’s 30th season the league is welcoming its 30th team. Led by winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, San Diego FC is among the teams to watch this year, along with the expansion club’s first opponent, the defending MLS champion LA Galaxy. The Galaxy won their sixth …

Major League Soccer looking to switch to European-style calendar that could change 50-year tradition
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Major League Soccer looking to switch to European-style calendar that could change 50-year tradition

The Hindu  

Major League Soccer is mulling a radical overhaul of the league’s calendar to mirror a European-style autumn-to-spring season, a revolutionary move that would break with nearly 50 years of tradition in North America. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s MLS Cup championship game in Los Angeles, MLS commissioner Don Garber told reporters the league was considering a switch “more than ever before” …

MLS commissioner looks ahead to a busy next 2 years as the league concludes its 29th season
Trending News
3 months, 2 weeks ago

MLS commissioner looks ahead to a busy next 2 years as the league concludes its 29th season

Associated Press  

As Major League Soccer prepares for its championship game on Saturday, the league is also looking at how to best position itself for growth as high-profile events descend on the United States over the next two years. The United States will host the FIFA Club World Cup next year before co-hosting the men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico in …

MLS needs to make a meaningful change to keep up. A calendar shift can be just that
5 months ago

MLS needs to make a meaningful change to keep up. A calendar shift can be just that

New York Times  

Major League Soccer is ready for change. The Athletic has written and spoken numerous times about the differing opinions at the league’s board level regarding how to take MLS forward. For a while, it felt like MLS was going to sit by and watch this unprecedented confluence of moments in the sport’s North American history — Messi’s arrival, the Copa …

MLS is considering changing to a fall-spring calendar after the 2026 World Cup
5 months ago

MLS is considering changing to a fall-spring calendar after the 2026 World Cup

New York Times  

Major League Soccer is considering overhauling its calendar, flipping to a fall-spring season with breaks in the summer and winter, multiple sources briefed on the league’s discussions tell The Athletic. Some of those models are for formats themselves, some of those models are how to assess the information that we get.” A change would certainly impact MLS’ competition in the …

Why European soccer headed to the U.S. for preseason – and what comes next?
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Why European soccer headed to the U.S. for preseason – and what comes next?

New York Times  

Through the torrential downpour and thunder rolling in the sky above MetLife Stadium, 82,154 fans bore the brunt of a mid-summer storm to watch Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a thrilling preseason friendly between two rivals that has become somewhat of a tradition in the United States. Milan’s CEO Giorgio Furlani said to reporters in New Jersey last week: …

U.S. Soccer aims to use 2026 World Cup to jump-start youth development
8 months, 3 weeks ago

U.S. Soccer aims to use 2026 World Cup to jump-start youth development

LA Times  

U.S. players Thomas Dooley, left, Mike Lapper, middle, and Mike Sorber celebrate their 2-1 upset victory over Colombia during a World Cup match at the Rose Bowl on June 22, 1994. The 1994 World Cup, the only men’s World Cup played in the U.S., left an enduring legacy with the birth of Major League Soccer, the first-division league FIFA required …

MLS teams adjust to a summer of soccer without some of the league’s biggest names
9 months, 1 week ago

MLS teams adjust to a summer of soccer without some of the league’s biggest names

Associated Press  

Lionel Messi could miss as many as six games with Inter Miami if Argentina wins its way to the Copa America final. “So the more accomplished players you have on your team, the ones that are at international level, that’s a great thing most weeks — until you lose them and then you don’t have them.” The league also is …

MLS’s Don Garber on World Cup and why U.S. is ‘the ATM of the soccer world’
1 year ago

MLS’s Don Garber on World Cup and why U.S. is ‘the ATM of the soccer world’

New York Times  

By Tom Bogert, Pablo Maurer, Jeff Rueter and Paul Tenorio Major League Soccer’s positioning as the Copa America, men’s Club World Cup, and men’s World Cup all arrive in the U.S. was a theme this week as The Athletic sat down with league commissioner Don Garber and other executives at MLS headquarters in New York City. “All of this creates …

Commentary: MLS made a colossal mistake to drop U.S. Open Cup. How does the league not get that?
1 year, 3 months ago

Commentary: MLS made a colossal mistake to drop U.S. Open Cup. How does the league not get that?

LA Times  

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi is hugged by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, center right, during a ceremony honoring Messi before a friendly match against New York City FC on Nov. 10. The league’s attempt to limit its participation in the U.S. Open Cup to developmental MLS Next Pro players, knee-capping the country’s oldest national soccer competition, was a colossal mistake. …

MLS has a new playoff format: our writers offer their thoughts
2 years, 1 month ago

MLS has a new playoff format: our writers offer their thoughts

New York Times  

Major League Soccer announced a new playoff format on Tuesday, which will see 18 total teams make the postseason, an increase of two teams per conference. The Athletic has reported that the changes were made in part to create more high-stakes playoff games for Apple as part of MLS’s 10-year, $2.5 billion media rights deal with the tech giant. But …

World Cup 2022: The USMNT and American fans have reason to hope.
2 years, 4 months ago

World Cup 2022: The USMNT and American fans have reason to hope.

Slate  

Despite dismal performances in two September friendlies that cast a pall over the team’s buildup to the 2022 World Cup, you’ve chosen to keep the faith in the U.S. men’s national team. You know that the team is far better than it showed in its last pre–World Cup games, that the return of Valencia’s Yunus Musah and Fulham’s Antonee Robinson …

Soccer newsletter: MLS and World Cup have symbiotic relationship
2 years, 9 months ago

Soccer newsletter: MLS and World Cup have symbiotic relationship

LA Times  

Hello and welcome to the weekly L.A. Times soccer newsletter. “It’s a soccer city,” Galaxy president Chris Klein, co-chair of the Los Angeles World Cup host committee, said last Thursday, repeating a phrase many cities used in the wake of venue announcements. Southern California has world-class facilities at Dignity Health Sports Park, UCLA and at LAFC’s headquarters on the campus …

MLS wants leagues to have greater voice in biennial World Cup talks
3 years, 5 months ago

MLS wants leagues to have greater voice in biennial World Cup talks

The Hindu  

Major domestic leagues deserve to have a greater say in whether or not FIFA's proposal to shift to a biennial World Cup becomes reality, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber said on Thursday. Football's world governing body is conducting a feasibility study into the practicalities of staging a World Cup every two years, a move that has been met with …

MLS and Liga MX aren’t ruling out a merger, but they’re not taking that step yet
3 years, 9 months ago

MLS and Liga MX aren’t ruling out a merger, but they’re not taking that step yet

LA Times  

Don Garber, right, commissioner of Major League Soccer, and Mikel Arriola, left, Liga MX president, announce the MLS All-Star game will be played at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. Major League Soccer’s decision to join Liga MX on a cross-border all-star game this summer isn’t necessarily a step toward a long-rumored merger of North America’s two most prominent …

MLS concerned after COVID-19 takes bite out of 2020 revenue
4 years, 3 months ago

MLS concerned after COVID-19 takes bite out of 2020 revenue

The Hindu  

Major League Soccer suffered nearly one billion USD revenue hit compared to last year due to COVID-19 but is hopeful 2021 will bring a reprieve as it plans to launch its new season on schedule next March, Commissioner Don Garber said on Tuesday. “We are concerned about what this will look like leading into 2021 and are working at figuring …

MLS planning to start 2021 regular season in March despite pandemic concerns
4 years, 4 months ago

MLS planning to start 2021 regular season in March despite pandemic concerns

New York Times  

Major League Soccer intends to start its 2021 regular season in early March, as usual, despite the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. “Based on the crowded international calendar next year, we are targeting to start our season in early March, as usual,” MLS deputy commissioner Mark Abbott said in a statement. Like all leagues, we are concerned about those restrictions continuing …

MLS to resume regular season following Florida tournament
4 years, 7 months ago

MLS to resume regular season following Florida tournament

The Hindu  

Major League Soccer said Saturday it will resume its season once the MLS is Back tournament in Florida wraps up. Dallas and Nashville are playing three additional games after withdrawing from the league’s tournament because of positive COVID-19 cases. The league has been playing the month long MLS is Back tournament without fans at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex …

MLS season to resume with LAFC and Galaxy meeting twice in five games
4 years, 7 months ago

MLS season to resume with LAFC and Galaxy meeting twice in five games

LA Times  

The Galaxy’s Sebastian Lletget, right, kicks the ball as LAFC’s Mark-Anthony Kaye, far left, and Dejan Jakovic defend July 18 in Florida. Soccer Galaxy resume training following COVID-19 scare The Galaxy returned to training Tuesday following a COVID-19 scare in which eight members of the team’s USL Championship affiliate tested positive. And we have to start, we’ve got to give …

MLS delays launch of three expansion teams due to COVID-19
4 years, 8 months ago

MLS delays launch of three expansion teams due to COVID-19

The Hindu  

Major League Soccer has unveiled a revised expansion timeline with three of its four new teams' inaugural seasons delayed by one year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Charlotte, originally scheduled to begin playing in the MLS next season, will now make its debut in 2022 while St. Louis and Sacramento will begin in 2023 instead of 2022. “We have …

Major League Soccer to restart season July 8
4 years, 9 months ago

Major League Soccer to restart season July 8

The Hindu  

Major League Soccer said on Tuesday it will restart the season after being shut down for almost three months for the COVID-19 outbreak on July 8 with a tournament without fans at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. “We are pleased to team up with Disney to relaunch the 2020 MLS season and get back to playing soccer,” said commissioner Don …

MLS return risked by labour dispute: reports
4 years, 9 months ago

MLS return risked by labour dispute: reports

The Hindu  

Major League Soccer's return from its coronavirus shutdown could be in jeopardy after negotiations with the players union hit an impasse, US media reported on Monday. ESPN reported that MLS had set a deadline of 12pm on Tuesday to reach agreement on a labor deal or else players could be locked out. The MLS Players Association and the league had …

The Latest: MLS extends training moratorium through April 24
4 years, 11 months ago

The Latest: MLS extends training moratorium through April 24

Associated Press  

The Latest on the effects of the new coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: Major League Soccer has extended its training moratorium through April 24 because of the coronavirus outbreak. ___ The Russian Sports Ministry says a major training base near Moscow has shut down after a coach and an athlete tested “provisionally positive” for the new coronavirus. The …

MLS extends suspension of season until May 10 due to COVID-19 pandemic
5 years ago

MLS extends suspension of season until May 10 due to COVID-19 pandemic

LA Times  

Major League Soccer announced Thursday that it will suspend its season another four weeks, to May 10, a delay that figures to push the MLS Cup into December. In a one-paragraph statement, MLS, which a week ago announced a 30-day halt to the season, said that break was being lengthened “in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s …

MLS and players union agree to one-week extension to work on new contract
5 years, 1 month ago

MLS and players union agree to one-week extension to work on new contract

LA Times  

With the collective bargaining agreement between Major League Soccer and its players union set to expire Friday, the two sides agreed Thursday to extend the current deal a week in an effort to get a new contract signed. MLS and the union announced the extension in a two-sentence joint statement Thursday: “Major League Soccer and the Major League Soccer Players …

MLS, Liga MX will announce eight-team Leagues Cup tournament to start in July
5 years, 9 months ago

MLS, Liga MX will announce eight-team Leagues Cup tournament to start in July

New York Times  

Major League Soccer and Liga MX plan to announce a summer tournament featuring four teams from each league as soon as Wednesday, several sources have told The Athletic. Liga MX released a statement at its club owner’s meeting last week that it will announce a “binational” tournament in the “coming weeks.” ESPN Mexico previously reported that MLS teams Chicago Fire, …

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