The China Mail - MLS mulling 'complicated' switch to European-style calendar

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" but cautioned that any such change would be fraught with complications.

Recent reports have said MLS is exploring moving the season to an early August kick-off before taking a lengthy mid-season break and then resuming play in early February with playoffs in May.

The move would allow MLS to align itself more effectively with the global calendar while potentially giving the league's playoffs greater visibility in US media.

At the moment, the business end of the MLS season finds itself fighting for attention against North America's most watched sport -- the NFL -- as well as baseball's World Series and the start of the NBA campaign.

A move to an autumn-spring schedule would mark a first for professional soccer in North America, which has taken place largely in summer months since the launch of MLS and its predecessor, the North American Soccer League.

Garber said Friday that while the league had studied the possibility of a schedule change several times in the past, officials were now revisiting the question with renewed vigor.

"I think we could be the only league, or one of only two leagues in the world that works on our schedule," Garber said.

"But it's complicated. We're working across three time zones, multiple weather factors.

"We're travelling across a continent, and making those changes is something we've got to be very, very thoughtful about.

"I do think that we are considering more than ever before this opportunity to change, but it's not something that we're ready to talk about right now."

Garber added that the increasingly crowded international calendar -- with tournaments regularly taking place in June in the middle of the MLS season -- had left MLS officials "digging in even deeper than we ever have in the past" on the schedule issue.

"But we've got a lot of work to do, and that work is ongoing," he said.

Sources have told AFP that the discussions have gone well beyond MLS's head office and have included extensive consultations with a range of key stakeholders in the league.

Sponsors such as Adidas and main broadcast partner Apple TV have been included in the discussions while there have been over 20 meetings with clubs and around 15 specifically with club owners.

Some MLS clubs have complained that the MLS window closing in early August made it difficult for them to secure deals for players who preferred to wait until the European window closed at the end of the month.

The league is also considering other changes such as a possible switch to NFL style divisions rather than simply Eastern and Western conferences.

The calendar options, along with possible adjustments on squad and salary rules, are expected to be on the agenda at Thursday's MLS board of governors meeting.

Garber meanwhile said MLS would take an unspecified pause next year during the FIFA Club World Cup taking place in the United States, and would shut down completely for the duration of the expanded 48-team World Cup in North America in 2026.

S.Davis--ThChM