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Major League Soccer club owners will again grapple Wednesday with switching their schedule to the sport’s international standard of fall-to-spring, a historic move that ultimately appears all but inevitable but, for now, remains entrenched in complex logistics.
The league’s board of governors will meet in Austin, hours before MLS All-Stars will face top players from Mexico’s Liga MX at Q2 Stadium. The gathering will seek to advance one in April in which MLS agreed to expand its exploration of the shift.
Aligning With the Soccer World
On a surface level, the reasoning for a calendar shift to the fall-to-spring model is clear. Moving to that timing would align MLS with most of global soccer, including the Big Five European leagues of the U.K.’s Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and France’s Ligue 1. MLS would also be able to participate more fully in the player transfer window, and it could help boost the league’s international standing commercially and competitively, one that has the league still trailing many of its European counterparts.
The practical details around a shift, however, are many and complex, spanning media, labor, sponsorship, and venue-related concerns—particularly for shared stadium situations with NFL teams, like in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Seattle. Climate-related and geographic issues also come into play, with MLS’s 30 clubs spanning broadly from warmer locales such as South Florida to three teams in Canada.
As climate change continues to take hold, a move to a colder time of the year could be rather welcome, at least in some parts of the league. Many international players complained about the hot and humid summer conditions across the U.S. during the recently concluded FIFA Club World Cup.
MLS has operated on a winter-to-fall schedule since its 1996 debut. Any move, if approved, would happen no earlier than 2027, after next year’s FIFA men’s World Cup being held in North America. If a vote does not happen Wednesday in Austin, one could happen this fall.
In addition to schedule-related matters, MLS owners will also review, while in Austin, a series of other business and competitive operations. Apple SVP Eddy Cue will be on hand to detail the progress of the league’s groundbreaking, but oft-debated, rights deal with the technology giant. Executives from FIFA will also be on hand for a separate board of governors reception.
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