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. 

CHARLOTTE — While the Power 4 conferences debate what an expanded College Football Playoff should look like, SMU coach Rhett Lashlee wants to see the sport “reimagine” its postseason by creating a March Madness–like set of play-in games.

Even though SMU benefited from the CFP format last season—controversially being awarded the final spot over Alabama—Lashlee thinks the selection committee should be minimized.

“The committee has a really hard decision,” Lashlee said Tuesday at ACC media days. “We were up close and personal with that a year ago, and I respect what they have to do, but honestly, it’s a situation that’s set up for failure because there’s human bias and there’s always going to be.” 

Lashlee thinks removing responsibilities from the committee would be helpful “because there’s no other major … sport in America or the world that uses a committee to select their tournament participants.”

That’s in stark contrast to ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who earlier on Tuesday said he had “faith and great confidence” in the CFP selection committee. Lashlee’s thoughts are more in line with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who has suggested a “play-in weekend” of sorts, if his conference were granted four automatic bids. 

Lashlee thinks that idea should go nationwide. “Imagine if Championship Saturday every year right after Thanksgiving was your four Power 4 conference championship games, and you have a 3 versus 6 and a 4 versus 5 in every conference playing to try to get in a 16-team Playoff,” he said. “It would be like March Madness Thursday and Friday. It would be the best Saturday that college football could ever manufacture.”

Lashlee said he hopes CFP leaders will “think outside the box a little bit instead of going down the same path we’ve gone down before.”

The New York Liberty got richer over the All-Star weekend—and not just because their starting backcourt won $120,000 from the three-point contest and skills challenge.

Two-time All-Star Emma Meesseman has committed to the Liberty, Front Office Sports reporter Annie Costabile confirmed Monday. ESPN first reported the news. Meesseman, the 2019 Finals MVP, has not played in the WNBA since 2022, her lone season with the Chicago Sky.

During her WNBA absence, the 32-year-old continued to play professionally in Europe while representing her home country of Belgium. Last month, she led Belgium to its second consecutive gold at the 2025 EuroBasket Women. She averaged 23.3 points during the 2024 Paris Olympics, leading all scorers in the tournament. Belgium fell a win short of a medal after a four-point semifinal loss to Australia.

The addition of Meesseman—widely regarded as one of the most coveted WNBA free agents in the market since she departed the league—is a jolt to New York’s chances of repeating as WNBA champions. The Liberty have the second-best record in the WNBA at 15–6, and between Meesseman, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart, they will have four of the last seven Finals MVPs in their frontcourt rotation.

Meeseeman also knows how to excel alongside fellow MVPs and All-Stars in the frontcourt. She played alongside WNBA legend Candace Parker and 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper during her last season in the league, and all three were 2022 All-Stars. Meesseman also won her 2019 Finals MVP alongside two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne for the Washington Mystics.

The Liberty have yet to make the signing official, and the Belgian national still needs to secure a visa before joining the team. Meesseman was not yet on the Liberty’s official roster as of 6 p.m. ET Tuesday, a few hours ahead of the team’s first game back from the All-Star break against the Indiana Fever.

Meesseman reportedly also considered joining the Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury. Minnesota has the best record in the league at 20–4 and fell just short of defeating the Liberty in last year’s Finals. The Mercury are just a half-game back of New York in the standings, though they added DeWanna Bonner earlier this month after she was cut by the Indiana Fever.

While it’s unclear how much Meesseman’s contract will be, salary may have been a factor in her decision. The maximum prorated salary starting Tuesday is $97,000, according to The Next, and New York has more than $100,000 in salary-cap space available. The Lynx and Mercury don’t have the available space to take in a player on the prorated max deal.