MLS to expand amount of playoff teams...again?
The Athletic is reporting that we could see more clubs in the playoffs.
Today we’re talking playoffs.
Yes, Jim, playoffs.
The Athletic reported Monday that Major League Soccer could expand its playoffs to include 18 teams as early as this year.
The reasons are simple. The owners want more playoff games, potentially allowing each team that reaches the post-season tournament to get a home game. And the owners want to be able to get more games on their new, fancy streaming service on Apple.
Sources provided The Athletic with an additional update this week, saying that, as part of the proposed shift to a best-of-three first-round, MLS is also considering expanding the field to include nine teams from each conference. If adopted, the eighth and ninth seeds would contest a play-in match, with the winner advancing to face the first seed from their respective conference in the best-of-three conference quarterfinals. This format would include a minimum of 25 playoff matches.
So a shift in more teams equals more games. Going from 13 games in the playoffs to 25 is a big shift.
I’m not a huge fan of having over half of the league’s teams reach the playoffs after a 34-game regular season (adding teams would mean 62% of the league can reach the postseason). But I do get the reasonings behind the move. I also get that I don’t have to like it or be on board.
If anything, this should add some value for some folks to the league’s regular season crown, the Supporters’ Shield. I’ve always felt it should have more value than the MLS Cup since it spans the regular season and not just a small set of games. For earning things like a top seed in the Leagues Cup or something along those lines should go to the Shield winner instead of MLS Cup. But that is my two cents; we know the league values the Cup winner more since it is a showcase event.
So when will we know if this is where the league is going? According to the article from The Athletic, we should know something as soon as next week as to how this will all look for the upcoming season. The time is running out; the new season begins on February 25.