MLS taps brakes on seismic calendar shift

While acknowledging that it makes sense to move the MLS season to a schedule that mirrors the top soccer leagues in Europe, there was no commitment to the change during All-Star Game festivities at Austin, Texas, this week.

At the MLS board of governors meeting, in conjunction with the league's All-Star week, a vote on the monumental shift in schedule that would start in late summer and end the following spring was delayed.

With no commitment to a change, the earliest an MLS schedule change could happen now is in 2027.

The current MLS season started in February and will run until October, although adjustments are made in World Cup years. A potential new schedule pattern would avoid league play in the core summer months.

"We're not making any announcements today, but we continue to do enormous amount of work with our fans, with our partners, with all of our chief soccer officers, and with our clubs to get ourselves closer to the point we're able to make that decision," commissioner Don Garber said this week. "But we believe that alignment is something that makes sense."

One issue for a schedule that spans winter is extreme cold and snow that could affect teams like the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Minnesota United, CF Montreal, the New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC, and even clubs like the Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls and New York City FC.

But extreme heat and thunderstorms in the summer months have posed their challenges in the current schedule setup.

"It's getting hotter, and that's clearly an issue, playing through the depth and the core of the warmest months in many of our markets," Garber said. "So it just adds to the challenges and complexity that MLS has to deal with."

In April, the board of governors voted to continue the exploration of a schedule that operated through the winter. This week's decision to delay a vote means the subject will not be dealt with again by the board until later this year.