Major League Soccer

New format reduces number of playoff games by almost half; regular season is extended by two games.

By Gary Davidson
SoccerTimes

(Friday, November 22, 2002) - A significant reduction in the number of playoff games, as well as a new postseason format, are among the changes Major League Soccer has announced for its 2003 season.

Where the playoffs in previous years could have included as many as 18 games leading up to the MLS Cup -- 16 were played in 2002 -- the 2003 postseason will consist of only 10 matches to determine the participants in the title match.

MLS teams will play two more regular-season matches than they did in 2002 in a season that runs more than a month longer.

The thoroughly confusing playoff format of the past two seasons has been replaced by a simply odd one. For a season that starts April 5, the postseason starts November 1 and concludes with MLS Cup 2003 on November 23 at the new Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

Rather than have the East and West Conference winners taking the top two playoff seeds, followed by the next six teams with the best records, regardless of division, the top four teams from each conference advance to the 2003 playoffs. There will be no crossover with each conference determining a champion to advance to MLS Cup.

More importantly, the unprecedented "first to five points" format -- teams earned three points for a victory and one for a draw in a maximum three-game series -- has been scrapped.

In the first round of playoffs, MLS will conform to the international standard two-match format with of four series having the participants playing home-and-away with aggregate goals deciding the winner. The international "away" goal tiebreaker -- goals on the road count as two in the case of aggregate ties -- will not be used. If a series is tied after two games, 30 minutes of sudden death will be played, followed by penalty kicks should no goals be scored.

The second playoff round will consist only of two single conference championship games, giving a great advantage to the higher seeded teams in each match because they will be playing at home.

"In making these changes to our schedule and playoff formats, we have listened to our fans, who have been asking for our playoffs to follow the international standard," MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis was quoted in a league press release. "More weekend games and the extended fall portion of our schedule enable our teams to work even more closely with their soccer communities.

Gazidis did not explain why, if the league's fans were clamoring for the system used internationally, why the second round of playoffs will not also include two-game series, but the MLS's annual attendance woes in the postseason were probably the reason. Competitions around the world using the home-and-away format do not go to a single match until a championship game; sometimes the two-match system is used even in the final.

While teams in the United States' "Big Four" sports reap a financial bonanza by making the playoffs, drawing big crowds and adding television revenue, MLS attendance dwindles in the postseason. After averaging 15,822 for 140 regular-season matches in 2002, the 16 playoff games averaged 10,907, a 31 percent drop. Take out the 24,742 at one Los Angeles Galaxy game at the Rose Bowl, the average dips to 9,985, a 37 decrease from the regular season.

Of course, MLS Cup 2002 drew 61,136 to MLS Cup 2002 in Foxborough, Mass.

MLS officials could not be reached for comment at their New York headquarters on Friday afternoon.

MLS teams played regular-season 32 games during the league's first five years, then reduced the number to 28 in a cost-cutting measure. In 2003, the 10 clubs will play 30 matches in a regular season that stretches until October 26 -- the additional length, in part, to accommodate the summer's international Confederations Cup and Gold Cup competitions.

Under the 30-game regular-season schedule, each MLS team faces its four conference opponents four times -- twice at home and twice on the road -- with a home-and-away series against each non-conference foe. Four additional non-conference matches will then be added using a complicated formula based on performance against non-conference opponents, meaning a team will play four of the five clubs from the other conference three times.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Fire and United States men's midfielder DaMarcus Beasley had arthroscopic surgery yesterday to remove damaged cartilage from his left knee.

The Fire expect Beasley to be sidelined for eight-to-10 weeks, meaning he should be ready for the team's preseason training camp.

Beasley, 20, has been bothered by the injury since May and it limited his playing time in the World Cup after an impressive start.

Gary Davidson is SoccerTimes managing editor and can be e-mailed at editor@soccertimes.com..