Sepp Blatter has gotten himself in hot water for recent comments, but the FIFA president steered clear of controversy when talking about Major League Soccer.
In an interview with Fox Soccer, Blatter addressed the MLS schedule, maintaining his position that it would be better if the league aligned itself with the European calendar as opposed to continuing the March-to-November schedule.
"If (U.S. Soccer) has the courage to change, they will do it," Blatter said in an interview that will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel during the week. "But they need some time to change that – to adapt to the international calendar. It means to the European calendar. It would be better for U.S. Soccer, and specifically also for the [United States] national team. And the popularity inside the country."
Prior to the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, MLS officials appeared more open to the idea of shifting to the European calendar as a concession to having the United States secure hosting rights for the 2022 event, but that was before FIFA gave the hosting rights to Qatar. No radical change to an August-to-May schedule appears imminent, even though Blatter says that MLS is heading toward that direction.
Here are a couple of more items to get your Tuesday going:
TWELLMAN REPLACES HARKES IN TV BOOTH
There will be a noticeable change during MLS and U.S. Soccer television broadcasts next year.
Former New England Revolution and national team striker Taylor Twellman will reportedly replace John Harkes in the ESPN TV booth for MLS and U.S. national team games, taking his seat alongside lead play-by-play voice Ian Darke.
Twellman was the color commentator for Philadelphia Union games this past season and has done studio work with ESPN for MLS and U.S. games. The oft-criticized Harkes, meanwhile, did not have his contract renewed by the network.
ANELKA LINKED WITH CHINESE CLUB
Well-traveled Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka is a name frequently linked with MLS teams as a potential Designated Player signing, but he reportedly has interest from the other side of the world as well.
Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua is looking to sign Anelka during the winter transfer window for a reported £9.17 million salary, according to The Guardian, something that would likely price him out of MLS range.
The 32-year-old Anelka's contract with Chelsea expires this summer, when he will become a free agent and therefore a more attractive signing for MLS teams, who wouldn't have to pay a transfer fee for his services.
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Do you think MLS should align itself with the European calendar? Think Twellman is a better choice for the TV booth for MLS and U.S. games? Would you want your MLS team to sign Anelka?
Share your thoughts below.
“And the popularity inside the country.” Blatter is absolutely on another universe. The MLS competing with the NFL, NCAAF, NHL, NCAAB, & the NBA would result in a Decrease in popularity.
Hey Harkesy, BYE BYE!!!!!
Take Sepp to a Patriots game in January and then ask him to explain why MLS should play August to May.
I think you have a typo in the Anelka story. If he’s really willing to play for 9 pounds and 17 pence, I’d like to sign him for my men’s rec league team.
The European schedule (August – May) won’t work in the US/Canada for one simple reason: we have brutal winters. Try playing soccer in February in Toronto, NY, Chicago, New England et. — it won’t work. FIFA is way too eurocentric…
As I’ve mentioned in a couple other posts prior, I think I’m the only one that actually liked Harkes. What I’ve seen of Twellman has been nothing but whining…twice as bad as Harkes…and isn’t that what people didn’t like about Harkes?
Thank you god, Harkes(y) is finally gone. I might actually be able to watch the ESPN games with the sound on now. Where does Harkes go? I imagine there might be a little friction in the FSC studio considering his history with Wynalda (and I take Wynalda in that fight any day of the week).
Ditto what everyone else is saying about winter soccer in America – the weather + competition with other sports would be miserable.
Re: Twellman, I like him enough, but seems like a lateral move from Harkes. They both seem to spend the whole game criticizing what the coach and players are doing wrong. Sometimes it’s educational, usually it sounds like negative complaining.
Agreed, there is no way around this issue, at least in the foreseeable future. If Blatter knew what he was talking about half the time, he wouldn’t have his neck on the chopping block.
i’m betting NBC snatches Harkes up.
As for going to Euro schedule: IF there’s a will, there’s a way. MLS has shown with the new unbalanced schedule that it doesn’t mind doing things a bit differently (taking a winter break like the German/Scandinavian leagues, or having road trips to warmer climate locales, perhaps).
Although I don’t agree with everything he says, you should do yourself a favor and listen to Eric Wynalda on this podcast explaining the need to go to the Int’l calendar.
link to beyondthepitch.net
I always had a hard time with Harkes because I did not respect him as a player. Add in the fact that he was “with” Wynalda’s wife, just soured me even more. I love the fact that he is gone and optimistic with Twellman. He does seem to annoy me a little but I will give him a chance. I would love to see Wynalda back on ESPN.
That would be the Southern European schedule that you and Seth are referring to. Apparently courage is in short supply in the Nordic countries of Europe also or else they would play in the winter. Or maybe Seth is just a racist and doesn’t think of those from Nordic countries as real Europeans. Maybe he should go up there and shake some hands and get rid of racism.
“In 1959, Swedish football changed from autumn-spring to spring-autumn seasons.”
Come on wimps it just takes some courage to change the schedule. Duh, it is so easy.
(satired for your pleasure)
I completely agree KBK. Competing with those other more entrenched US sports would diminish the potential for the casual soccer fan to watch MLS.
I would go further and add that not only would the MLS compete with those other sports for the general sports fan, if the MLS moved to a European calendar, it would possibly lose fans to televised games for Euro leagues.
I’m with you, and I’ve known quite a few people that have known him; while I was shocked when the Wynalda news came out, I certainly wasn’t surprised.
Perfect example, what if by some outrageous error, the MLS scheduled a saturday game for the Crew at home, when Ohio State had a home football game.
My guess at attendance in Columbus:
Crew stadium – 17
OSU – 90,000+
I think it’s only the UK and Spain that play the full Aug-May period; both the Bundesliga and Serie A take a 4 week break in January. Blatter really is clueless when it comes to soccer outside the EU.
Aren’t the crew already at like 50 on a normal day. But yeah we get your point it would hurt the attendance.
Why is this guy President? God he’s an idiot.
Blatter is an IDIOT and the sooner he goes the better FIFA will be. From his tolerance to the corruption rampant in FIFA, to the “look the other way and give a good handshake: as a response to racism, the man is an embarrassment.
He knows nothing about American sports. That the MLS got successful was because they chose the better weather season for the MLS. Imagine if fans on the Eastern seaboard had to watch and players had to play during the wintertime. You think Columbus would pull in 5000 fans in the dead of winter? Or how about New England during a blizzard. The NFL doesn’t play past January and for a GOOD reason. and then there is a competition with College Football, NFL football and NBA and NHL basketball for fan attention and more importantly sports dollars and media support.
Playing the schedule as it is, we come up against BASEBALL and the tail end of basketball and hockey, ad the front end of the NFl and college football.
No, the people in the MLS are way more intelligent than FIFA in getting the sport to grow in the US. They would be well to follow our lead in other matters too, as AMERICANS KNOW PRO SPORTS!
The European pro sports mentality is totally focused on one sport, with a few popular large events held usually outside the European Football season. like the Olympics and the Tour de France. The US has 5 major sports leagues with television contract and an already embedded media mentality ad I wont even go into college sports.
NO. Blatter is REALLY NAIVE when it comes to international sports. and even world events.
The sooner he goes, the better.
I honestly believe that Sepp Blatter has some sort of learning disability.
Does there exist a more corrupt, inept leader in the world? Thank God he only runs a sports federation and not a country.
hey seppy. as soon as you fork over a few billion of that bribe money you and other FIFA officials got from Qatar for 2022 and that you are going to get from all of the kickback construction contracts we will be more than happy to build retractable roof stadiums for our northern/harsh winter weather teams so we can fulfill your dream of MLS playing Aug-May.
MLS competes with all those sports now….so….what would be different exactly? Anywhere you put the MLS season, you are competing with something. The only way to avoid competing with other sports is to have games on tuesday mornings on alternate months.
Blatter’s world: no corruption, no racism, no winter in the U.S.
Harkes added nothing to ESPN broadcasts. He is all stock phrases and obvious description, with zero analysis or insight. Why is ESPN afraid to go with a seasoned analyst to pair with Ian Darke?
sigh… there would be a WINTER BREAK.
THINK please.
Yeah – when your showpiece game is up against the NFL but actually draws half the audience of a tape-delayed EPL game then there is obviously no case for change.
Come on guys.
The current schedule puts MLS’s ‘business’ end of the season right up against the NFL and college football. The top two sports in the United States.
As for winter: Ever been to Eastern Europe at that time of year? Seriously guys, how do you think soccer has been played for the past century in country’s like Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania etc that have some pretty brutal winters?
Clue: the European calendar contains a winter break. In most of Eastern Europe they don’t play from late Nov to mid-Feb.
So you could easily have an MLS season that ran from Aug to the end of November, broke for December and Jan and returned in mid-Feb. You can play around with the schedule to make sure you don’t play in Vancouver in the coldest weeks before and after the break.
Yes, you might still get a few games in icy conditions – but crow a pair and put on a hat and scarf.
The great benefit of the international calendar is that you could have your playoffs well away from the NFL and college football in early summertime. The only risk is running against the NBA Finals but that could be avoided with some careful planning.
Just because Blatter says it doesn’t automatically mean it is wrong.
Its actually a no-brainer.
a) there would be a winter break, b) you dont have to schedule the February match in Chicago, that can be a Fire road game somewhere warm, most MLS teams only play around 2 home (league) games a month as it is. c) I’d rather the games played in crap weather be in the middle of the season, not in the playoffs.
would that be tuesday mornings, eastern standard time or pacific?
Many leagues from that part of the world play the Spring-Fall schedule, not just Sweden. They have to. But the United States isn’t a Northern European country, we do have the ability to schedule games in warm places in the winter months.
ook but you also have to realize that those country’s actually have a football following. do we have enough fans here to allow a month break? naaaa. plus imagine the nfl guys laughing at the wussy soccer players for taking a break. def not a no brainier. euro doosh
winter break winter break winter br… oh i give up.
England is always cancelling loads of matches during the winter months. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the rest of Europe to join MLS and the Scandinavian countries in a Spring-Autumn schedule?
If its so important to be on the European calendar, why isn’t he bemoaning the schedule of Japan’s J-League and Brazil’s Serie A? Both are respected leagues in their region that run April-December and I don’t see him complaining about them…
While I think starting the MLS season when the NFL is starting doesn’t seem like a recipe for success, what your’e suggesting is not a big consideration. Right now, the Crew are playing games into mid-late October. If they have playoff games, then possibly even into November. Changing the season wouldn’t make a huge difference in terms of opportunities for conflict.
Actually, on this point, it might even be better, since the playoffs would no longer occur deep into football season. People might even notice what’s going on in the MLS playoffs.
Now we just need to get rid of Craig James.
I hope Anelka goes to Montreal.
i, for one, will now be hitting the mute button even faster.
Correct me if i’m wrong, but doesn’t Russia have a modified schedule as well? I thought Russia’s league schedule was actually similar to MLS’ in a lot of ways. If that’s true (again, correct me if it’s not but I thought it was at one point anyways) then why isn’t Sepp getting on them as well?
Furthermore, I fail to see the point of switch over the league to a winter schedule like that. It would hurt attendence as people have pointed out (not because of the NBA at the moment of course) because of football alone. Another thing to think about is for a team like the Revs, who already share their stadium with the Patriots. Do you really think the Krafts are going to give the Revs more attention than they do now WHILE the Pats are in season? If anything, the Revs might have to play at some obscure times just to fit around the Patriot’s schedule.
It’s not a good thing when a poor commentator is replaced by an even poorer one.
I guess I don’t understand the criticism of Harkes. I really don’t. I don’t think he was awesome or anything but he did a fine job.
Twellman, on the other hand, is a buffoon. Total frat boy meathead with zero soccer intelligence — in fact, most of comments are downright embarrassing. “Awesome!” Macca has to be wondering why he’s sitting in the same room as this
MLS scheduling is difficult no doubt. The US has so many other sporting options – live and televised with longer histories and presumably greater audiences.
I would like to offer a suggestion to MLS. The first MLS game should be on a Sunday afternoon, the day after the saturday of the NCAA basketball semifinals. What else is going on that day? It also starts the MLS season just before MLB, who I think has a traditional start later that week.
For 2012, the NCA final 4 is on 3/31 and the final on 4/2. MLB plays in Japan on 3/28, but stateside on 4/4.
Opening day for MLS, Sunday 4/1/12. Don Garber: I require no payment for this imminently reasonable suggestion – but I would like a free Fire jersey.
Why do we have to pick among annoying former-nat’l team members as our commentators? can we think bigger? What about someone like Steve Nicol?
+1.
Right now, MLS chooses to start its season when there isn’t a lot of competition — only NBA and NHL….as their seasons are winding down., and while baseball is just preparing to start its season The hope is, I suppose, that this builds some momentum for the league — that starting in late August/early Sept. means getting lost in the hype about the new NFL season. Unfortunately, it also means that no one notices the MLS playoffs — and I don’t think people get charged up about the start of the MLS season.
I could make a decent argument that MLS might benefit by starting when the football season starts — sort of synergistic. More to the point, having the playoffs when people aren’t paying attention to baseball yet and football is in hibernation would be the way to build up the most interest in the league. I’m sure Blatter doesn’t have a clue about this, but it’s not a totally stupid reasoning.
I can wrok with a winter break. end the first half of the season right before NFL playoffs start right back up after the superbowl. But we need teams controlling their venues in order before making any drastic changes. Once all MLS teams are in their own stadia i can see them giving it a go
Unless our soccer specific stadiums were already built with roofs, there’s no way I could see MLS surviving a winter schedule.
If it’s Eastern standard time, you lose the Hawaii market.
ESPN has done well. But does the network think people won’t tune in unless an ex-U.S. national player or MLS player isn’t in the booth? There was an opportunity here for a better upgrade, but the idea of having two English commentators calling games probably won’t fly at ESPN. Lalas, at least, would have been a better choice to replace Harkes as analyst but Twellman is still an improvement.
+1
They should get Bob Bradley to do the color commentary once he’s done with Egypt.
Good thoughts. I don’t know that I agree. I think the MLS maximizes its potential by securing the best crowds during the regular season, rather than in the play-offs.
Fall regular season would compete with NCAA football on saturday and NFL on Sunday – assuming day games on weekends. Fall play-offs can be played mid-week at night to avoid those conflicts.
There is no right or wrong answer, though, in my opinion. What I think is more important is creating a regular schedule. . . i.e. saturdays at 3, or 8 or whatever, instead of friday night one week, thursday another, saturday afternoon, then sunday. I see no regularlity to the MLS schedule – at least via tv
How long a winter break? There already is a winter break — November (except for playoffs), December, January and into mid-March. What do you propose to cut from that break? Play to Thanksgiving? Mid-December? Christmas? When would the league re-start? You’re saying not January — even though that’s when most EUro leagues resume. So, when? Mid-February is still brutal up north. FIrst or second week of March? OK, so now we’re moving that 2 or3 weeks? And we’ve gained a month on the other end — maybe 6 weeks, if you forget the playoffs.
What do we gain? A break, from July 4 to end of August, when MLS gets its biggest crowds. And, playing through some rough cold weather — maybe a little easier on the players than playing in August, but much harder on the fans, and murder on the fields. But, it would align us with EUrope and that’s got all these intangible benefits….
Russia is switching to the standard European calendar next season.
I’m a big soccer fan….but if the game is played in the Northeast between late November and Early March I’m watching on TV. I bet I’m not alone.
I also like how MLS doesn’t completely overlap with the Euros, so in America we have the advantage of year round soccer – especially in World Cup Years.
For a league trying to establish itself, draw in casual fans, attract fans from other sports, and really cement a place in American sports culture, is taking a 6 week break and disappearing in the middle of the season the best way to do all that?
I think Twellman is outstanding. He definitely doesn’t just “whine” or point out negative things. He often breaks down the game in the booth and notices smaller things (like the distribution from a keeper or the positioning of a player) that more advanced audiences enjoy. Yes, he wears his heart on his sleeve but I personally like that. Plus, he’s new on the job and can only grow.
+1
Harkes has actually improved. Which is not to say that he’s not annoying, he is, but Twellman is a whiney contrarian so this certainly represents no improvement to me. In fact, I’d say it’s a regression.
Actually i’ve always found Twellman to be much more insightful than Harkes, who seemed to always phone it in. Both are loudmouth blowhards, but that’s not always such a bad thing in announcers.
Once we switch the calendar, Blatter will have to complain that we need to “align” the name of the sport with the rest of FIFA.
Good, because a three month winter break in some markets is stupid.
Thank you. I wasn’t sure. I knew they had been on a different schedule.
NBC is rumored to be getting Arlo White and Kyle Martino.
A sports federation with more income than than the GDP of some countries…
I agree that taking a break mid-season poses a challenge for American fans.
I have an American style solution though, albeit one inspired by South America:
Apertura and Clausura – a Fall Season and a Spring Season.
Two for the price of one? What could be a better deal than that?
You get an MLS champion in November and another one in July.
Then you have a bunch of international exhibition games packing in big crowds in August. Call it Happy Hour.
You still get your break like now – but you get two championships in each year.
You could even have the Apertura winner play the Clausura winner in the…..Soccer Bowl.
agreed. the number of times twellman says “awesome” should disqualify him from getting this much air time. I wish they would just get McManaman to do the USMNT games.
There are a lot of issues with MLS moving to a European schedule. But one that is rarely brought up is this: there is no true European schedule. Oh, there’s a general approach–things start up in August, end in May. Except b/c of climates, some take weeks off in December-January while others plan on. Others start earlier or end later. There is no uniform, rigid European calendar b/c the climate in Denmark doesn’t match the climate in Italy.
What a lot of Europeans like Blatter forget is the USA may be “one” country but it’s a range of climate zones. It’s not just about playing soccer in February in Toronto. B/c MLS could take a month off in the middle of the season say in January. Which would be a golden time to be playing soccer in Florida or Texas or Arizona.
The USA can look at a calendar that runs Fall to early Summer when Europe has a consistent calendar–all countries start and end at the same time, take breaks at the same time.
Creative scheduling to only play in warmer areas during the winter, huh… Not a bad idea, until you remember that leaves just LA, Dallas, and Houston to host games. At least until Orlando and Atlanta join, but even then…
Also: Why are you so insistent on the Fall-Spring schedule, Solles? Don’t you enjoy having year-round soccer? Do you really want to go three months with nothing to watch but baseball?!
I like Harkes in the booth. This was a big mistake by ESPN. It also doesn’t help that Ian Darke is so good that he makes anyone else in the booth sound horrible. I honestly rarely pay attention to the analysts anyways as I am so into the game.
Just opinion, of course. But, man, I don’t see it. Maybe Harkes was overly critical at times but at least there was some thought to his statements — some soccer intelligence. Twellman has zero soccer nous, no tactical insight, just sits there and blurts out things like “Awesome!” and “I like that!” It’s embarrassing, frankly. For a former professional soccer player, he’s not much better than Roger Twibell.
You may be joking with the “Soccer Bowl” comment, but the NASL final back in the day was actually called that, hahahah
It would be interesting to hear from a player whether they would rather play in Toronto in Feb or Houston in August. Just a thought.
We currently have a perfect winter break. It lasts from two days ago until March. Do you really think February would be a good time to play in Denver, Chicago, DC, Philly, KC, New Jersey, Columbus, Colorado, Salt Lake, Toronto, or Montreal?
Glad to see Harkes go. I was never a fan of his. I actually like Taylor Twellman. I got to think some where Eric Wynalda is smiling though.
Completely agree. When Twellman was asked before the MLS Cup which team he picked to win he responded with something like “I HATE both teams – so neither!”. You just can’t pay enough for commentary like that. Harkes is weak, no doubt – he speaks in sentence fragments, his analysis is weak, and he often comes off a bit pretentious. Twellman on the other hand sounds like a complete blowhard, like a surly college student spouting one-liners. Not impressed.
Actually, Russia plays a March to November calendar, and I don’t hear Blatter blabbing on about Russia changing their league’s schedule.
Resisting impulse to attack the person who calmly expresses a preference, but I’m actually amazed. He is illiterate. He simply says words to say words. “Three hat trick opportunities [for Christman], no goals.” (Wouldn’t that be nine chances he missed?)
“Robbie Keane, thinking he had the first opening goal of this MLS Cup FInal.” The second opening goal, of course, is worth only half a point.
I will not miss this guy.
He=Harkes, of course, not DC Josh.
@ Euro Super Snob:
Why wouldn’t you play in Vancouver in the coldest weeks before and after the break? The WhiteCaps play in a Dome. And only 1 of the dozen dumb things in your post.
+1
Count another who is NOT excited for Twellman. By no means am I a fan of Harkes. However, when I read that Twellman was the replacement, I was less happy than when I thought Harkes would continue.
I thought I would like Twellman; he seemed like a level headed player, and gave alright interviews. Then I had to witness the last 6 months with his constant whining and negative comments. I could at least ignore Harkes. Twellman burrows into your brain like a weevil.
I hear ya. But what I like is that it’s bold. Harkes wasn’t really working out. Twellman brings energy and hopefully a spark.
At this point lets keep cycling thru until we find a good one.
What I like most about Twellman is he’s a move away from the “dumbing down” the sport for the audience.
#BlatterOUT
What an imbecile.
That’s because the Russians are changing their calendar next season.
I cannot believe that people actually think Twellman is going to be an improvment over Harkes, and that the idea of actually having a cold month season is being entertained (if it really is)
NFL diehard have to squeeze a few games in (maybe 3 home games when it’s really cold in december) …they have a total of 8 home games and most of them are when it’s JUST starting to get cold.
Can you imagine sitting in Red Bull Arena or in Massassachutes in Jan and Feb? they would be 3,000 people in the stands.
#BlatterOUT
There is no problem with our schedule nor calendar’s and there is no conflict with the ‘European calendar’ Sepp…..Just shake hands with it.
I just hope my former coach and current GolTV announcer Ray Hudson moves over to ESPN. He would drive them crazy and they will have to bring Harkesy back!
And just for reference; Twellman was a loud mouthed pre-madona on the field as well. Awesome!!!!!
Won’t miss his biased, petty comments at all. Now he’ll rip into ESPN every chance he gets.
He’s just really good at being an idiot.
3 quid
Perhaps Blatter wants us to use Qatar’s airconditioned stadiums in winter… oh, wait, Qatar was advised by construction companies/engineers that the technology for such stadiums does not exist and, in any event would, would not be not viable in a Qatar’s brutally hot climate. I bet FIFA will try to reschedule the WC from the summer to winter as we get closer to 2022.
EuroSnob the marketing wizard speaking to a potential customer:
EuroSnob: Crow (sic) a pair and get out there and support your team in crappy weather.
Potential Customer: No
“Hmmm…everyone is calling me stupid and a racist…I know…lets try to rally the world support against the American league and its schedule!!! I am sure I can get people to unite against them and forget about my recent headlines. Competing against all those other sports while playing soccer in the winter in the Pacific North, New England, Salt Lake, Colorado and much of Canada seems like a no-brainer and should be something we can solve with a handshake + courage, plus it will make soccer more popular in the US by magic…..oh…speaking of schedules…I need to look at moving the World Cup to the Winter and push some of the winter leagues into the summer when we play in Qutar…turns out it really is hot there and they might not really have magic air conditioning robot clouds in time.”
He also referred to a person that succeeds as a “successor”.
Network TV > Subscription TV.
Boston is colder than Stockholm. Which means, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania have less severe winters than Boston, but not Ukraine. Poland has winters like Germany, so do all the others you listed. Geography analysis is faulty. [FYI, I've spent three winters in Sweden, it's not marginally different than a Winter in Utah]
Also, that’s a freaking LONG break! Which none of them do. It’s more like 4 weeks, not 10.
Vancouver isn’t the problem winter. It’s SLC, Denver, Chicago, Columbus, Toronto, Montreal, Boston.
No, this a no brainer from an American perspective.
I agree. If the Football was a nation Twellman would be a gun loving, bible hugging redneck. He opposes to single table he says is not American enough and you ever saw his tweets man does that guy not know what he talks about saying Agudelo is over rated during the Argentina game saying we should have larentowicz there instead. Tell ESPN to hire Andres Cantor.
“But MLS must get with with the program and build magic heating robot clouds for their new winter schedule… then they will be a real league!”
Of all the things Blatter has said recently, this is probably the least idiotic. Granted that’s not saying much, but at least I can see where he’s coming from on this. That said, the MLS scheduling system is a much more complicated issue than Blatter, or any European based FIFA exec for that matter, probably realizes.
At the moment, I don’t see moving to a European calendar as a viable option. While the league has grown substantially and made gigantic leaps and bounds in the last decade, the reality is that it’s still trying to gain a foothold in this country and teams are still fighting to turn profits. Putting weather issues aside for this debate (I agree they could be solved by a winter break and creative scheduling), I would say the biggest issue is that a majority of MLS fans are people who are fans of the game and who want to see it succeed in the US. Essentially, they’re fringe fans. Sure there are diehards in every city, but I doubt the league can survive on those fans alone. The reality at the moment is that for MLS to be successful, it NEEDS the fringe fan to pay attention, tune in on TV every once in awhile and attend a couple games here and there throughout the course of the season.
While I understand the idea that ending the season when there’s no competition as opposed to starting it when there’s no competition would increase people’s opportunity to watch and be excited about the MLS playoffs, I just don’t see there being enough revenue in that short time frame to keep the league going and growing (at least not in the current MLS fan climate).
If you increase the competition for the fringe fans’ time and attention, I think you see drastic dips in attendance during the regular season and TV ratings for regular season games (which are already relatively low) drop substantially. If that happens, I don’t care how much interest you generate around the playoffs, it won’t matter if there are only a few teams who can financially manage to get there.
Just my .02.
This is nuts, I was thinking ESPN should do this at the last game against Slovenia. Twellman will be an exceptional analyst.
It is official the Winter MLS schedule is a very stupid idea……Blatter thinks it is a good idea.
A break from November to mid-February? But doesn’t MLS currently play into November, and then resume in March?
would Love to see Glenn Davis with Ian Darke. That would be the best team
Love TT as a commentator. Huge improvement over Harkes if, for no other reason, he can speak English.
And the British guy is OK, but he’s a bit of a blowhard, and I think his cliches are just unfamiliar enough that we put up with them.
In the grand scheme of America’s soccer culture, we won’t really have a great pundit class until we have a strong enough youth system that will turn out legions of frustrated nonathletes who grew up thinking they had a shot at playing pro. ONLY THEN will the US be a soccer power.
+ 1 zillion
Why bother with goal line technology, let’s all tell the American’s they’re wrong!
I’ve heard him work the Union games on Direct Kick, he does a nice job as a color commentator.
liked Harkes, warts and all, trusted his perspective
Darke is fine but not for national team games…he doesn’t care desperately whether the US teams win or lose, and I hear that, and that’s not good enough for that responsibility. Not asking for a cheerleader and able analysis is nice, but you have to love the team…love.
not a big requirement to me, but clearly those in control disagree
interesting call on the American soccer culture, makes some sense to me.
on Ian Darke, he doesn’t care desperately whether the US teams win or lose, in a nutshell. Not asking for a cheerleader but you have to love the team, the country represented.
not all agree with that. I like Darke on other games, he’s good, just can’t listen to him calling USMNT games, and don’t
True, though his decisions don’t require juggling of human life.
I think Twellman does an excellent job. He is certainly a few rungs up the ladder from Harkes. I completely agree that he is a move away from the “dumb it down” group. MLS and US matches will be better recieved for this move.
But Harkes’ “Shimmy shimmy cocoa-pops” is totally acceptable :\
Twellman is an upgrade.
Thank you! We currently have a very similar winter break to what’s being proposed above. So why change the schedule to something that would actually be very similar other than playoff time, just so we have two breaks-winter and off season??? Also, December and Feb. could lead to a lot of postponed games due to unplayable conditions. Ever been to SLC during Dec. and Feb? To me thats just too much time off soccer during what should be the playing soccer season.
Blatter and FIFA have zero credibility. Next story.
MLS already outdraws NHL & NBA, but Blatter is a Bladder nonetheless
I would like to see him be the head guy at NBC/VS
Blatter sucks, and he has absolutely zero idea about the MLS and its exceptional growth. What a corrupt piece of sh*t. Cold weather only seems to destroy the pitch, and I really think the current MLS schedule is perfect.
As far as John Harkes leaving? I’ve been anticipating this day for a long time. I’ve been trying to look up some recent Twellman color commentary, and from what I hear, he may not be a huge improvement, but he SPEAKS IN COMPLETE SENTENCES. Harkes’ dismissal was long overdue and I’m eagerly anticipating Darke/Healey plus Twellman next year.
No radical change to an August-to-May schedule appears imminent, even though Blatter says that MLS is heading toward that direction.
No, he’s not. He’s an idiot meathead. He probably uses dumb emoticons.
Apertura/Clausura
Twellman > Harkes
SWEET!!!!!
Early Christmas gift for sure, anyone but Harkes, and Twellman is a HUGE STEP UP!!
WOOHOO!!!
NO MORE HARKSEY B.S.!!!!
LOVE IT!!!
Don’t mess with Ian Darke. He is impeccable. Do you remember World Cup 2010 or were you 4 years old?
“Twellman replaces Harkes.”
I think this is the best thing i have read on here in a long time. don’t get me wrong, I love this website, and if i only get to check it once a week, i catch up through the whole time i missed (haha, check the dates on my comments, not that anyone else goes back through these, but commenting is worth it : )
Purely, from a content happiness perspective, that headline rates off the charts…..SO HAPPY!!!!
I was afraid I was stuck with him forever.
p.s. I noticed that some comments on wynalda. Yes he is crazy as eff and wrong on many points, at least i think so (we are rebuilding for world cup qualifying, so i don’t think results matter now…did they matter when bob bradley took a C team to south america’s copa?), but his style is more professional, announcer like, and entertaining. he may state his opinion as fact, but he is clear that it is his opinion. harkes tries to pretend like there are no opinions but his, and it annoys the chrizzy out of me.