If I Were in Charge Of.....MLS

It's time for another installment of "If I Were in Charge Of....."  This week we take a look at Major League Soccer, a fairly young league in comparison to the others (first season was in 1996) but a sport that is loved around the world.  This league is starting to gain some traction but there is definite room for improvement.  So if I were in charge of MLS.....

*Have the schedule reflect that of other soccer leagues around the world.  MLS has a schedule that runs from March to October (spring to fall) while most other leagues run a schedule that's more August to May (late summer to late spring).  While the downside would be going along the same time as college football & the NFL, there would be the benefit of being able to keep players on their respective teams throughout the season & not losing them to such events as the World Cup & other FIFA sanctioned events in the summer months.  There would also be the opportunity to get more world class athletes since the schedules would be linked up better.

*Have expansion to have an even number of teams in the league and get into markets right for soccer.  Right now there are 19 teams and there is an unbalanced schedule.  I would at least get it to 20 teams and probably get it to 24 teams.  Right now there are 0 teams in the southeast (there used to be 2 in Florida but got contracted in the late 90s).  To expand to 5 teams, I would have 1 team in Miami again, add a 2nd to New York (name them the Cosmos like the team in the NASL league back in the 70s & 80s), 1 in Atlanta, 1 in Phoenix & 1 in Charlotte.  There would have to be some realignment with the Eastern & Western conference so here's how that would shape out:
Eastern:  Montreal, Toronto, NY Red Bulls, NY Cosmos, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, DC, Philadelphia, New England, Columbus, Chicago
Western: KC, Houston, Dallas, Salt Lake, Colorado, Salt Lake, Phoenix, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Jose, LA Galaxy, Chivas (LA)

*Change the playoff format to a best of 3 for each round.  This would differ greatly for soccer as it is done around the world which is by an aggregate goal format (the scores of the two games added and team with most goals in two games advances, if there is a tie, team with most away goals advance).  Rather it play out on the field than have that be the case.  Higher seed would host game 1 and if necessary game 3.  Each round would have this best of 3 format including the MLS Cup Finals.  Right now 10 teams (five teams from each conference) advance.  In the "new format", 12 teams would advance (six teams from each conference) based on points (tie breaker would be wins) and top 4 seeds would get a bye in the 1st round.

*Have the champion of MLS play the champ of the English Premier League in a home and home series.  They would play for a cup (for the sake of having a name the Beckham/Donovan Cup) and have bragging rights for the year.  It would bring the top team from the EPL to the states one time a year for more than just a friendly and also give more exposure to MLS players "across the pond".

*More network exposure.  I know that MLS recently signed a deal with NBC to cover games but most of them are on the NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus, formerly the Outdoor Life Channel).  I would have a "game of the week" on NBC proper on Sunday nights running from January until the end of the season (basically picking up where the NFL leaves off) and the first part of the season have special "rival" games on certain Saturday & Sunday afternoons.  I would also have a deal with ESPN to air a certain number of games on the main network on Tuesday nights (and make sure that I won't conflict with NHL games that I discussed in an earlier post).  I would also keep games on the NBC Sports Network but that wouldn't be the main avenue for people to catch games.

So that's what I think.  What do you think?  Feel free to leave comments as to how you would change MLS.  And feel free to check on back the other posts in the series.