The Blueprint: Why is MLS flipping its calendar?

In this episode of The Blueprint, hosts John Baney and Trey Fillmore examine why Major League Soccer is shifting away from its traditional spring-to-fall league calendar.

To make sense of the league's switch over to a fall-to-spring schedule, it helps to go back to the origins of the current MLS calendar setup, specifically how much influence things like the North American Soccer League (NASL), the weather, TV networks, and the NFL had on the approach MLS chose to take.

What worked then doesn't work as well now, though, and John and Trey discuss how the existing schedule creates costly misalignments between MLS and leagues in Europe on things like transfer windows and FIFA's international breaks. Then there's the impact the decision to move MLS match broadcasts to Apple TV has had, freeing MLS from its dependence on traditional broadcasters, one of the original reasons for the summer-centric schedule.

What will MLS look like in this new post-calendar-flip era? There are pros and cons to be weighed, like the new timing of the MLS Cup Playoffs (pro), or the fact that there needs to be a "sprint season" early in 2027 (con) rather than implementing the new calendar right after this summer's FIFA World Cup.

The change of schedule will have far-reaching effects on the league, so listen to the full episode to get the full picture of why this is happening and what it might mean for MLS.

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