BOSTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The MLS is considering major changes for next season that include a radical new schedule and a simplified playoff system.
The most striking move would have the league take off the months of June and July to focus on the U.S. Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup, which will be hosted by the United States.
MLS communications director Trey Fitz-Gerald said Saturday that exploratory talks are under way between the league's board of governors and its general managers.
"The playoff change is more definite, I think," he said. "For the season, that may be a little more long-term. Right now we are looking at the calendar.
MLS currently has a 28-game schedule that runs from March to September with playoffs ending in October. A new plan calls for the league to base its schedule on one used in the Mexican league, which has a "spring" and "fall" championship.
The two championships would consist of perhaps 20 games apiece, not only increasing the length of the MLS season but increasing the number of games. It is not clear whether each season would award a different trophy, as is the custom in Mexico.
The MLS' championship is the MLS Cup, which will be played Oct. 30 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.
If the new schedule is adopted, the playoff system would be reconfigured so the top four teams reach the posteason instead of the current eight.
Even if the new schedule is not approved, the playoffs will change from the confusing "first to five points" format to a three-game or home-and-home series, a system employed in most major countries.
Finally, the MLS may move away from a two-conferernce alignment to a straight league table, as is soccer custom around the world.
"However, that's something, again, we're still talking about," Fitz-Gerald said. "There may be some payoff in having those in terms of travel and perhaps in rewarding two teams."
