Major League Soccer (MLS) has played down reports that it is moving closer to adopting a European-style calendar that could be introduced as soon as the 2014 season.
The New York Daily News reported yesterday that the MLS proposed to begin its season in either late July or early August and would have a six to eight-week winter break. The MLS Cup would then be played in late May or early June.
Despite MLS officials considering such a switch for a number of years, as well as having FIFA support of the plan, MLS communications executive vice-president Dan Courtemanche said via Twitter: “Rumours is an appropriate way to classify it. MLS has reviewed many possible schedule formats throughout the years.
“Many options have been considered, and the fans will have a voice IF the schedule format ever changes.”
The MLS season currently begins in March and runs until the championship match in the first week of December. A winter break is seen as necessary under a different calendar model as 13 of the league’s 19 markets have cold weather climates.
