North American Pro Soccer 2023

[GDAWG]

 

[GDAWG]

 

[4_tattoos]

I figured a team connected to Brazil would likely be part of TST, but would not have expected it to be this...

 

[GDAWG]

 

[Jer15]

Does this put Indy 11 back in the conversation for MLS? 

[MJWalker45]

11 minutes ago, Jer15 said:

Does this put Indy 11 back in the conversation for MLS? 

I would think it does. 

[Dilbert]

It puts them back in the MLS talk stadium wise at least. No idea if they have the investors, but I would love to see them in MLS

[4_tattoos]

While we're on the topic of stadiums. Is Chicago Fire going to inherit Soldier Field by default once the Bears move to the suburbs? Could Soldier Field end up getting renovated to be more practical for MLS use?

 

[GDAWG]

3 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

While we're on the topic of stadiums. Is Chicago Fire going to inherit Soldier Field by default once the Bears move to the suburbs? Could Soldier Field end up getting renovated to be more practical for MLS use?

 

 

it should end up like that, but will it?  For all we know, the current mayor may want to keep Soldier Field the same size (with the dome proposal) in order to lure a second NFL team. 

[Sykotyk]

It hasn't been that long since the renovation has it? I know that the current size would be overkill for the Fire, but if they're the default/only tenant, it would make a great home field if it were reduced down to about 30-35k seats back in the original bowl with maybe field level and sky level suites along with press box.

[4_tattoos]

3 minutes ago, Sykotyk said:

It hasn't been that long since the renovation has it? I know that the current size would be overkill for the Fire, but if they're the default/only tenant, it would make a great home field if it were reduced down to about 30-35k seats back in the original bowl with maybe field level and sky level suites along with press box.

With the Bears in the suburbs I could picture Notre Dame wanting to use Soldier Field instead of Wrigley for their Chicago Shamrock Series games. Might be reason enough for the city to hold off on tearing down the upper decks.

 

Also. You would think that USSF wouldn't want Soldier Field's capacity reduced too much. Those international matches in Chicago usually draw well. I don't think they'd be willing to accept a smaller Soldier Field come Gold Cup time.

[Sykotyk]

23 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

With the Bears in the suburbs I could picture Notre Dame wanting to use Soldier Field instead of Wrigley for their Chicago Shamrock Series games. Might be reason enough for the city to hold off on tearing down the upper decks.

 

Also. You would think that USSF wouldn't want Soldier Field's capacity reduced too much. Those international matches in Chicago usually draw well. I don't think they'd be willing to accept a smaller Soldier Field come Gold Cup time.

That's possible. But I also think the new shiny toy in Arlington would do everything in their power to bring the big international soccer matches out there, as well as any Notre Dame games. Just like Jerry World managed to pull away every big game from the Cotton Bowl. Bigger, nicer, more money. It will not be a match from the old stadium on the lake.

 

But downsizing the old Soldier Field to a stadium that fits inside its original footprint that's brand new, shiny, state of the art, for a 30k or so venue suitable for outdoor concerts that size, etc could be perfect for a refresh and able to compete for events just a tad too small to make the Bears new stadium worthwhile.

[4_tattoos]

So basically....

1. Bears move to new suburban stadium
2. Fire goes back their old suburban stadium for a few years while Soldier Field gets renovated (as far as I know the NWSL team plays their now)
3. Fire moves back to newly renovated Soldier Field fulltime

Does Fire's ownership have deep enough pocket to bankroll a renovation just in case the city of Chicago pulls some shenanigans and decides not to?

[Dilbert]

16 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

Fire goes back their old suburban stadium for a few years while Soldier Field gets renovated (as far as I know the NWSL team plays their now)

The Fire played a couple late season matches there last year and its the home of their MLSNP club so thats definitely not off the table

[Digby]

The problem with a 30k seater is I’m not really sure what market there is for that. Concert tours and big international soccer games just use NFL stadia, especially in a market of Chicago’s size. Useful for the occasional mid-profile international, I guess, so there’s that. Hopefully whoever buys the Red Stars invests in them and ensures they’re a top-tier NWSL team a la the West Coast teams, then they’d be a good tenant.

[MJWalker45]

San Antonio FC has announced a friendly match vs Sunderland FC. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

https://www.sanantoniofc.com/news/2023/02/20/san-antonio-fc-to-host-legendary-english-side-sunderland-a-f-c-at-a-july-15-exhibition/

[Digby]

Quote

 

Nine teams per conference will be the highest number of playoff teams in a “normal” season yet, only exceeded by the 10-per-conference makeshift model during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

The opening “wild-card” round will see the teams which finished the regular season seeded eighth and ninth play a one-off match at the higher seed’s venue.

The “first round” will ensue with the No. 1 seed facing the wild-card winner, 2 facing 7, 3 facing 6 and 4 facing 5. The round will be a best-of-three series, with the higher seed hosting the first and (if necessary) third games. These games cannot end in ties; the first team to win two games advances to the conference semifinal.

The conference semifinal, conference final and MLS Cup will return to the usual one-off format, with the higher remaining seed hosting.

 

 

https://theathletic.com/4237475/2023/02/21/mls-playoff-new-format-2023/

 

Announcing your new playoff format the same week as the first games is total amateur hour, as much as MLS likes to pretend it's past that era.

 

I support every team (except I guess the play-in loser) getting a home game… but this is an awkward and kludgy way to do it, to have just one round as a “series” and to have it in the middle of other rounds, to boot. And when they’re comically expanding the field this just leaves extra minutes for blowout games.

 

Still don’t get what’s wrong with the UCL style.

[MJWalker45]

18 minutes ago, Digby said:

 

https://theathletic.com/4237475/2023/02/21/mls-playoff-new-format-2023/

 

Announcing your new playoff format the same week as the first games is total amateur hour, as much as MLS likes to pretend it's past that era.

 

I guess only the first round moves to best-of-3? And otherwise we're still at single leg games before and after that. I don't like that inconsistency much, and it'll seemingly just end in lots of time for uncompetitive games between teams seeded far apart. Nor do I like 18 out of 29 teams making it in.

Not sure why they decided they needed a 3 game setup for the first round. Just play home and away across the board until MLS Cup. 

[BrySmalls]

Announcing yet another new playoff format 6 days before the season starts is a bush league move! It's MLS' modus operandi!!

[WestCoastBias]

On 2/19/2023 at 5:48 PM, 4_tattoos said:

With the Bears in the suburbs I could picture Notre Dame wanting to use Soldier Field instead of Wrigley for their Chicago Shamrock Series games. Might be reason enough for the city to hold off on tearing down the upper decks.

 

Also. You would think that USSF wouldn't want Soldier Field's capacity reduced too much. Those international matches in Chicago usually draw well. I don't think they'd be willing to accept a smaller Soldier Field come Gold Cup time.

 

Notre Dame already uses Soldier Field for the Shamrock Series (2012 and 2021). Northwestern though plays games occasionally at Wrigley (2010, 2021, and 2023) and will also need a temporary home when they tear down Ryan Field and build a new stadium on the same site.