MLS Schedule Needs Work, Commish Admits

Echoing a sentiment expressed by many of Major League Soccer's fans, players and media members, commissioner Don Garber acknowledged in his blog the need for a regular season schedule that conforms more to the international calendar.

A big spotlight was thrown on the problem during ESPN2's national Thursday night game on 08/21, a game between the Chicago Fire and Los Angeles Galaxy, which was supposed to be one of the season's most-watched games: Beckham vs. Blanco. Instead, due to national callups, both Beckham and Blanco were unavailable for the game, as were Eddie Lewis, Landon Donovan, Gonzalo Segares and Marco Pappa."When scheduled, the date was one of a limited number during the year that the Galaxy could host an ESPN2 Thursday night game. It is often very difficult to forecast early in the year who will be called up for national team duty. But that is only part of the issue.

"The real issue is the ongoing challenge of playing MLS games during the FIFA international fixture dates.

"Many supporters and media members continue to question why MLS schedules any games during FIFA fixture dates, particularly those designated for World Cup qualifying. It's a fair question, and unfortunately, there are no easy answers.

"With international club and country competitions occupying many mid-week slots during the season, we simply would not be able to fit our 30-game season into our current window that extends from the last weekend of March through end of November if we did not play MLS games on the FIFA dates.

"Our options include reducing the number of tournaments in which our teams participate and/or starting the season in the beginning of March, when weather and low attendance create issues in many markets.

"During the next few months leading up to our November Board of Governors Meeting during the MLS Cup Weekend, we will be looking at our ongoing scheduling challenges... Unless we make some changes, we will face even more challenges in 2009, with an uneven number of teams and with the FIFA Confederations Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup taking place in the middle of our season."