Major League Soccer is still contemplating and processing the playoff format to be used in the coming season. An 18-team, best of three playoff format is seriously being considered for the 2023 season as reported by Sam Stejskal and Paul Tenorio of The Athletic.
This new format would host a play-in game between teams in the 8th and 9th position position in each conference before the first rounds of the playoffs. The opening round would be a best of three season and each team would be allowed to hold a minimum of one post-season game. The next round that follows would be a single-elimination knockout tournament.
A major reason for the knockouts is for every participating team to be at their best, therefor improving the league. Aside this, the games played in single-elimination for the past four years are super entertaining.
Only three of the top teams from each conference have advanced to the conference finals since the single-elimination playoffs were implemented in 2019. A top team hadn’t reached the MLS Cup final until this past season; the top two clubs the previous year were LAFC and the Philadelphia Union.
Leaving aside the anomaly from last year, the single-elimination model caused a lot of confusion. That has two sharp edges. Although this unpredictability produced a lot of incredibly entertaining and memorable moments, it also meant that many of the league’s top and most intriguing teams had their postseason drives cut short. This new format would be the ideal fusion of the more recent single elimination model and the more traditional two-leg playoff structure.
Two things are made possible by an initial round with many legs. By eliminating single-game fluctuation, it will ensure that more deserving teams advance to the postseason’s later rounds. It will also allow the playoffs more time to prepare.
The recent playoffs have gone quickly. There are fewer games because of the single-leg format, and then the MLS Cup Final occurs. Adding extra games to the first round only gives the playoffs more time to develop and will allow time for spectators to adjust to postseason competition.
Keeping single elimination in the playoff final rounds is the best of both worlds since it maintains the high-stakes, high-leverage action we’ve witnessed in recent years.
An enlarged postseason will further intensify discussions about the regular season’s lack of significance, which have been ongoing in Major League Soccer for years. A 34-game regular season doesn’t have exceptionally high stakes when that many teams qualify for the playoffs.
The NBA and this new MLS structure would be extremely similar. And that also implies that the NBA’s primary issue, giving the regular season purpose, remains.
