Overtime to replace shootout; refs grab the clock
The dark clouds are lifting. The malaise is ending. MLS may be far behind the top foreign leagues in players and revenue, but it’s falling in line in at least a couple of ways.
Starting next season, games will no longer be decided by shootout, and the referee will keep time. These are the changes most welcome to traditional soccer fans, but MLS has a lot more in store for 2000.
A telephone conference call of the board of governors Nov. 16 ran nearly 3 1/2 hours, and some issues were left unresolved, such as how many games each team will play.
The shootout will be replaced by a 10-minute overtime, and MLS will re-align into three divisions. Most national broadcasts will fall on Saturdays, and a weekly MLS highlights show will start up in midseason.
Fans will have several months to chew on the changes, and what they might mean.
Let the debate commence.
Shootout. The MLS tiebreaker was officially, although not formally, laid to rest in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals between Los Angeles and Dallas. And thus did four seasons of farcical conclusions find a most fitting finale.
Dallas won a shootout marred by mismanagement of the five-second time limit and a thoroughly absurd penalty-kick call.
The shootout has also been dropped for MLS Cup ’99. The previous three editions would have gone to a shootout had regulation and overtime ended with the teams tied, but this year, penalty kicks will follow if no goals are scored in overtime.
Another ending like Eddie Pope’s rain-lashed header in 1996 would be the perfect ending to a largely lackluster 1999 season. But open-ended OT might run past the 2 1/2-hour TV window, and force ABC to either stay with the game or cut into its next scheduled program, a taped figure-skating special. Can’t have that.
Overtime. Instead of the shootout, which could take from between five and 25 minutes to conduct, depending on the ineptitude of the teams concerned, MLS games will incorporate a 10-minute sudden-death overtime next season.
The league’s board of governors have backed down on their shootout stance under fierce criticism, but this is a breed of people who abhor ties.
Commissioner Don Garber believes that by shortening halftime, starting games a few minutes earlier, and tightening control of the 45-minute halves, MLS can shoehorn 10 minutes of overtime into a two-hour time slot.
Whether or not 10 minutes is enough overtime to break a significant percentage of ties can only be tested on the field. Preseason games may provide a few clues.
The mini-OT might require referees to limit stoppage-time in the second half of a tied match. And shorter halftimes could trigger concession-stand melees at those games where decent crowds show up.
Clock. Time will be kept on the field, by the referee, presumably with a watch that counts up, not down. The league has not yet decided if the fourth official will proudly display the time added-on for stoppages, but this nuance is likely to be adopted.
Three points. A win, either in regulation or overtime, will be worth three points, and a match tied at the end of overtime will remain a tie and be worth one point to each team.
Internet patrons bombarded the league and team offices with protests upon dissemination of information that MLS officials were discussing rewarding victories with four points, as will the USL next season.
Realignment. The league will split into three divisions, and only the three first-place teams will be assured of playoff spots. As has been the case since the league’s inception, eight teams will make the playoffs.
The distribution of games between intradivisional and interdivisional opponents hinged on whether or not teams would play 28 or 32 games.
To bring greater importance to regular-season games, five playoff spots will be determined on a wild-card basis. It would be possible for every team in a division to make the playoffs if enough points were accrued.
“The regular season games need to take on more importance,” said Garber. “Too many of our teams this season knew halfway through the season they’d be in the playoffs.”
Playoffs. The best-of-three playoff format leading up to the one-game final will be retained, but not every playoff game will necessarily have a winner and a loser.
MLS is considering leaving playoff games tied at the end of overtime and using points, not games won, to decide the series. If the third game ends tied, and thus the series is tied, penalty kicks would determine which team advances.
Two-game playoff series were discussed and rejected because some executives feared that a first-game blowout would render the second game academic. And the large crowds lured by the third games in the conference finals ù despite the home team blowing out the opponent in each case ù helped the case for the best-of-three system.
Television. National telecasts will be shared by espn2, ESPN and ABC, as before, but most will fall on what the league is calling “Soccer Saturday” as the league tries to build a steady audience with a relatively consistent time slot for its matches. The final will again be held on a Sunday.
No announcements were made regarding the Univision package of Sunday Spanish-language telecasts. Garber has stated he’s not locked into Univision for 2000.
A weekly highlights show will air on Monday nights, starting in June.
Length of season. The board of governors has split into 32-game and 28-game factions. The season will begin in March, and conclude with the championship game in October.
A 28-game schedule would fit neatly with a three-division alignment if teams played their three divisional rivals four times each and all other opponents twice, but many execs feel they need 16 home dates per team to maintain revenue streams. Other execs feel the other dates could be more profitable if attractive international games were scheduled.
But perhaps a shorter season and fewer games will allow teams to bring more marketing muscle to bear per game. One MLS source has confirmed league-wide losses last year were between $30 million and $35 million, and a similar figure is projected for this year.
And only a new direction, not simply new wrinkles, can brighten those dark numbers.
by Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney