Pretty easy for the Liga MX to pause during the summer.
Just merge and Promote/Relegate.
I don’t know how to feel.
MLS schedule already seems compressed to me, so taking a month off means more mid-week games (and mostly lame crowds) or less games in total (which will not happen due to $$$). Also making a run in this could adversely affect your later season games if you guys are running on fumes.
Agree that this and CCL seems somewhat redundant. CCL basically comes down to MX/MX or MX/MLS finals anyway. And isn’t CCL expanding in a couple years too?
Now where does the USOC fit in all of this?
I look forward to all the MLS clubs being knocked out before the quarters in this new format.
Great point. Not sure we need this new competition, but it feels like a step on the road to an inevitable MLS / Liga MX merger. Whether that’s good or bad, I’ll let others debate.
Wonder how the “WC Style” will work. Will it be 2022 WC or 2026 WC?
Option A
12 groups of 4
top 2 in each group advance + 6 best 3rd place teams
32 team knockout
Option B
12 groups of 4
top 2 in each group advance
24 team knockout with top 8 1st place teams getting byes
Option C
16 groups of 3
top 2 in each group advance
32 team knockout
It is completely unclear how the USOC will fit into the calendar. It seems like this will lead to some schedule compression, and I imagine the regular season will need to start a little earlier.
The Athletic reporting it will be option C. So every team will play between 2 games and 7 games.
Is it bad that I love soccer but don’t pay any attention whatsoever to the MLS? NC FC is the closest thing to it around here, but even they get massively overshadowed by the Courage since they tend to roster multiple USWNT players.
My interest in MLS greatly increased when my city got an MLS club. I did go to a few minor league games in years before MLS arrived (Atlanta Silverbacks).
Play in MLS is not of the caliber of the top leagues in Europe, but it still has some high quality players and some fun clubs to watch. I’ve really enjoyed having a local club to support.
Maybe when Charlotte FC gets going it captures your interest. Maybe they don’t, and that’s fine too.
That makes sense. I’ll probably at least pay attention to Charlotte’s general performance as much as I do the Hornets. Or maybe they’ll just go ahead and start out amazing and everyone will be hooked immediately. I’ll hope for that one.
Do you pay attention to the Winston-Salem Wolves?
Didn’t know they existed. 
Greensboro Swarm some.
To be accurate, the Wolves would be a better analogy.
One thing the MLS has going for it is forced competitiveness. The difference between the best and worst teams, in Soccer Power Index (SPI), is only 29.5, and the standard deviation is second lowest among the top 20 leagues. This is due to the salary cap, as much of the SPI (from 538) is based on the market value of the players. American sports fans, but mainly the rich owners, prefer this philosophy.
538 doesn’t summarize by League, but this site does:
Pepi will reportedly go to Europe very soon with a monster transfer fee.
One thing I didn’t consider when first hearing about the proposed Leagues cup:
“When the 2023 competition kicks off, the top European soccer leagues will not yet be in season and the NFL, NBA, NHL and college football and basketball will all be off, as well.” Credit: the Athletic
In terms of both eyeballs and gambling interest, Leagues Cup will be the only event other than MLB that is happening that time of year. With a month of action, I can imagine a lot of soccer fans in the US that don’t normally follow either league might tune in.
MLS loses the final of another competition to Liga MX. I think we’re running out of ways for that to happen.
Josef 
MN United was up 1-0 vs Colorado. Colorado gets a straight red at 57’. Colorado proceeds to score 3 goals in the final 20 minutes to win 3-1. That game ended right as the USMNT game was kicking off. So I basically got to watch 4 straight hours of kicks to the nuts.
Its one of my favorite days of the year - MLS Salary Database Day!
I love seeing how many decent to good MLS players make less than a credentialed actuary with 15 years experience.
Decision day!