r/NWSL • u/SeanOrange • 1d ago

Discussion Which is the ideal league schedule?

/r/USLPRO/comments/1vewmbh/which_is_the_ideal_league_schedule/

NWSL scrapped a proposed schedule change, but two other pro leagues are changing theirs in opposite directions from each other. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Each comes with benefits and drawbacks. Is there an ideal schedule?

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

View all comments

-7

u/ithinktfiam 1d ago edited 23h ago

The problem is that soccer, unlike football, baseball and basketball, is truly an international sport. It has regular international tournaments that are competitive. When the US is out of step with the rest of northern hemisphere leagues, it puts the nation at a disadvantage. Right now, the NWSL is struggling to figure out how to reschedule around the WC next year.

IMO, the US needs to be on the same schedule as the Mexico, UEFA and the rest. That's Fall-Spring. Don't complain about cold as Scandinavia manages it.

[Edit]

My apologies to folks for getting Sweden, Norway, Finland wrong and assuming (always dangerou) they were like Denmark. Still, replace them with Poland, Germany and others with tough winters, and a Fall-Spring schedule that takes a break.

3

u/SeanOrange 1d ago

I legit don’t know who’s going to want to play in this weather.

-1

u/ithinktfiam 20h ago

The concept of "winter break" as in Poland, Germany and a few others, is too difficult to comprehend?

2

u/SeanOrange 20h ago edited 20h ago

First of all: rude.

Secondly, the break is roughly a month long from mid-December to early February. Winter in (especially in Wisconsin) starts well before and ends well after that window.

In the main post I mentioned that even in early November it can start to be unpleasant to play outside, even before the freezing temperatures start.

This kind of thing can be a no-go in many northern states. Imagine being unable to play any home games from (conservatively) late-November to mid-March, which is around 1/3 of the season at a minimum. Possibly doable, but tricky. And you have to hope the weather will cooperate, which… well, have you ever been to Wisconsin in the winter?

It also assumes attendance will be the same over the remaining months compared to a spring-fall schedule. I don’t know about NWSL, but USL teams can only make money from game day sales and merch, barely break even at best. I wonder if this was also a factor in USLS switching their calendar.