Not even the most gifted medium could divine much of a big-game aura from a match between sides in 10th and 11th place in MLS’s Western Conference. Yet there is a potential playoff spot riding on the result of Sporting Kansas City v Minnesota United on Saturday.
It is the last weekend of the regular season: Decision Day, in league marketing-speak. It will be Thank-A-Commish-Day in Kansas City or Minnesota should either of these mediocre teams still harbor dreams of lifting the MLS Cup at the final whistle.
Minnesota fired their longtime manager, Adrian Heath, after a 5-1 loss to Los Angeles FC earlier this month and have won two of their past 10 games. Kansas City were winless in their first 10 MLS fixtures. Both could still be crowned champions in December.
So could Montreal, who have won one of their past eight and have 12 victories and 16 losses from 33 matches. So could the San Jose Earthquakes and Dallas, who both have three wins in their past 16 games. And the Chicago Fire (two wins in 10). Nashville have already qualified despite going on vacation for the second half of the league season (four wins in their past 16).
This is possible because on 21 February – four days before the start of the season – MLS announced radical changes to its playoff structure.
In 2022, 14 teams out of 28 qualified and the postseason lasted 13 games over three weeks. (The winter World Cup condensed the timing). Now, 18 out of the 29 MLS teams – the top nine in each conference – make the playoffs. Meaning: A 34-game regular season only eliminates a third of the clubs – 62% of the league will make the postseason.
Like any playoff structure, MLS rewards teams that handle the pressure of win-or-go-home contests. But this format punishes only the most egregious regular-season flops. Entering Decision Day, only six of the 29 sides are already eliminated; three of those – Miami, Toronto and LA Galaxy – have the highest payrolls in MLS. Even New York City FC, who sit 13th out of 15th in the Eastern Conference having won eight of 33 games, with 30 points fewer than Supporters Shield-winning FC Cincinnati, could make the playoffs.
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Ten teams are in the running for the last five places. And so the meh of MLS, sides such as Kansas City and Minnesota, have reason to be grateful for the largesse of league executives who have kept their…