What are the lessons of the first year of the pandemic, and how will MLS build on them in 2021?

LOS ANGELES – The 2021 season of Major League Soccer is just over a month away from resuming activity. The North American league managed to successfully conclude 2020 despite the difficult circumstances of interrupting its 25th season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, the road was not without adversity, with the economic blow being the main damage for the teams and the league in general. MLS Commissioner Don Garber estimated a loss of approximately $ 1 billion to the league and its teams during 2020.

“I’m very hopeful that 2021 will be significantly better than 2020, because I don’t think any business can sustain this kind of impact like we had in 2020 for two years in a row,” Garber said in his traditional annual balance last December.

For the 2021 season, the second year of the pandemic, MLS will continue to face challenges to keep business afloat, but with the advantage of one year of learning.

Test system and charter trips
The MLS will have to continue absorbing the expenses of constant COVID-19 tests for both players and staff in the face of each game. The frequency of testing was a mostly effective method to safeguard the health and integrity of all those involved, allowing the matches to continue to take place. Similarly, while waiting for the full schedule to be released, the teams will travel on charter flights to minimize exposure to external factors that represent a risk of contagion.

International competitions
The North American league must overcome an increase in the participation of its teams and players in international competitions. Multiple tournaments have been budgeted for 2021, several of which were postponed from 2020, making it a busy year. There will be the CONCACAF Champions League, Leagues Cup, Champions Cup, United States Open, Canadian Championship, while at the level of national teams, friendly matches, World Cup qualifiers, Nations League, Euro Cup, Copa Libertadores, Gold Cup are stipulated. , pre-Olympic tournaments, Olympic Games, among others.

Transfer Market
Due to the economic damage that each club around the world has suffered, the transfer markets have not been the same. The prices are no longer the same, as the possibilities of each institution have changed. An example is the negotiation for the signing of Argentine striker Cristian Pavon. The player was loaned to the Los Angeles Galaxy by Boca Juniors, a loan that ended last December. The Angelenos wanted to make the purchase option valid, however, the price drawn a couple of years ago no longer corresponded to the current value in the transfer market due to the pandemic. The clubs have not been able to reach an agreement and Pavón’s future with the Galaxy appears to be practically over. The first official window for MLS transfer registration is active from March 10 to June 1, followed by a second in the summer from July 7 to August 5, 2021.

Return of the fans
The change from 2020 that makes everyone involved the happiest is the return of fans to the stadiums. At the end of last year, some local markets already saw the return in limited capacity of fans to the grandstand, due to the different security guidelines according to the government of each state. States like California and New York, both with multiple sports franchises, were among the most demanding states due to the high number of COVID-19 cases still present. Just a week ago, both New York and California announced that they will allow the return of sports property fans in reduced capacity. This will help the economic spill of MLS, which depends a lot on what is generated per game in person.

Full season
Considering that the 2020 season had many obstacles to take place in the face of the new normal, only 23 regular season games were played; some teams even played fewer games due to contagion suspensions. For this reason, the game points system was used to determine postseason qualifiers. One of the changes would be the return of the 34-game long season. It is also expected the development of a normal campaign in the sense of facing all MLS teams against each other and not only limited to the clubs corresponding to the same geographical area, with the aim of minimizing transfers, as happened last year.

Week ‘Bye’
This 2021 will see the debut of the 27th expansion franchise in MLS history, Austin FC. With the arrival of Austin, the number of teams in the league will be odd. Austin will compete in the Western Conference, where there will be 13 teams, for 14 on the East side. For this reason, it can be seen that on the MLS debut weekend on April 16, there is a team that will have ‘Bye’ or bye week. It is Real Salt Lake that will start its season a week later, that is, on April 24. Originally, the expansion franchises were making their debut two by two to keep the total of teams even. This year, Austin FC and Charlotte FC were contemplated to be the new teams, however, Charlotte’s entry was postponed until 2022 due to the pandemic.

The 2021 season will begin on Friday night, April 16 with a doubleheader of games, the Houston Dynamo against the San Jose Earthquakes, followed by the Seattle Sounders against Minnesota United.

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