If you are not on Twitter or the internet and out enjoying your Small Business Saturday, you may have missed Brian Straus' report that Major League Soccer will add knockout games to the playoffs and add the number of teams in 2015 to 12 from this year's 10 to a source, perhaps being made official as soon as next week.
So what does this mean? Well if we are going to (very quickly) read any tea leaves into it, consider three of the four teams just outside of the red line over the last three years are Philadelphia, Portland and Chicago, and consider that with expansion coming up, one would presume that not only would there be a bit of postseason revenue for some high-visibility franchises to gather, but combined with their new television deal, Major League Soccer may be making some personnel considerations when it comes to rosters next year and beyond. Whether that means a larger salary cap, more Designated Players or both remains to be seen, of course.
Consider the numbers from Paul Carr. Sure, MLS will have 60% of their teams qualify for the playoffs next year (vomit), but come 2020 when even MORE teams will be in the playoffs, that number drops to 50%. By comparison, the NBA and NHL currently have 53% of their clubs in the playoffs, and those are in 30 team leagues, so perhaps more expansion would occur in the next television and Collective Bargaining Contracts.
So what do you think? Does this tarnish the league, or is it a forward-thinking move, or is it something else?