While it has fallen into a bit of a shadow behind the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball over the past couple of months, Major League Soccer is another American sports league that has had its season put on hold thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The MLS, whose season began on February 29th, was only able to complete two matches before the suspension of the league in mid-March. It looks to be a virtual impossibility that the league will be completed with anything resembling its normal format.

However, MLS is reportedly sent to present an alternative idea to players and owners that could see them all convene in Orlando, Florida this summer for an all-inclusive tournament that would look to model the World Cup.

Florida, which was declared “open” for professional sports on May 13th, would serve as the base for all teams and players during the event. Games would take place at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex and would be held without fans.

An initial group stage would give way to a knockout tournament whose champion would be crowned as a sort of “winner” of the 2020 season, which will almost certainly not take place with a normal format or number of games.

Teams will also reportedly all congregate in Florida for a preseason training camp before the beginning of games in late June.

The post MLS Reportedly Planning Summer Tournament in Orlando appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Major League Soccer won’t return at least until May 10^th. This was the decision made by the league on Thursday as part of the measures to cope with the current coronavirus outbreak.

MLS was forced to suspend the season after just two games due to coronavirus. The plan was initially to pause all activities until March 30^th, but it became obvious in recent days that this was an unrealistic deadline. The league determined that a prolonged suspension is necessary and made the decision at a recent video conference.

The league reiterated that the plan is to play the 2020 season in full, even if that means prolonging the MLS Cup towards the end of the year.

“MLS remains focused on playing the entire 2020 season and is evaluating all options, including pushing back the end of the season and playing MLS Cup in December, as the league did prior to the 2019 season. The league is also identifying other available dates,” said the league in a statement.

Most soccer leagues around the world suspended their activities due to coronavirus as well. Currently, the only prominent soccer competition still underway is Turkey, where matches are being played without an audience.   

The post MLS Extends Season Suspension to May 10th appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Major League Soccer is expanding, and it just got the home for its 24th team. MLS announced that Nashville was granted an opportunity to become the league’s next franchise. Although many considered it to be a long shot, when the 12 finalists were announced in January 2017, Nashville had the complete bid and it paid off at the end. Nashville Soccer Holdings, led by John Ingram, already secured the required $225 million in financing, which will be used to build a stadium.

The city will have its own team in the United Soccer League next season, with the MLS team targeted for 2020 season. There will certainly be some urge to bring Nashville to MLS as soon as possible, since Los Angeles FC is set to join in 2018, leading to an uneven number of teams in the league.

Besides Nashville, Cincinnati, Detroit and Sacramento were also in the hunt for the expansion place as part of the final four and still are. MLS will award an additional spot in the league but has decided to make a decision in 2018. The league has released the following statement:

“Following the announcement of Nashville as our newest club yesterday, Major League Soccer remains in discussions with the other three finalists for the next team to be awarded during this round of expansion — Cincinnati, Detroit, and Sacramento. All three submitted impressive bids which the league will take additional time to review before announcing a final decision in the new year.“

Out of these three cities, it is believed that Sacramento has the biggest chance of getting the bid.

There is also an issue of Miami’s expansion franchise, which already got the green light from MLS. The city supposed to have a team in MLS in 2019, but problems with acquiring the stadium site may delay the process even further.

The post MLS Announces Nashville as Home for the Latest Expansion Franchise appeared first on SportzBonanza.

While it has fallen into a bit of a shadow behind the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball over the past couple of months, Major League Soccer is another American sports league that has had its season put on hold thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The MLS, whose season began on February 29th, was only able to complete two matches before the suspension of the league in mid-March. It looks to be a virtual impossibility that the league will be completed with anything resembling its normal format.

However, MLS is reportedly sent to present an alternative idea to players and owners that could see them all convene in Orlando, Florida this summer for an all-inclusive tournament that would look to model the World Cup.

Florida, which was declared “open” for professional sports on May 13th, would serve as the base for all teams and players during the event. Games would take place at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex and would be held without fans.

An initial group stage would give way to a knockout tournament whose champion would be crowned as a sort of “winner” of the 2020 season, which will almost certainly not take place with a normal format or number of games.

Teams will also reportedly all congregate in Florida for a preseason training camp before the beginning of games in late June.

The post MLS Reportedly Planning Summer Tournament in Orlando appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Major League Soccer won’t return at least until May 10^th. This was the decision made by the league on Thursday as part of the measures to cope with the current coronavirus outbreak.

MLS was forced to suspend the season after just two games due to coronavirus. The plan was initially to pause all activities until March 30^th, but it became obvious in recent days that this was an unrealistic deadline. The league determined that a prolonged suspension is necessary and made the decision at a recent video conference.

The league reiterated that the plan is to play the 2020 season in full, even if that means prolonging the MLS Cup towards the end of the year.

“MLS remains focused on playing the entire 2020 season and is evaluating all options, including pushing back the end of the season and playing MLS Cup in December, as the league did prior to the 2019 season. The league is also identifying other available dates,” said the league in a statement.

Most soccer leagues around the world suspended their activities due to coronavirus as well. Currently, the only prominent soccer competition still underway is Turkey, where matches are being played without an audience.   

The post MLS Extends Season Suspension to May 10th appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Major League Soccer is expanding, and it just got the home for its 24th team. MLS announced that Nashville was granted an opportunity to become the league’s next franchise. Although many considered it to be a long shot, when the 12 finalists were announced in January 2017, Nashville had the complete bid and it paid off at the end. Nashville Soccer Holdings, led by John Ingram, already secured the required $225 million in financing, which will be used to build a stadium.

The city will have its own team in the United Soccer League next season, with the MLS team targeted for 2020 season. There will certainly be some urge to bring Nashville to MLS as soon as possible, since Los Angeles FC is set to join in 2018, leading to an uneven number of teams in the league.

Besides Nashville, Cincinnati, Detroit and Sacramento were also in the hunt for the expansion place as part of the final four and still are. MLS will award an additional spot in the league but has decided to make a decision in 2018. The league has released the following statement:

“Following the announcement of Nashville as our newest club yesterday, Major League Soccer remains in discussions with the other three finalists for the next team to be awarded during this round of expansion — Cincinnati, Detroit, and Sacramento. All three submitted impressive bids which the league will take additional time to review before announcing a final decision in the new year.“

Out of these three cities, it is believed that Sacramento has the biggest chance of getting the bid.

There is also an issue of Miami’s expansion franchise, which already got the green light from MLS. The city supposed to have a team in MLS in 2019, but problems with acquiring the stadium site may delay the process even further.

The post MLS Announces Nashville as Home for the Latest Expansion Franchise appeared first on SportzBonanza.