All chalk, except for the 5 seed NYCFC beating the 4 CLT.
My take on this is attendance declined because visibility declined. Putting games behind a paywall on Apple TV relegated it to the back of people’s minds (pun intended). Games have to be accessible to viewers on a regular basis or you risk losing casual fans, and turning casual fans into big fans.
This.
The same thing is going to happen to F1.
Agree. I’ve watched F1 for decades but I’m unlikely to pay for a streaming service to watch the races. Just like I’m not paying for Paramount+ to watch Championship League soccer.
I get the desire to line up with major leagues around the world, but this is going to be hard for some teams. Even with a Jan/Feb break - it can be pretty cold and really poor conditions at some of the locations.
Have to imagine the February/March matches are going to be in southern states. Canadians and northern/midwest teams could go 4 months without a home game. You can’t go outside in Toronto in February, let alone play a game. The ground is frozen and it’s 0 degrees F.
We will be fine in the south, but do you want to play a game in January in the north.
This country destroyed the chance to make something truly special when it did not embrace promotion relegation.
I am convinced if that had happened that soccer would have left baseball and hockey in the dust and would be a firm number three pro sport by now and would likely be closing in on the NBA.
https://x.com/Topbin90/status/1989085091293708713?t=xfyvG9Wp76iA_rOpd-9Yww&s=19
I should post the schedule. I didn’t realize January was a break month.
clt says the players can wear gloves
But who wants to play for Chicago or Minneapolis in Dec & Feb?
Going to be a weird schedule for teams like those. All of their home games are going to be compressed into about 8 months of the 11 month season - they’ll be on the road exclusively in the middle of the season, every year.
If I lived in Minneapolis I’d be fine not being there in February.