MLS storylines: New labor deal, new teams, Loons' schedule analyzed
February 29, 2020 at 5:47AM
1. New CBA
More money, better travel
The new MLS labor agreement with its players will increase their salaries, allow teams more flexibility in spending their money and let players share in media revenue starting in 2023. It also requires each team must use a minimum number of chartered flights: eight during the regular season this year, increasing to 16 by 2024, as well as all playoff games and Champions League games.
"It'll make a big difference because we continue to have more competitions," United player rep Ethan Finlay said. "We're in the Leagues Cup this season. We have the Open Cup. That summer gets very busy, very quickly. The further you go, the more games you have, the more short rest you have. Rest and recovery is extremely important if you're trying to win these trophies."
2. New kids in town
Nashville, Miami make it 26 teams
MLS is now 26 teams strong with expansion teams Inter Miami CF and Nashville arriving this year. Four more are on the way that will make the league 30 teams by 2022.
Austin FC and Charlotte enter in 2021, St. Louis and Sacramento Republic start in 2022. More teams likely are on the way. Minnesota United paid a $100 million expansion fee in 2015; that fee now is $200 million and rising.
Miami, partly owned by David Beckham, has followed Atlanta United and LAFC by trying to spend its way out of expansion misery. Meanwhile, Nashville is aimed somewhere between that and the 2017 Loons, who allowed 70 goals, and 2019 Cincinnati that allowed a record 75.
3. Strength of schedule
Do Loons have easiest go of it?
The way MLS.com crunches the numbers, Minnesota United enters 2020 with the league's easiest schedule because it won't play Eastern Conference powers NYCFC, Philadelphia or Toronto. Sporting Kansas City's schedule is considered the toughest, partly because it must visit 2018 MLS Cup champs Atlanta United and Philadelphia.
With Miami and Nashville entering MLS, every team plays its conference opponents twice and 10 of 13 opponents from the other conference once.
JERRY ZGODA
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Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
