After news last week that Major League Soccer was formalizing a plan to play out a tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando next month, new details have arrived via The Athletic, including the stakes when it comes to a possible regular season as well as the grouping of teams and the tournament format.
Paul Tenoria and Sam Stejskal reported on Thursday that all 26 teams would venture to Orlando in early June to begin crafting a “bubble” and practicing together at the massive ESPN campus new Walt Disney World. There, teams will be split into four groups for competition, with six teams in three of the groups and eight teams in the final group. After five games of group play, the top two squads from each group would move onto a knockout-style competition to complete the tournament.
These group games would count toward MLS league standings, The Athletic reports, “with the intention being for clubs eventually to continue to play regular season games in home markets later this year.” It’s still unclear what the reward would be for the winner of the Orlando bubble tournament.
In order to reduce travel, MLS already has determined no inter-conference games would be part of any possible regular season, and Nashville SC will jump to the East. The league, according to The Athletic, will also allow nine teams into the playoffs in an attempt to increase revenue for the most high-profile part of the season.
