Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a lovely week and that you’re in for a well-deserved break this weekend.

Even though MLS is on hiatus for the international break, the league still finds a way to make news.

This week, the board of governors approved potentially the biggest ever changes to MLS’s competition format. They are certainly the most impactful since the introduction of the designated player and are nothing short of seismic, though they still need MLSPA final approval.

Not only is the league importing something approximating the European calendar, it is also shifting to a single table, with divisions to group teams and help everyone play everyone else, while still maintaining local rivalries.

The idea is to start play in the summer, have a winter break, then resume things after the Super Bowl, with MLS Cup falling in May-ish. The idea is that this helps align transfer windows, but also has the most impactful matches in a less crowded part of the year sports-wise.

As someone who lives in the northern United States, I have always been skeptical of this idea due to the potential damage that cold weather markets could incur. I get that this schedule doesn’t have matches in months the league doesn’t already compete in. But I think there is a meaningful difference between a one-off playoff game in December and multiple regular season matches. Think the CPL final in the snow — it’s fun once, but it would get old every week. Vancouver will also likely have their schedule back-loaded with home games in winter, owing to its more favorable climate and (for now) dome.

I think some creative scheduling could probably address this. And I get that, no matter how you slice things, there are winners and losers in any sort of format. MLS is unique in global soccer in that it is probably the only league in the world that must navigate a huge country with weather that can be all over the place. The schedule change is undoubtedly a win for southern teams and, from a sporting perspective, everyone could win with fewer matches during international breaks and a transfer market that is more aligned with the rest of world football. The idea will be to have the transfer windows aligned across the US/Canada and even have it extend past the end of the European window, giving teams a chance to scoop up unwanted players in top leagues.

But I think a big win is the move to a schedule that actually has teams playing everyone else in the league, while still balancing and prioritizing the regional rivalries that make MLS great. It is absurd that the Caps go years without playing teams in the south and east. Similarly, you don’t want to sacrifice Cascadia matches to do so. You can easily imagine a division centered on Cascadia, plus RSL, Colorado, and a sixth team (San Jose?). More matches between the Caps and top Eastern Conference teams will pique interest locally, versus just playing Dallas or Austin ad nauseam.

I certainly get the arguments for making this sort of a switch. Having the playoffs not compete against the NFL and college football is a big deal. I have my reservations about this, but in fairness, most of us have also been begging the league to take some sort of big swing alongside the World Cup. This certainly would do that, even though the result is very much TBD.

Shameless Self Promotion

Caleb wraps up the Whitecaps 2 campaign with a look at who broke out (and who didn’t). One of those top stars (and, hopefully, a future star for the senior team) is Rayan Elloumi, who talked about his MLS breakthrough.

Best of the Rest

In another major shift, MLS Season Pass is dead — instead, all of MLS’ games will air on Apple TV. That means you don’t need a separate subscription to watch the Caps and, say, Ted Lasso.

A compelling argument for what the league needs to do beyond shifting the schedule to be relevant globally.

Axel Schuster talks the new schedule, BC Place negotiations, and more.

Ali Ahmed was sent off (dubiously) but Canada grabbed a 0-0 draw against Ecuador anyway