Post from Ted Unkel announcing his retirement from officiating—
There’s nothing like walking out in a packed stadium, standing for an anthem, the adrenaline of being on pace with a counterattack or getting in the perfect position to nail the call, and the satisfaction of the team orchestrating a successful match.
There’s also nothing like walking my daughter to and from the bus stop, helping her through homework and projects and life, taking in an anthem before supporting my wife’s team and being there for her through all her endeavors, spending time with the closest of family and friends.
After 13 seasons in the MLS, I’m trading the former for the latter.
As with everything in life, relationships lead. Building those with players and staff on the field made my job better, and it was always so rewarding seeing them internationally with a little more of a smile as we were each representing our country. There’s an understanding of what we’re both putting into it and a connection that only sports can provide.
The pressures. The challenges. The emotions. The rewards. So many memories to recount and so many to thank. I hope I can do so in person when we cross paths next.
Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” said it best.
To all that officiate, I have the utmost respect for you. We say in our family to prepare when no one’s watching for when everyone is. Putting yourself in the arena is a special strength. Never stop doing so.
A good thought experiment from Manuel Veth at Transfermarkt on the potential cities MLS could expand or move into—
North America is indeed a massive region and there are plenty of candidates to land a franchise when MLS opts to expand, or a current team opts to relocate. But which cities are currently in the running to potentially land a team? Transfermarkt provides an overview of markets that could support a team and have moved forward with soccer specific stadium projects.
Mostly on board with his list, except for the following:
I would swap Oklahoma City with San Antonio. OKC currently has no soccer team whatsoever. Their USL Championship team, the Energy, ceased operations after the 2021 season with a promise to be back by 2027. The stadium they played in seated 7,500. There are plans to build a new stadium, which would seat 12,300, but again those are just plans at this point. It sounds like current ownership is gone and any new team would be under new ownership with a new name.
San Antonio, on the other hand, has had an existing USL Championship team since 2016. They’ve seen success—winning the regular season and cup in 2022. Their current stadium seats over 8,000 and can be expanded to 18,000. They would immediately join the triangle of MLS teams in Texas, making the MLS edition of Copa Tejas a 4 team affair. They are owned by the same organization that owns the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. And San Antonio is still in the central time zone like you’d get with OKC.
I would not consider any city that doesn’t have plans in the works to build a soccer-specific stadium. That cuts out Las Vegas and Phoenix by Veth’s own words. It also cuts out Oakland, which is far from having a permanent site.
But by MLS’ own conflicting standards, does a soccer-specific stadium really matter? In the last 10 years, MLS has added 12 teams. And while they say having a soccer-specific stadium is key to landing a team, 9 of those 12 teams either started their existence (ORL, MIN, CIN, NSH) or continue to play (NYC, ATL, MIA, CLT, SD) in non-soccer-specific stadiums.
My list would consist of:
San Antonio Louisville Indianapolis Detroit Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Sacramento
The 2025 MLS schedule has dropped, and with that, a 30th team has joined the fray. Welcome, San Diego FC! However, MLS has missed a chance at taking the bold step of getting rid of a legacy American sports construct: CONFERENCES.
Conferences are absolutely unnecessary in MLS and they are instituted by the league on an arbitrary basis. The 2024 New York Red Bulls (NYRB) won the Eastern Conference title for the first time in their history, but it wasn’t their first conference title. In 2008 they won the Western Conference title. Yes, a team from the East Coast which has been in the league from its inception in 1996, won its first conference title against Western Conference foes. That year, the top three teams from each conference made the playoffs, with the two next-best teams serving as Wild Cards. Because both Wild Card teams came from the Eastern Conference, and because NYRB were the 2nd Wild Card team, they were placed on the Western Conference side of the playoffs. Having won the Western Conference title game against Real Salt Lake, they played (and lost to) their normal Eastern Conference foes, Columbus Crew, in the MLS Cup title game.
That same year saw Kansas City playing in the Eastern Conference as well. But in fact, KC started its existence in 1996 in the Western Conference, then moved to the Eastern Conference for a decade between 2005 and 2014, before finally moving back to the Western Conference in 2015.
But muh expansion!
Certainly a lot of this jostling around in early MLS was due to expansion, causing the few teams in the league to switch up sides almost on an annual basis. But are we at a point where towering conferences do more harm than good? There are now so many teams in the league that the conferences are artificially obstructing natural, geographic rivalries (e.g. Chicago (East) & St. Louis (West) & Nashville (East)).
But, but… NFL!
Furthermore, in their current form, they serve to dictate an unbalanced schedule. Teams go years, plural, without playing each other. St. Louis CITY has been in the league for 2 years, yet 2025 will be the first time they play Columbus, Montréal and Philadelphia in league play. That leaves the NY Red Bulls as the lone team St. Louis has yet to face off against. Maybe their fourth year in the league will finally feature this matchup?
On that note, while St. Louis played Charlotte and Toronto in 2023, they did not play them in 2024 and will not play them in 2025. This means that by 2026, again St. Louis’ fourth year in the league, they might play Charlotte and Toronto for only the second time, respectively, ever.
What’s the point
Finally, there is no meaning, purpose or end-goal to conference play. Case in point: St. Louis won the Western Conference in 2023… yet, they weren’t Western Conference Champions. That accolade went to LAFC, which won the Western Conference Championship game in MLS Cup… yet, no one counts that trophy as serious silverware for the team because its actually a semifinal game in the MLS Cup tournament. Since St. Louis bowed out early in MLS Cup, and LAFC lost in the MLS Cup title game, neither team gets any recognition for their conference accomplishments. Conferences are literally worthless vessels!
Introducing REGIONS
Regions are an attempt to embrace natural, geographic rivalries while also allowing for a more balanced schedule. Let’s be honest: the fun part about soccer is being able to easily travel to away rivalry games. Yet St. Louis are forced to travel to Vancouver or Colorado every year while natural rivalries in Chicago and Nashville stagnate.
With 30 teams, we can now set up 5 regions of 6 teams each (detailed below). But first, let’s see how the schedule, standings and playoffs would look.
Schedule
34 game season
10 games
vs. region (1 home/1 away)
24 games
vs. all other teams (alternating home/away yearly)
Standings
All teams compete in one unified Shield race, with the standings table being 1-30.
Playoffs
Top 14 qualify for MLS Cup, with seeds 15–18 serving as Wild Card entrants. (No breakdown by region in the playoffs. Purely based on Shield seeding.)
NOTE: To ease the burden of traveling across time zones, travel trips should be introduced. For example, if the schedule calls for New England to play away games @LA and @SD, those games should be scheduled back-to-back. Either play them on subsequent weekends or a Saturday + Wednesday combo. New England can then stay out west for the week and not endure travel fatigue.
With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at how the five regions could take shape!
Northeast Region
New England Revolution
Philadelphia Union
New York Red Bulls
Toronto FC
NYCFC
CF Montréal
The one snag here is splitting Philadelphia away from DC United, but I’m not sure what else to do. New England makes things difficult since we don’t want to split up Toronto/Montréal or NYRB/NYCFC.
Other than that, it’s a nice little region that already has tons of history playing each other.
Furthest road trip
The furthest road trip for supporters is 9 hours between Toronto and New England.
Distances (hours by car)
NE
NYRB
NYCFC
PHI
TOR
MTL
NE
×
4.5
4
6
9
6
NYRB
4.5
×
1
2
8
6
NYCFC
4
1
×
2.5
8
6
PHI
6
2
2.5
×
8
8
TOR
9
8
8
8
×
6
MTL
6
6
6
8
6
×
Southeast Region
DC United
Nashville SC
Charlotte FC
Orlando SC
Atlanta United
Inter Miami CF
Fairly simple regional rivalries here. Orlando and Miami was already nice before Messi & Friends showed up, but now its cooking. Atlanta seem to have Miami squarely in their sights as well, but the fact is they have two regional rivals equidistant to the east and west in both Charlotte and Nashville respectively. Both can be a thorn in Atlanta’s side if they aren’t focused on them.
The odd man out here of course is DC. Again, it would be nice if they could stay with Philly. But without moving teams around in a fantasy scenario we’re always going to have a team like this. The upside for DC is: (a) Charlotte is a reasonable drive away; and (b) every other year they have close away games up I-95 in Philly, NYRB and NYCFC.
Furthest road trip
The furthest road trip for supporters in this region is between DC and Miami at 15 hours. Not ideal, but also nothing new since these two teams already play each other every year in the Eastern Conference. Supporters for each are relying on flights instead.
Distances (hours by car)
DC
CLT
ATL
NSH
ORL
MIA
DC
×
6
10
10
12
15
CLT
6
×
4
7
7.5
11
ATL
10
4
×
4
6
9.5
NSH
10
7
4
×
10
13.5
ORL
12
7.5
6
10
×
3.5
MIA
15
11
9.5
13.5
3.5
×
Midwest Region
Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew
St. Louis CITY
Minnesota United
FC Cincinnati
Sporting KC
The Midwest Region stands to benefit the most from realignment. The rivalry between St. Louis and SKC is only two years old, but already sizzling. Ditto with Columbus and Cincinnati. Neither of those two rivalries can be broken up. Chicago serves as a hub of the region, not too far from any one city. The hope here is that this move can ignite a rivalry between St. Louis and Chicago like they have in other sports. But don’t discount Minnesota in that equation as they are only 6 hours away from Chicago. What could playing each other twice a year mean for a rivalry between those two? Bringing Cincinnati and Columbus into the mix would also set up potential rivalries with St. Louis and SKC, the latter having a long history with Columbus in the league.
Furthest road trip
The furthest road trip for supporters in this region is between Minnesota and Columbus at 11 hours. To me, that’s something you save for a special game (playoffs, title game, etc) instead of attending every year.
Distances (hours by car)
CHI
STL
CIN
CLB
MIN
SKC
CHI
×
5
4.5
5.5
6
7.5
STL
5
×
5
6.5
8.5
3.5
CIN
4.5
5
×
1.5
10.5
9
CLB
5.5
6.5
1.5
×
11
10
MIN
6
8.5
10.5
11
×
6.5
SKC
7.5
3.5
9
10
6.5
×
Northwest Region
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders
Colorado Rapids
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
Vancouver Whitecaps
The Western Conference is a lot harder to break up simply because there are fewer teams which are way more spread out. Fortunately in the Northwest Region we have some existing rivalries that we can lean on.
The three Cascadia teams need no introduction and do a fantastic job stoking their rivalry flames. And despite having down years recently, Colorado and Real Salt Lake have a healthy rivalry—battling for the Rocky Mountain Cup every year. The odd man out here is San Jose, which you’d think should remain with the California teams. However, northern Cali does have a connection with Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, so I’m OK with including them in this region.
Furthest road trip
The furthest road trip for supporters is going to be the otherworldly 22 hours between Vancouver and Colorado. The geography of the region is just going to dictate air travel. But, since all of these teams are currently in the Western Conference they are used to playing away games against each other.
Distances (hours by car)
SJ
COL
RSL
SEA
POR
VAN
SJ
×
18
11
12.5
10
16
COL
18
×
7
18.5
17.5
22
RSL
11
7
×
12
11
14.5
SEA
12.5
18.5
12
×
3
3
POR
10
17.5
11
3
×
6
VAN
16
22
14.5
3
6
×
Southwest Region
LA Galaxy
FC Dallas
LAFC
Houston Dynamo
San Diego FC
Austin FC
Again, the vast distances out West dictate a Region that may not seem exactly geographically connected, so here we have somewhat of a compromise. This sets up two mini-regions playing against each other. In one, you have the hot and heavy Galaxy/LAFC rivalry that will now add San Diego into the mix. That can’t be broken up and should make for good watching all around, similar to the three Cascadia teams. Will a new “SoCal Cup” (San Angeles Cup? San Andreas Cup?) be created and contested between the three?
And in the other mini-region, we have another three teams that cannot be broken up in Dallas, Houston and Austin. Those three already play annually for the Copa Tejas and have really good rivalries between each other.
Furthest road trip
The furthest road trip for supporters in this region is going to be 22.5 hours (whew!) between Houston and either Los Angeles team. But obviously this region would be set up better for driving inside each mini-region and flying between the two. Of course since these teams play each other in the current Western Conference, supporters are already used to how they can get to away games.
Distances (hours by car)
LA
LAFC
SD
DAL
HOU
ATX
LA
×
0.5
2
21
22.5
21
LAFC
0.5
×
2
21
22.5
21
SD
2
2
×
19
20.5
18.5
DAL
21
21
19
×
4
3
HOU
22.5
22.5
20.5
4
×
2.5
ATX
21
21
18.5
3
2.5
×
Wrapping it up
There you have it. 5 regions. 6 teams each. All teams play each other at least once per year. Only 1 standings table. Winning your region means nothing. Playoffs are no longer segregated—rather, they are based on seeding, like any other soccer tournament.
The good thing is that MLS, as a league, has been in a state of flux since its founding—with teams constantly shifting conferences and divisions. Trying something new will not upset the apple cart. It is not like a Western Soccer League and an Eastern Soccer League merged to form MLS and now we have to keep all the teams in their respective conferences, because: tradition.
Let’s try something new and double down on the beating heart of soccer—geographic rivalries!
After a long wait, MLS released the 2025 schedule today. Charles Boehm picks his top matchups to look for. Here’s a few:
St. Louis CITY @ San Diego FC, March 1
Jaws. Toros. Sockers. Nomads. San Diego is rich in soccer history, talent and culture, yet it’s been decades since a top-flight men’s professional outdoor team represented ‘America’s Finest City.’ That finally changes on the first night of March when SDFC play their inaugural home match, led by livewire Mexican winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano.
It’s quite fitting that they welcome St. Louis, another traditional soccer hotbed that’s embraced just such a long-awaited return since CITY SC debuted in 2023, for the occasion.
And
Sporting KC @ St. Louis CITY, May 14
Rivalry Week, a longstanding annual celebration of the league’s fiercest and most eagerly-anticipated matchups, kicks into another gear in 2025 with a packed slate of local and regional derbies across two matchdays. And what better way to raise the curtain than this heated cross-Missouri showdown between two cities with a deep, contentious sporting history?
This matchup caught fire right from the jump when STL entered the league in 2023, fueled by a clash in the playoffs later that year, and you can bet on both fanbases being hyped up for the latest edition.
MLS issues a statement on Leagues Cup 2025, announcing the tournament will be played from July 29 to August 31 in the United States and Canada. “The new 2025 Leagues Cup format will focus on delivering more interleague matches.” Full format and schedule coming in early 2025.
Just spoke to Axel Schuster regarding the sale of the club. He had known for about five months. Sounds optimistic that change is positive. Also mentioned constructive talks with BC Place to renew the lease on the stadium. Mentioned exciting changes to the deal
Certainly begs the question of what the Mayor of Indianapolis knew when, in April, he suddenly switched support away from building a stadium for Indy 11 of the USL and towards an effort to bring MLS to the city. Especially since Don Garber and MLS have said there won’t be any more expansions any time soon.
