Last week, I felt privileged to attend the first-ever MLS game on Thanksgiving. It was an odd event I couldn’t not attend. Turns out, a lot of people tuned in to watch on FOX — just not the massive MLS TV ratings being reported elsewhere.
On Thursday, the Colorado Rapids hosted the Portland Timbers in a Western Conference semifinal at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. It was the first-ever MLS Thanksgiving game — I really hope it’s not the last.
In the U.S., Thanksgiving is a time for American football. It’s the Lions and Cowboys; it’s a college football game or two. But let’s be honest, the Lions suck, everyone hates the Cowboys and college football has been garbage on Thanksgiving since Texas refused to continue its rivalry with Texas A&M.
One of the great Thanksgiving traditions — other than your annual Turkey Derby — is watching American football teams you don’t care about. Typically, you couldn’t pay someone to watch a Detroit Lions game, but on Turkey Day it just hits different. This year the Lions are so horrendous that we at The18 recommend these soccer games on Thanksgiving instead.
After a remarkable Decision Day that ended with Colorado atop the Western Conference and Salt Lake in the postseason at the expense of the LA Galaxy, it’s time to begin our countdown to the Cup final on Dec. 11 with some MLS playoff predictions.
Thankfully, this season’s action begins after the November international break so there’ll be no awkward space between the first round on Nov. 20 and the conference semifinals on Thanksgiving.
The year that was 2020 disrupted a lot of the financial models for Major League Soccer and resulted in a new Collective Bargaining Agreement ratified back in February, but the 26th season of MLS is now underway while looking largely similar to previous editions, particularly with regards to the MLS Designated Players list 2021.
The 26th season of Major League Soccer begins on Friday, April 16, with a nationally televised match between the Seattle Sounders and Minnesota United on FS1 (a rematch of last year’s unbelievable Western Conference final). The MLS national TV schedule 2021 grows from there with FOX Sports, ABC/ESPN and TUDN all broadcasting a historic amount of games.
The 2021 MLS season marks the return of fans to stadiums across the league and, God willing, the death of fake crowd noise. Beginning with the start of the regular season on Friday, April 16, teams across the country will welcome back supporters at grounds with capacity generally limited to somewhere between 10 and 50 percent.