How could a fall-spring schedule change impact Charlotte FC?

By Brian Maurer

Photo Courtesy of CJ Hellner

According to Paul Tenorio from The Athletic, MLS executives and owners are considering changing the schedule after the World Cup in 2026. The idea currently being discussed is changing the MLS schedule to a fall-spring format, starting the season in August and finishing with MLS playoffs around April-May. For Charlotte FC fans, these changes would come with several new benefits and a couple of potential drawbacks.

Matching their transfer window to the international market

This benefit helps the league as a whole and many MLS clubs. For Charlotte FC this type of change is massive because they almost exclusively do their recruiting overseas. When Charlotte played CF Montréal on the road this year their starting XI was exclusively players they had recruited from Europe. For a team that is so dependent on the European market, having a change to the schedule that better matches those transfer markets would be a huge benefit to the Crown.

Charlotte FC General Manager Zoran Krneta expressed his thoughts on the transfer market earlier this summer in a conversation with MLSSoccer.com “The league was keen to change it this year, but they couldn’t for various other reasons, but this is where we need to go to be super competitive” said Krneta.

The Leagues Cup could be less of a disruption

If the MLS schedule does change to a fall-spring format another issue would be to figure out how the newly created Leagues Cup would fit. One option Tenorio reported that MLS is considering is adding it during the January-February winter break. In this scenario, instead of playing the tournament all over the country, it would be played in more MLS-is-Back-style pods in winter-weather-friendly spots like California, Texas, or Florida.

The potential drawback here for Charlotte fans is that they could lose out on a guaranteed home game. For season ticket members the Leagues Cup home game was provided as a part of their ticket plans.

After seeing the slow restart that Charlotte made after the Leagues Cup this season, many season ticket members would likely give up that home game for a stronger restart to the final stretch of the season.

Having the Leagues Cup during an already pre-determined winter break seems optimal for all clubs in MLS as their season would be far less disrupted. The games could also become more competitive as the traveling would be reduced for the Liga MX clubs.

Players and club staff might take issue with tournament games eating into their winter break, hearing some players’ takes on this would be insightful for the potential direction of this Leagues Cup change.

Weather boost but NFL lines

There are going to be several clubs around MLS where a fall-spring schedule change could have a major negative impact. Especially in ticket sales. Chicago, Montréal, Saint Paul, and Salt Lake City are just a few markets that stand out as having a major drawback to a fall-spring schedule.

Charlotte fans on the other hand could likely see a boost in attendance as they would be switching out their June-July games for November-December games. The issue with that change for Charlotte fans would not be the weather, but how often the club has to play with NFL lines. 

There could be a scenario where Charlotte has to play with NFL lines for most of their home games during the first half of the season in a fall-spring schedule change. An issue that would be brought up time and again on socials, and for good reason as the aesthetic look of the league does also matter. Finding a solution to balance both the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC schedule without the Crown playing on the Panthers lined field every home game from September to December would be key.

MLS Playoffs would have a less congested stage

If the MLS Playoffs were played in the Spring there would be far fewer alternative American sporting events for the tournament to have to contend with. This would give the league the opportunity to take centerstage during the most competitive part of the season.

The best way for MLS to draw in more neutral American fans is to highlight their best clubs playing in their most competitive games. The benefit of this change has the potential to make a major impact on every MLS club.

Summary

There appear to be a lot of potential benefits to making this fall-spring change. It gives clubs a better opportunity to be more competitive in the transfer market, the Leagues Cup has a way of fitting with less overall disruption, and the MLS Cup playoffs would have a better opportunity to shine. Charlotte fans would trade out some of their hot summer month games for more late fall games. Something that few Southerners would complain about.

Changes to MLS and American soccer as a whole have been coming fast over the last few years, and it looks like things are just starting to get going as the 2026 World Cup approaches.