Minutes from the Committee Meeting

November 7, 2025 — Committee Meeting # 16

Thanks for enjoying Kickback Minutes! We’re in a very special time of the year for fans of soccer in America, and Kickback will be covering and celebrating this most special time of the year!

This week, in addition to the craziness of ongoing playoffs across four domestic leagues, we have special coverage of MLS’s monumental announcement of a schedule shift to a European-aligned Fall-to-Spring calendar.

Please enjoy responsibly. 

Agenda Items 📋:

• The NWSL Playoffs started with a banger, with Gotham FC taking down perhaps the most dominant NWSL team ever, Kansas City Current. A 121st minute goal from Katie Stengel, beautifully assisted by USWNTer Jaedyn Shaw, took down the injury-riddled current, and threw the NWSL playoffs wide open.
• The extra time heroics were thematic elsewhere, with Olivia Moultrie connecting with Reilyn Turner to lead the Portland Thorns over the San Diego Wave, while the Washington Spirit needed penalties to squash a Racing Louisville Cinderella run. Only Orlando Pride won in regular time, 2-0 over Seattle Reign.
• Lionel Messi has won his first ever MLS Playoff series! Inter Miami needed three matches, but routed Nashville SC at home 4-0, and will now travel to face FC Cincinnati in one of the most star-studded MLS quarterfinals in history. San Diego FC also won their final match 4-0 over Portland Timbers, and continue the most impressive MLS expansion season in recent history.
• Elsewhere, New York City FC was the only lower seed to progress, defeating Charlotte FC on the road 3-1. Minnesota United seemed destined for an early departure themselves, but rallied a man down against the Seattle Sounders to win on the tenth round of PK’s.
• The USL Championship’s semifinals are set, with the Western Conference leaders FC Tulsa taking the mantle as favorites and hosting a very in-form New Mexico United. The Eastern Conference juggernauts are all dispatched, however, and only fourth place Pittsburgh Riverhounds and seventh place Rhode Island remain.
• We have a cup final in USL League One! One Knoxville SC has reached the final and will host Spokane Velocity for the title. Yes, we are the only soccer newsletter to discuss One Knox every single week in its entire existence, and we do expect an opportunity to lift the trophy this Sunday ourselves.

State of Soccer: MLS Schedule:

This is a special series where Kickback Soccer Media CEO John Parker reacts to big, fundamental shifts in soccer in North America.

If you subscribe to this newsletter, you’ve undoubtedly seen the news; Major League Soccer has announced they are shifting their schedule to a more European-aligned July-to-May timeframe.

The Info:

The main drivers here for the change?

1) Optimizing player transfers by aligning transfer windows better with Europe

2) Optimizing the best part of the season, Decision Day and the playoffs, which competes now with football and has to avoid a FIFA International Window.

3) Avoiding summer tournaments that require MLS to shut down or play without its best players.

This is all well and good, but what it means in practice:

1) The windows of play barely shift, there simply will be more games in the cold months of November and December which currently only feature playoff matches.

2) A winter break will be inserted for ~six weeks, much like in Germany, from December to February.

3) The off-season break is likely to be shorter, with the league stopping for six or so weeks, but accommodating any summer tournaments.

4) 2027 will feature a shortened “Sprint Season” from February-to-May to accommodate the change

Finally, the ancillary changes:

1) MLS will remove conferences, and create a single table where every team plays each year, and “Divisions” of six will play each other home and away to maintain rivalries.

2) MLS still must seek approvals from the MLS Players Union, so expect there to be some concessions necessary from the League.

My Perspective:

There will be a lot of talk about infrastructure investments and ticket sales for colder weather clubs, and MLS’s competition with other sports leagues at any given time of the new calendar.

To me, only one thing matters here…ambition. This is, easily, the most ambitious move MLS has made in years, possibly since the introduction of the DP with David Beckham in 2007.

MLS has recently plied a steady course, reaping the returns of the increased valuations of sports franchises, strong expansion markets, and the quality of their in-stadium product. Additionally, professionalized front offices and compelling proofs-of-concept have led to a continuously improving on-field product. 

In the foreground has been this massive moment for soccer in the U.S., with the World Cup a year away, Messi in the League, and every soccer property in the world clamoring for a share of the American audience. MLS, buried behind the Apple double-paywall (which is thankfully gone in 2026), hasn’t made a move to capture new audiences or increase their relevancy. 

Now, they have. It can’t be the only move, per se, and the additional announcement of the changes in the Apple deal give promise that more is coming. For example, why would you change the calendar to optimize transfers, and not change the roster rules to benefit more from it? Where does Leagues Cup go now, and do you have a way to make it the preseason and let every team participate in Open Cup?

Perhaps this change is the exact preface for such shifts, and one that signifies MLS really is ready for MLS 3.0, and that their ambition truly is to compete with the world’s best leagues. Whatever the result of this change itself, that’s what excites me the most…MLS owners coming together and deciding to do something risky because they’ve decided the status quo is not enough.

Our Prediction for New MLS Conferences:

Northwest: Vancouver Whitecaps, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, San Jose Earthquakes, Real Salt Lake, Colorado Rapids

Southwest: LAFC, LA Galaxy, San Diego FC, Austin FC, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo

Midwest: St. Louis CITY, Sporting KC, Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, FC Cincinnati, Minnesota United

Northeast: Toronto FC, CF Montreal, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union

Southeast: DC United, Nashville SC, Charlotte FC, Atlanta United, Orlando City, Inter Miami 

Susannah “Cup Should Always Be” Fuller’s Cocktail Recipe of the Week:

One Knox is in the final, so we have an extra special cocktail for you this week: Knox on the Rock(s)!

1. 1.5 oz Irish Whiskey.
2. .5 oz Sweet Vermouth.
3. Splash of Benedictine.
4. 3 dashes orange bitters.
5. Stir gently in mixing glass with (large) ice cubes. 
6. Strain into a coupe glass or over a single (large) ice cube.
7. Pray for triumphant One Knox night on Sunday! #TOOK

Please remember to always refrigerate your Sweet Vermouth, friends.

Action Items:

Soccerwise: We got your MLS schedule change right here! Also, MLS and NWSL playoffs, and Committee member Brianna Pinto joins to go through the week in WoSo!

Kickback Committee: It's WAGS week with Susannah Fuller and Claudia Pagan, who’ve got an updated USMNT Rizz Ranking and some takes on the "Icicle Kick” from Canada’s Premier League final.

When you’ve done that, remind your local coach and chief sporting officer to please, Play the Kids.