LAFC, Minnesota United Covid-19 Cases Show MLS Cup Playoffs Need A Bubble

On Wednesday, LAFC and Minnesota United each revealed a player on their rosters had tested positive for Covid-19. The following day, Major League Soccer announced the 2020 MLS Cup Playoff field would be determined on a points-per-game basis, mainly in response to a string of Covid-19 related postponements following a cluster of cases within the Colorado Rapids organization. By Saturday, more positive tests in LA and the Twin Cities resulted in two matches in the penultimate weekend of the season being canceled. And down a level, the USL Championship canceled its final scheduled for Sunday because of positive tests within the ranks of the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

The pandemic is spiraling again across the country as we get deeper into the fall, with some experts projecting it will claim more than 2,000 lives per day by early December That prospect makes the prospect of completing the MLS Cup Playoffs at all over the next 6-8 weeks seem trivial. But with everything players and ownership have sacrificed just to get the season restarted, it’s only fair to do everything possible — without putting public health at risk — to complete the campaign.

The only sure way to do that is to relocate playoff games to a contained “bubble,” much like the MLS is Back Tournament that restarted the season in July.

MLS is Back, contested at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando, Fla., proved the league could stage a virus-free event by boarding players in a closed complex. The only hiccups in that competition came upon arrival, when FC Dallas and Nashville SC were ruled out for case clusters that they likely brought with them from their local markets.

MLS could combat that issue by requiring teams to travel 14 days before their first playoff match, rather than the seven that was required at the summer tournament. This would be an easier demand of teams at the playoffs, in part because half of those teams would be heading back home as soon as their first matches were over. And it would also allow players called up for international duty to complete mandatory self-isolation inside the bubble and be eligible for their team’s first playoff match. Currently, several teams currently face the prospect of playing their first postseason match without some of their most important talent.

An MLS bubble postseason might save money as well. Teams would have to spend on player lodging, but not on charter travel or operating mostly or entirely empty stadiums. And unlike the oppressive temperatures in Central Florida in July and August, a warm-weather locale in late November and early December may actually improve the on-field product, and would make it easier to push a potential MLS Cup final back a week or more from its current date of Dec. 12 if needed to make sure teams are virus free and at full strength.

There have already been three disruptive Covid-19 clusters during October. It’s highly likely there will be more in November as the pandemic worsens. And unlike the regular season — where using points per game provide a satisfactory, though imperfect, alternative — postseason virus disruptions could be devastating to competitive integrity of the playoffs and the specific teams impacted. Fortunately, MLS has already established a safe alternative model for holding competition during a pandemic. They should use it to crown an MLS Cup Champion.