Major League Soccer will be the first major men’s sports league to hit the field in the United States with the ‘MLS is Back’ Tournament. The 54 game tournament is taking place in Orlando, Florida at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex starting on July 8th. Like all pro sports, MLS suspended play in March but this move puts the growing league in a unique position ahead of the NBA, NHL, and MLB who are all mulling over plans to get their games back on..
Chicago Fire broadcaster and former U.S Men’s National team goalkeeper Tony Meola joined Pat McAfee to breakdown the tourney and how it helps the sport but it will have a lot of challengers for players living in isolation during the lengthy tourney. You can watch that discussion in the video above.
Group stage games count towards the regular season records, and there will be a big prize money. The games will have 5 substitutions. All of the games will be streamed across several networks. Three games will air daily at 8am CST, 7pm CST, and 9:30pm CST. The final will be on August 11th. The tournament draw was held online last week.
ESPN FC dug deeper with former players in how important the tournament is for soccer, the risk of injuries, and more.