MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER UNVEILS 2003 COMPETITION FORMATS

30-Game Season Begins April 5 with MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles at Columbus on ABC;
Revamped Playoff Format Includes Home-and-Home Aggregate Goals, Conference Championship Games

NEW YORK (Wednesday, November 20, 2002) - Major League Soccer's Competition Committee unveiled details of the 2003 MLS Calendar, which includes significant changes to the League's regular-season and playoff formats to bring MLS in line with the rest of the world's top leagues while preserving the drama and excitement of the uniquely American postseason concept. MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who led the charge to abandon the shootout tiebreaker and the scoreboard clock shortly after Commissioner Don Garber's arrival in 1999, outlined the format under which the League's 10 teams will compete next season:

* 30-game regular season adds two games to regular-season slate and maximizes weekend dates

* 2003 campaign kicks off on Saturday, April 5 live on ABC Sports, with the defending MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy facing the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Champion Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium; MLS Soccer Saturday's "appointment viewing" at 4:00 p.m. ET continues on ABC and ESPN2

* Eighth regular season concludes on Sunday, October 26, with the 2003 MLS Cup Playoffs commencing on the weekend of November 1

* Eight teams advance to postseason (top four teams from each Conference)

* Conference Semifinal series conducted under a home-and-home, aggregate goal format; one-game Conference Championships determine MLS Cup Finalists.

* If Conference Semifinal Game Two or a Conference Championship Game is tied, then 30-minute golden-goal overtime and penalty kicks, if necessary, are employed to determine who advances to MLS Cup 2003

* MLS Cup 2003 on Sunday, November 23 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles

* 2003 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game on Saturday, July 26, also at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles

"In making these changes to our schedule and playoff formats, we have listened to our fans, who have been asking for our playoffs to follow the international standard," said Gazidis. "More weekend games and the extended fall portion of our schedule enable our teams to work even more closely with their soccer communities, while the dual-style playoff format ensures that every playoff team plays at least one home game in the postseason and retains home field advantage for higher seeded teams in our Conference Championship games."

The defending MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy kicks off its 2003 season at Columbus Crew Stadium on April 5, live on ABC Sports. Eight of the remaining nine MLS teams will open their portions of the League's eighth season during the weekends of either April 12 or April 19, while the Galaxy christen the much-anticipated Home Depot Center on June 7.

"The day we roll out the ball at the Home Depot Center is another defining moment in the history of Major League Soccer and the sport itself," said Gazidis. "This state-of-the-art soccer-facility will not only be the permanent home to the Los Angeles Galaxy and our U.S. National Teams, but will serve as a spiritual home to American soccer fans everywhere."

Major League Soccer's two annual marquee events, the Pepsi MLS All-Star Weekend and MLS Cup, will both call Los Angeles home in 2003. The Pepsi MLS All-Stars are showcased on the weekend of July 26 (or August 2), televised live on ABC Sports. The 30-game regular season ends on October 26, while each of the League's playoff games occur on weekends, leading up to Major League Soccer's eighth title game, MLS Cup 2003, on November 23, also live on ABC.

Under the 30-game regular-season schedule, each MLS team faces its four Conference opponents four times each (twice at home, twice away), along with a home-and-away series against each non-Conference foe. The additional four games will be based on competitive seeding against non-Conference opponents. For instance, competitive seeding would allow an additional contest between the MLS Cup 2002 finalists, New England and Los Angeles. In summation, teams play 16 intra-Conference games, and 14 non-Conference contests, facing 4 opponents from the opposite Conference three times each and one just twice.

The 2003 Master MLS Schedule is slated to be released in mid-December, while dates and venues for teams' 2003 MLS Spring Training plans will be released in the near future. Major League Soccer's 2003 SuperDraft takes place on Friday, January 17, 2003, in conjunction with the NSCAA convention in Kansas City, Missouri.

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