Brazil to shrink first division and alter schedule

The Brazilian Soccer Confederation announced today that Brazil's top league will go from 22 to 20 clubs in 2006. Also in 2006, there will be a one-month break in the schedule for the World Cup.

The other big announcement was their decision to adapt the Brazilian schedule to coincide with the European clubs starting in 2007. Teams will now play August to May instead of April to November.

The change in schedule is what FIFA wants all leagues to do. It will be easier to schedule tournaments and other international events with everyone playing their league matches at the same time.

So will this ever happen to MLS? The danger is obvious - there is a lot more competition in the "sports market place" between Aug and May then during the summer months. The chance of breaking through all the other sporting noise would be difficult. At the start of their season, they would have to deal with baseball playoffs and the start of college and pro American football. In the middle, there would be the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl. Finally, their season would end against the NHL and NBA finals. It would take a strong league to get noticed in the middle of all that.