League delays season opener until April 17
TITO
Commissioner Don Garber said the Major League Soccer season will begin April 17, two weeks later than originally announced because of extended labor negotiations.
Garber held a wideranging news conference Wednesday after the league and its players agreed over the weekend to an amended collective bargaining agreement meant to help offset losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Now that the CBA has been ratified, the league will set a new date for teams to open preseason training camps in the near future. The season schedule will also be announced soon, Garber said.
It’s still unclear whether spectators will be allowed in the league’s stadiums because of different local restrictions.
“I don’t have any sense that fans are going to be in our stadiums in large numbers for most if not all of our season,” he said.
Garber estimated the losses to the league last season were $1 billion, partly because of the drop in ticket revenue as teams played in empty stadiums and because of added expenses like charter flights for teams. He expects this season’s losses to be in the same range.
“I think the good news here is that we have worked on a new long-term agreement that allows us to recoup some of the losses over time, from the losses that we’re going to incur this year. And we are forecasted to lose pretty close to that $1 billion, if not a $1 billion, that we had been talking about,” Garber said. “When you don’t have fans for the majority of your season, it’s just pure math.”
The amended CBA ratified this week gives players their full salaries for this season and extends the deal for two more years until the 2027 season.
The Major League Soccer Players Association and the league had already had two difficult negotiations last year — one in February before the start of the season and a second in June when players took a pay cut in order to resume the 2020 season.
Then in late December, the league invoked a force majeure clause, citing ongoing uncertainty because of the COVID-19 crisis. MLS had warned its teams to prepare for a lockout if another deal wasn’t struck. The league has not had a work stoppage since it started in 1996.
“That’s a credit to the respect that we have for our union. I think it’s a real credit to the professionalism and the expertise of the union and its negotiating committee . ... I think there’s a give and take that allows us to be able to work together to try to build this league,” Garber said.
Normally the season starts in late February and early March. Because of the delay, the league faces a congested competition calendar. The league’s 27 teams, with expansion Austin joining this season, will play a 34-game regular season.
Tito is a male Mastiff mix who will be available for adoption at the Gordon County Animal Control Animal Shelter on Friday. He is approximately three years old and weighs 84 pounds.
Tito is a large but lovable dog with a friendly personality. He likes spending time with people and other animals, and he particularly enjoys playing games outside with anyone willing to chase him around the yard. Some of his favorite games include Frisbee chase, tug-ofwar and fetch.
The folks at the shelter say that Tito loves to cuddle and be close to the humans he loves. A very affectionate dog, he does sometimes get excited around new people and jump on them but listens very well when told to stop. Because of this, Tito would do best in a home with an energetic family with children who are old enough to play but not be hurt by a little bit of jumping during games.
When calling to ask about Tito, reference pet I.D. number 12642.
Visit Tito or one of the many other animals available for adoption at the Gordon County Animal Control Animal Shelter, 790 Harris Beamer Road, on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
Adoption fees for cats adopted from Gordon County are $75. The adoption fee for dogs is $85. These prices cover the cost of a spay/neuter procedure and a rabies vaccine.
Gus Malzahn had planned take a season off from coaching and maybe do some TV work.
Then the UCF job opened up.
“I truly believe that this is a program of the future in college football,” Malzahn said. “The reason I believe that is the foundation has been built.”
Central Florida hired Malzahn as its coach Monday, a little more than two months after he was fired by Auburn.
Malzahn received a fiveyear deal with an annual salary of $2.3 million.
The 55-year-old Malzahn was 68-35 in eight years with the Tigers, never having a losing season and going 39-27 in the Southeastern Conference. He led Auburn to the BCS title game in his first season as head coach in 2013, and was offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2010 when Cam Newton powered the Tigers to the national championship.
Malzahn said UCF can reach those lofty heights, too.
“The goal is very simple: Win championships and get into the College Football Playoff,” he said.
Auburn fired Malzahn in December, paying a $21.5 million contract buyout to the coach, after the Tigers went 6-4 in 2020. The buyout had no mitigation clause and is not decreased by Malzahn taking another job.
UCF lost both its athletic director (Danny White) and football coach (Josh Heupel) to Tennessee last month. UCF hired Terry Mohajir as AD last week. Mohajir was the athletic director at Arkansas State during Malzahn’s one season at the Sun Belt school. Arkansas State won a conference title that season before Malzahn returned to Auburn as head coach.
Mohajir said he called Malzahn even before he was officially announced as UCF’s new athletic director to gauge the his interest in becoming the Knights’ head coach.
Malzahn was very interested.
Malzahn said he had drawn some interest from other schools looking for a head coach over the last couple months, but he called it “nothing serious.”
He was content to take a year off after more than three decades in coaching that started in Arkansas high schools.
“This coach has won at every level,” Mohajir said.
Mohajir said even after contacting Malzahn, he went through the process of evaluating other candidates before offering Malzahn the job Sunday night.
“Having a national brand coach is important, but you have to have a good national brand coach,” Mohajir said.
UCF has been one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference since joining the league in 2013. The Knights have won the conference three titles and played in three BCS or New Year’s six bowls.
Coach Scott Frost led UCF to an unbeaten season in 2017, capped by a Peach Bowl victory against Auburn and Malzahn. Heupel took over in 2018 and led the Knights to another unbeaten regular season before losing in the Fiesta Bowl to LSU.
Being in a conference outside the Power Five has been a glass ceiling for UCF, but Malzahn doesn’t believe it has to stay that way.
“This is one of the top 25 coaching jobs in all of college football,” Malzahn said.
The Knights fell off last year to 6-4, but located in the heart of a talent-rich, football-crazy state and having sunk plenty of money into facilities, UCF appears primed to continue its winning ways.
Malzahn inherits one of the top quarterbacks in the country in Dillon Gabriel and the foundation of a offense that has been one of the most prolific and fastpaced in the country under Frost and Heupel.