Report: MLS won’t resume season before at least June 8

MLS Commissioner Don Garber hinted in an interview earlier this week that it was likely that the MLS season wouldn’t resume on May 10, and as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic, it looks like that prediction will become reality soon.

Multiple outlets are reporting that MLS is set to announce — as early as Wednesday — that they will extend the suspension of league games until at least June 8. In March, the league announced they were suspending the season until May 10. At the time, that date was seen as optimistic at best, as both the NBA and MLB suspended their seasons indefinitely.

This all comes with the background of President Trump including sports league commissioners in an advisory group trying to determine when the country can be “re-opened.”

MLS extended their moratorium on training through April 24, and when Garber indicated in the same interview that suspension would be extended for a few weeks, it was all but certain the resumption of the league season would have to be pushed back to allow players to train back to fitness. A league source told Sounder at Heart in a separate story that players would likely be brought in on an individual basis prior to players training as a group.

The league continues to work through various scenarios to return back to play, which could include a tournament-style preseason prior to the resumption of the regular season. It is overwhelmingly likely that any regular season games — should they occur this summer — would be played behind closed doors. Dr. Anthony Fauci director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in an interview earlier Wednesday, said the only way sports would return this summer is if they were played with no fans in attendance.