Leftover turkey and playoff soccer. It doesn't get better than that.
Major League Soccer announced the dates for the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs presented by AT&T on Tuesday.
The postseason will begin on October 29-30 with the first Conference Knockout round, and will finish up with this year's MLS Cup final on Sunday, December 7. Kick off is set for 3 pm ET.
The November FIFA international dates on November 14 and 18 will be observed with a break in the playoff action between the second legs of the Conference Semifinals and first legs of the Conference Championships.
Then the two legs of the Conference Championships will bookend the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. This is the first time MLS has ever scheduled playoff games the weekend after Thanksgiving, which, according to a league release, "allows for more weekend games than in the past and a better overall rhythm for postseason play."
The playoff format remain unchanged. Ten clubs will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs -- the top five in points from each conference at the end of the regular season:
- The 4th- and 5th- place teams will play a single knockout game, and the winner will advance to the Conference Semifinals and face the 1st-place team in the conference;
- The Conference Semifinals will be decided by a two-game, aggregate-goal format;
- The Conference Championships will be decided by a two-game, aggregate-goal format;
- MLS Cup will be hosted by the finalist that finished the regular season with the most points in the standings
The playoffs will be broadcast on ESPN, NBC/NBCSN, and Univision in the United States and on TSN and RDS in Canada.
The MLS Cup final will air on ESPN, UniMas, TSN and RDS networks.
MLS Cup Playoffs 2014, presented by AT&T schedule:
Conference Knockout Round
- Wed-Thurs, Oct. 29-30
Conference Semifinals
- Leg 1, Sat-Sun, Nov. 1-2
- Leg 2, Sat-Sun, Nov. 8-9
Conference Championships
- Leg 1, Sat-Sun, Nov. 22-23
- Leg 2, Sat-Sun., Nov. 29-30
MLS Cup Final
- 3 pm ET, Sun., Dec. 7
