The Major Arena Soccer League will have a modified 2020-21 season, with 11 teams competing.
The league’s board of directors announced Wednesday that it will proceed with plans for a regular season.
The MASL regular season can start as early as Dec. 31, with a final regular season date of April 18, 2021.
The MASL clubs who have decided to participate in the 2020-2021 season are the Baltimore Blast, Dallas Sidekicks, Florida Tropics, Harrisburg Heat, Kansas City Comets, Ontario Fury, Rochester Lancers, San Diego Sockers, St. Louis Ambush, Tacoma Stars and Utica City FC.
These teams will play a regular season of between 12 and 24 matches in order to be considered eligible for playoff participation. A playoff format will be revealed at a later date.
Mesquite and Turlock have joined Milwaukee Wave, Monterrey Flash and Soles de Sonora as members unable to participate in the 2020-21 campaign due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These teams remain active members in good standing in the MASL.
Local and state regulations will be a determining factor in start dates, capacity, and number of games played, the league stated.
Teams that are allowed arena capacity, and have dates will have the ability to schedule and fulfill games as allowed. Standings will be based on winning percentage, since teams will potentially play an unbalanced number of games.
The 2020-21 MASL season begins with the first MASL all-star game, to be played Saturday at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri, featuring the West facing the East in a 8 p.m. ET match. A limited number of socially distanced tickets are available through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling the Kansas City Comets office at (888) 9-COMETS.
Fans can enjoy all the action on pay-per-view streaming via Facebook for the cost of $15. Go to the MASL Facebook page: facebook.com/MASLsoccer and select “Events”, or click here. The MASL is auctioning off game-worn All-Star jerseys and game balls via the Livesource app, or here.
The league also continues to evaluate opportunities to play in regional competitions outside the framework of the regular season, such as the upcoming Central Cup, and will make future announcements as warranted.
