MLS Approves MLS Is Back Tournament, Betting Odds To Come

“MLS Is Back” is a tournament to kick off MLS’s return to the field on July 8 in Orlando.
Once the tournament ends, the regular-season schedule will begin.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Major League Soccer (MLS) will be returning to the field on July 8 after games were suspended on March 12 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The league will play in a tournament called “MLS Is Back” and be divided into six groups made up of all 26 teams of MLS.

The kickoff to the season begins with the tournament, after having played only two regular-season games in March.

MLS Is Back will be held in Orlando at the ESPN Wide World of Sports facility in Walt Disney World.

To keep with the safety precautions for COVID-19, all players will be held at a resort in the city where testing for the virus will be required prior to staying and playing in the games. Teams will play three separate games within their group over the course of 16 days. These matchups will be recorded as regularly scheduled season games.

After the 16-days of tournament games, ten teams will be eliminated and the others will move on to a knockout round.

The team that goes on to win the entire tournament will seal a spot to compete in the 2021 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Champion League.

Once the tournament is over, each team will be allowed to return to their regular-season soccer schedules while continuing to put COVID-19 health precautions in place.

MLS Is Back Tournament Details

June 11 will be the day that teams will be grouped into six separate brackets.

On June 24, the players will begin to trickle into the Orlando area for practicing and preparation of the tournament, allowing for two weeks of quarantine prior to the first game.

Beginning at 9 a.m. EST on July 8, the MLS Is Back Tournament will officially begin their group matchups.

Every day, three games will take place at 9 a.m., 8:30 p.m., and 10:30 p.m.

The Knockout phase starts on July 25 and will go through July 28.

From July 30 – August 1, the Quarterfinals will be in full swing.

August 5-6 will see the Semifinals for the tournament with August 11 being the day of the Final that will end with one team being crowned the Champions.

Not only will the team be given the title of Champions of the MLS Is Back Tournament and gain entry into the 2021 CONCACAF Champion League, they will win a pool of $1.1 million that will be split in a bonus style form among the players and personnel of that team.

Betting On The Games

After teams have been grouped accordingly and a schedule of matchups is made from those groupings, legal sportsbooks will have bets posted for bettors to wager on the tournament.

A revised version of MLS regular-season schedules will be made and playing will begin after the tournament ends.

Bets for regular games will be seen on sports betting platforms as well after revisions have been made. Going months without major sporting events, the “new normal” is finally allowing sports to make a comeback and MLS will make theirs July 8.

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Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.