Supporters’ Shield winners deserve a little more recognition

There was no grand announcement. No big press release. Instead, it was only mentioned as a sort of line-item in a long list of rules for the 2014 season. MLS has instituted the away-goals tiebreaker in the playoffs.

The reasoning was simple enough: soccer fans are used to it being this way.

As compelling a reason as that may be from a viewership standpoint, it’s simply not a compelling from a competitive one.

MLS has always struggled with this dichotomy. Early on, they erred on the side of competitive fairness by playing best-of-three series in which the team with the better regular season record hosted two games. But attendance tended to be pretty bad and TV audiences didn’t really respond either. The response was to go two-game series but to maintain a semblance of home-field advantage by doing away with the away-goals tiebreaker and increasing the likelihood of overtime in the second leg being played at the home of the higher-seed.

It was hardly prefect, but at least it was something. According to Brian Straus’ research, the higher seed went from winning about 63 percent of three-game series to winning 56 percent of two-legged ties.

This latest change, though, threatens to push the percentage much closer to 50 percent as the likelihood of overtime where higher seeds have won five of the six series that were decided before the shootout.

The change is admittedly rather small. The reality is that even without the away-goals tiebreaker, the playoffs really don’t reward home-field advantage until MLS Cup. For all intents and purposes, it is simply a post-season tournament that is almost completely separate from the regular season.

I’m not going to rail against playoffs. I understand they are an expectation of the American sporting audience. People all around the world love the drama. What I do think MLS should do, though, is embrace MLS Cup as a truly separate tournament.

Sure, the winner can still be MLS champ. They should still get a spot in CONCACAF Champions League. Let them have a star on the top of their crest.

But maybe it’s time to start treating the Supporters’ Shield with some added respect. The Shield winner already gets a spot in Champions League, which is a great start. They also have the opportunity to host MLS Cup if they get there, another positive.

What I propose is something small, something merely symbolic, but something I believe adds just a little importance to the Supporters’ Shield: a hollow star above the crest.

While MLS Cup winners get a solid star, signifying league champion status, the hollow star would be a similar honor. But keeping it empty would be recognition that it’s of slightly less importance. The hollow star would only be given to the reigning Shield winner and would not be a permanent part of the crest, thus avoiding any confusion as to the number of MLS titles a team has won.

But for at least a year, fans of that team could buy shirts with the hollow-starred crest and get to enjoy a material benefit to what should really be considered a significant accomplishment.

No, this doesn’t fix the “problem” of the regular-season being devalued in the playoffs. But it’s a gesture in the right direction, a move designed to please fans, an appropriate thing to do in honor of the “Supporters’” Shield.