Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008)
Current season, competition or edition: 2007-08 Major Indoor Soccer League season | |
| File:MISLlogo.gif | |
| Sport | Indoor Soccer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Country |  United States and Mexico |
| Most recent champion(s) | Philadelphia KiXX |
| TV partner(s) | Fox Soccer Channel |
| Official website | http://www.misl.net |
The Major Indoor Soccer League is the top professional indoor soccer league in the USA. The league is a member of both the United States Soccer Federation and FIFA. The MISL replaced the NPSL which folded in 2001.
History
In the summer of 2001, the National Professional Soccer League disbanded. The six surviving teams organized the MISL as a single-entity structure similar to Major League Soccer. In 2002, the MISL absorbed two teams from the World Indoor Soccer League, the Dallas Sidekicks and San Diego Sockers. The St. Louis Steamers, another former WISL team, joined the following year.
The current MISL recognizes NPSL history which dates back to 1984 when the NPSL was started as the American Indoor Soccer Association.
Organization
The MISL is currently organized in a single table playing a 30 game schedule. Traditionally, the season begins in October and ends in March. Traditionally, the league also conducts an All-Star Game at midseason. It has pitted Eastern teams against Western teams and USA All-Stars against World All-Stars as well as the MISL All-Stars against a Mexican team. No All-Star Game was played in the 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 seasons. The All-Star game scheduled for the 2007-08 season in Stockton, California was also canceled.
The top six teams qualify for the playoffs, which begin in April. In the first round, the sixth place team plays the third place team while the fourth and fifth place teams also play either other. The top two teams receive a bye in the first round. The survivors of the first round play the top two seeds in the semifinals with the first place team playing the lowest surviving seed from the first round and the second place team playing the highest surviving seed. The two semi-final winners will meet in the MISL Championship Final. The first two rounds will be a two game series with a golden goal tie breaker. The Championship Final will be a single game at a predetermined neutral site.
Television
The MISL has a relative lack of television coverage for being a national professional sports league. In February 2007, the league and Versus announced a partnership to deliver a nationally televised game of the week starting in March 2007. For the 2006 - 2007 season, Versus broadcast two regular season games, a MISL Championship Series Semifinal game on April 14, and the MISL Championship Series Final on April 21. Additionally, the MISL produced its first-ever live magazine show on April 7 to preview the 2007 MISL Championship Series. Before the 2006 - 2007 season, national television coverage was limited to the MISL Championships of the 2004 - 2005 and 2005 - 2006 seasons, which were shown on ESPN2.
For the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, the MISL signed an agreement with FOX Soccer Channel to televise 20 games each season.
In addition to national television, certain games are shown in local markets over local cable networks like CN8.
MISL teams
Active
Defunct/Inactive
Annual awards
MISL Championship series
| Season | Champion | Series | Runner-Up | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-02 | Philadelphia KiXX | 2-1 | Milwaukee Wave | Milwaukee/Philadelphia |
| 2002-03 | Baltimore Blast | 2-1 | Milwaukee Wave | Baltimore/Milwaukee |
| 2003-04 | Baltimore Blast | 3-0 | Milwaukee Wave | Baltimore/Milwaukee |
| 2004-05 | Milwaukee Wave | 2-0 | Cleveland Force | Milwaukee/St. Louis |
| 2005-06 | Baltimore Blast | 2-1 | St. Louis Steamers | Baltimore/St. Louis |
| 2006-07 | Philadelphia KiXX | 1-0 | Detroit Ignition | Detroit |
| 2007-08 | TBD | 0-0 | TBD | Milwaukee |
MISL II Championships Won
| Team | Championships | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Blast | 3 | 2003, 2004, 2006 |
| Philadelphia KiXX | 2 | 2002, 2007 |
| Milwaukee Wave | 1 | 2005 |
Championship formats
- Best-of-three series (2002, 2003)
- Best-of-five series (2004)
- Two game plus golden goal series (2005, 2006)
- Single game (2007, 2008)
Rules
The MISL game is the standard North American version of indoor soccer. It is different from the FIFA-sanctioned futsal.
Each MISL game consists of four 15-minute quarters. There are breaks between the first two and the last two quarters. There is also a 15-minute halftime. Ties result in consecutive 15-minute sudden death overtimes.
An MISL field is roughly the size of an ice hockey rink, measuring 200 feet by 80 feet. Goals measure 14 feet by 8 feet and are set into the boards. Players are allowed to bounce the ball off the dasher boards. Play stops if the ball leaves the field of play.
During an MISL game, each team is allowed to have 6 players on the field at a time. One player is the goalkeeper who may handle the ball while in the penalty arc. The other players are generally divided as two defenders, one midfielder, and two forwards. Substitution is unlimited and may happen "on the fly" during play.
Fouls and misconducts are generally the same as outdoor soccer with a few changes. First, all kicks are direct, with no whistle to restart play, which usually results in a "quick start". Also, the MISL utilizes blue cards in addition to the traditional yellow and red cards of outdoor soccer.
Blue cards are for fouls that earn possible two minute power plays. Yellow cards are given for dissent, resulting in a 5 minute penalty but the offending team does not play short.
All red cards in the MISL result in a two minute power play. Red cards are awarded for violent conduct or accumulation of cards (3 blues or 2 yellows).
Originally, the MISL had a multiple point scoring system where goals were worth 1, 2, or 3 points depending upon the distance that they were scored or game situation. The former WISL teams objected to this. After the 2003 Championship, the league began using a traditional one-point-per-goal rule because of a controversial goal scored during the deciding game. However, the league went back to multipoint scoring in 2006 with 2- and 3-point goals.
Average attendance
| Year | Record |
|---|---|
| 2001-02 | 5,065 |
| 2002-03 | 5,420 |
| 2003-04 | 5,587 |
| 2004-05 | 4,388 |
| 2005-06 | 4,737 |
| 2006-07 | 4,707 |
| 2007-2008 | N/A |
| Seasons | Average |
| 6 | 4,984 |
See also
External links
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