CF Montréal ready for cold-weather dates in revamped MLS schedule

MONTRÉAL – The future MLS schedule will certainly bring challenges for CF Montréal, but Gabriel Gervais says his organization is ready to face them.

The president and CEO of CF Montréal met with journalists for more than half an hour on Friday morning, a day after MLS executives announced changes to the league’s seasonal schedule to align with the rest of international soccer.

Without confirming if his organization had voted in favour of the new schedule — citing the confidentiality of the discussions — Gervais said the changes represent one of the most significant developments in the league since its creation.

He added that CF Montréal’s owner — the Saputo family — as well as Gervais himself and his team were actively involved in the process, “ensuring that the interests of our fans and partners were put first.”

Starting in 2027, the modified schedule will run from July to the end of May, when the MLS Cup final will be held. And like the major international leagues, MLS will pause its season from mid-December until early February. No games will be played in January.

Before the new format takes effect, a transitional schedule of 14 games — seven at home and seven away — in addition to the playoffs will be played from February to May in 2027. This transitional schedule will determine qualification for various parallel competitions, including the Canadian Championship.

For now, the big unknown for CF Montréal revolves around home games during the months when the weather is least conducive to soccer, particularly in November and February, and perhaps even March, given Mother Nature’s whims in southern Quebec.

Gervais is aware of this, but he is weighing the extent of the impact of the changes.

“With an international schedule that starts in July and ends in May, there are certainly more dates in our colder climate. But one thing we saw in the (schedule) simulation is that 31 of the 34 (game) dates are essentially the same,” he said Friday.

“So yes, there are some changes in November, December, and a little bit in February, but it doesn’t change our reality that much,” Gervais said.

In the current MLS schedule, which will be revised in 2026, CF Montréal is often forced to play several consecutive away games at the start of the season. In the future schedule, such sequences will likely occur in the middle of the season, Gervais acknowledged.

“That’s during a period of about two years. And then, with the re-opening of the Olympic Stadium, we’ll be able to play indoors comfortably and safely during the colder months,” Gervais said.

Gervais says he has been informed that the Olympic Stadium — which is undergoing major renovations to its roof — will be ready in 2028. However, he was unable to give the exact date the venue would be available for MLS games. He also ruled out the possibility of winterizing Saputo Stadium.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2025.