Monday, November 15, 2010

Distance between MLS Cup Final Teams - 1996-2010

Last night, when Dallas progressed to the MLS Cup final to face Colorado, I wondered what the closest (in miles) 'rivalry' in a final game has been. These are the distances between the cities of the MLS cup finalists since 1996.


1996 - DC v LA - 2293 miles
1997 - DC v COL - 1488 miles
1998 - CHI v DC - 594 miles
1999 - DC v LA - 2293 miles
2000 - KC v CHI - 410 miles
2001 - SJ v LA - 306 miles
2002 - LA v NE - 2589 miles
2003 - SJ v CHI - 1836 miles
2004 - DC v KC - 940 miles
2005 - LA v NE - 2589 miles
2006 - HOU v NE - 1602 miles
2007 - HOU v NE - 1602 miles
2008 - CLB v NY - 476 miles
2009 - RSL v LA - 579 miles
2010 - DAL vs COL - 799 miles

Shortest Distance: 306 miles (SJ v LA)
Longest Distance: 2589 miles (LA v NE)
Average Distance: 1358 miles


The closest distance between possible MLS Cup finalists would of course be 0 miles if LA Galaxy and Chivas USA were to meet. With the current setup allowing teams to switch conferences for the playoffs there are a few current and incoming rivalries that could make a potential 200 miles or less MLS Cup final.

0 Miles - CHV v LA
80 Miles - PHI v NY
120 Miles - SEA v VAN
124 Miles - DC v PHI
145 Miles - SEA v POR
190 miles - NE v NY


A couple of related thoughts:

Distance between the current longest PL road trips from London to Newcastle: about 250 miles

Distance from London to Moscow - 1552 miles, over 1000 miles less than the distance between New England and Los Angeles

It's probably somewhat out of date now, but a couple years ago I did the world's longest soccer road trips within the same league. (link)

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