Multiple instances of the same competition for different years

[themodelcitizen]

When editing default competitions, you may notice that tournaments like MLS have two sets of rules - one ending after the first year, and one starting after that.

This is how the base game handles new teams coming in, or rule changes. You can do similar for international tournaments to make hosts/co-hosts as precise as possible.

Lately I've been creating multiple instances of the same division (like the USL Championship), with one 2-year rotating version starting from 2020, and another in 2021. The latter set of rules would be used in 2023, 2025, etc. Hell, you could add even more rotating editions.

This way, you can do things like having the season start on a Friday night one year, and Thursday the next. Games scheduled for a Saturday in June at 4 PM can take place the following season at 7 PM with one game offset to Sunday.

I also schedule specific game times for holidays like July 4 and Labour Day Monday, but there's a different trick for that.

Obviously this works for anything, but reflecting the variability is particularly valuable in places like North America. I've also used this so that when USL teams play their "extra" games (after playing everyone home and away), it's against a regional rival - but not the same one every year.