I wonder if the earlier finish is to leave some extra time for a small playoff? Have a home and home semi-final followed by a home and home final? Top seeded teams get home field advantage in the second leg.
I'm a bit of a soccer purist, so in some ways I like the idea of total points deciding the champion. Simple and traditional. But on the other hand, having the top 4 teams enter a quick playoff would be good marketing for the league and would appeal to that North American mentality of having a little icing on the cake at the end of the season.
Of course, this wouldn't be as gimmicky as the MLS in the early days (breakaway penalty shots, clock running upwards, etc.) but it wouldn't surprise me. It would give other teams something to play for as the season drags on and one or two teams are running away with it.
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