On November 20, 2011, the Home Depot Center will host the MLS Cup final for the fourth time. After last season’s minor debacle in Toronto, where a combination of bad weather and absurd season ticket policy by Toronto FC caused BMO Field to be (at best) half empty for the final whistle of the 2010 MLS Cup Final, MLS has wisely decided to move the final back to a warm weather venue.

Red Bull Arena was widely considered to be the leading candidate to host the MLS Cup final, but the league probably didn’t want a replay of last year’s weather issues. Last time MLS Cup was held at the Home Depot Center, the Columbus Crew won their first title in front of a sellout crowd of 27,000 fans, so that’s also a huge plus. However, there are some obvious drawbacks to putting on the final in LA.

The game will kick off at 9 pm ET on a Sunday in November, which, if the NFL season actually occurs, will be an incredibly stupid idea. This puts the MLS Cup final in direct competition with NBC’s Football Night In America, which is the highest rated program in all of American television. The fact that the league would put themselves up against the highest rated program on television for two consecutive years is absolutely mind-boggling,  and I would really like to hear Don Garber’s explanation. Chances are, he doesn’t have a good one, because this is basically indefensible.