Tie games are a vanishing breed.

Ever since the NHL adopted the shootout in 2005-06, all major professional sports leagues in North America have settled the score of every game.

Sure, games in the NFL — and the CFL for that matter — can still, on very rare occasions, end in a tie. But virtually every time out, whether on the ice, the field or the court, there is going to be a winner and a loser.

Then, there’s Major League Soccer.

The league has seen nearly 40 per cent of its games end in ties so far this season, a dramatic increase from less than one-quarter of all games a year ago. Twelve of 18 teams have 10 or more draws, including Toronto FC, which has already played a club-record 12 ties with six of its 34 matches remaining.

And, a record 25 of the league’s 238 matches have ended 0-0 this season.

MLS officials are aware of the spike in draws for 2011 and they are monitoring to see if it’s a trend, an anomaly “or something that maybe should be addressed,” league spokesman Will Kuhns told the Star.

Commissioner Don Garber publicly admitted last month that there are “way too many” ties and goalless games for his taste. He mused aloud to The Star-Ledger of New Jersey about looking at ways “to make it more valuable for a club to play to win every game as opposed to playing for just a point.”

Kuhns said there are no plans for rule changes related to the issue for 2012.

It also appears clear there will be no rush to reinstitute the shootout, which was in place for the first four seasons of MLS, from 1996 through 1999. Widely mocked as a tiebreaker, it saw players given five seconds to dribble in from 35 yards and attempt to beat a hard-charging goalkeeper.

That concept was born of a belief that North American soccer fans want a winner and loser each night, just like their cousins cheering other sports.

But Garber, appointed in mid-season in 1999 and determined to bring his league more in line with international standards, axed the shootout. Penalty kicks are still used to decide playoff games that are tied after regulation and extra time, as around the globe, including World Cup elimination matches.

Kuhns said while not breaking ties may turn off some fans not that familiar with the game, the league’s focus “is still in putting our arms around the most number of soccer fans in North America that we can.

“The real difference point for this league is that it’s the world’s game, so we need to be playing it like it’s being played around the world,” Kuhns said. “There’s a comfort level with draws in soccer around the world.

“In terms of the casual fan, we’re confident that they will come to understand what a draw means as well.”

The number of ties in 2011 in MLS is high but not wildly so by international standards. In the English Premier League in 2010, 111 of the 380 matches — or 29.2 per cent — were ties. In Italy’s Serie A, it was 25.5 per cent.

And most MLS players bristle at the suggestion that some form of shootout-style format might be needed to eliminate ties and attract more fans.

“No, no, I hope they don’t go back to that,” said TFC defender Danleigh Borman, a South African in his fourth season of MLS. “You need to earn your wins over the course of 90 minutes.

“It shouldn’t be decided by penalties or something from the halfway line.”

TFC goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who perhaps not surprisingly says 0-0 games “can be among the most thrilling,” said with a salary cap, comes parity.

“You see in every game it’s pretty close, the teams are even and that’s exciting,” said Frei, a native of Switzerland who has been in MLS since 2009. “I would not be happy (if they did something to break ties).

“That’s not the nature of the game.”

Fit to be tied

TOTAL TIES

2007 – 25.6 per cent (50 of 195 games)

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2008 – 27.1 per cent (57 of 210 games)

2009 – 30.7 per cent (69 of 225 games)

2010 – 24.1 per cent (58 of 240 games)

2011 – 37.8 per cent (90 of 238 games)

0-0 TIES

2007 – 8.2 per cent (16 of 195 games)

2008 – 7.6 per cent (16 of 210 games)

2009 – 5.8 per cent (13 of 225 games)

2010 – 7.9 per cent (19 of 240 games)

2011 – 10.5 per cent (25 of 238 games)

GOALS PER GAME

2007 – 2.66

2008 – 2.81

2009 – 2.54

2010 – 2.46

2011 – 2.57

Source: Major League Soccer