MLS will play a 2027 ‘sprint season’ before resetting its calendar

Main League Soccer will play a shortened 14-game common season in early 2027 earlier than the league switches to a schedule that higher aligns with these of its worldwide counterparts.

The league said Thursday that the so-called “dash season” will run from February to Might 2027, with every of the league’s 30 groups taking part in 14 video games — seven at dwelling and 7 on the highway — solely towards convention opponents.

The highest eight groups from every convention will advance to the single-elimination MLS Cup playoffs, culminating with a championship recreation between the Japanese and Western Convention champions. 5 groups will qualify for the 2028 CONCACAF Champions Cup and 18 groups, 9 from every convention, will qualify for the 2028 Leagues Cup based mostly on efficiency throughout the dash season.

The league will then flip to a 2027-28 season that kicks off in July 2027. The playoffs and league championship might be performed in Might 2028.

The transfer to a summer-to-spring calendar goals to place MLS in a extra aggressive place for participant transfers, whereas additionally releasing up its gamers for nationwide group duties throughout the summer time, when many main worldwide tournaments happen. The present season started in February and can wrap up with the MLS Cup last in December.

MLS house owners voted final yr to make the change.

The brand new MLS schedule contains an prolonged break throughout the winter, with just some video games performed in early December and no video games in January earlier than resuming in early to mid-February.

“This is a chance for us to get rid of the competitors that we’ve had for our playoffs as they exist in the present day in a really crowded time of the yr,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber stated when the brand new season format was accredited. “It permits us to be aligned with the worldwide switch home windows, which we predict is extremely necessary. It provides us all kinds of alternatives that can develop our potential to be on this path to be one of many prime and main leagues on the earth.”