Less than a week before the start of the 2023 season, MLS finally unveiled its new playoff format. As previous reports had suggested, there will be two playoff spots added to each conference — meaning that 18 of 29 teams will qualify for the postseason this year — and there will now be a best-of-3 first round that follows a wildcard round.

All of this comes on the heels of what most observers agreed was probably the most compelling playoff in league history when the 2022 regular season’s top two teams advanced to the final, which was decided in a penalty shootout.

Reportedly driving the change was a request from new streaming partner Apple to increase the number of playoff games and MLS owners’ desire to allow more teams to host games. This format increases the total number of playoff games from 13 to 17-25 and means at least 10 teams will host a game, as opposed to just six.

Potential drawbacks

There are some obvious compromises with the new structure. The most obvious is that 62% of teams will now qualify for the postseason, up from 50% in 2022 and the most in a non-Covid season since 2006 when 8 of 12 made it.

The new structure also runs the risk of being rather confusing to even veteran MLS fans as each of the first three rounds will be played with a different format and some teams will potentially have a three-week break between the first round and conference semifinals due to the international window that’s scheduled for Nov. 13-21. Notably, the best-of-3 format is not used anywhere else in the world and while it was previously used in MLS, it was abandoned following the 2002 season.

This also means that the MLS Cup winner could be forced to add as many as three additional games to what already promises to be a heavy schedule that also added up to seven Leagues Cup matches to this year’s calendar.

2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule

After Decision Day on Oct. 21, the playoff schedule will go as follows:

• Wild Card matches: Oct. 25-26
• Round One Best-of-3 series matches: Oct. 28-Nov. 12
• Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals: Nov. 25-Dec. 3
• MLS Cup presented by Audi: Dec. 9.

2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Format

Qualification:

• Seeds 1-7 in each conference will automatically qualify for the Round One Best-of-3 series.
• Seeds 8-9 in each conference will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card matches.

2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card Matches (2 games)

• Two single-game elimination matches hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of a Wild Card game is tied at the end of regulation, no extra time will be played, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• The winner of each Wild Card match will advance to the Round One Best-of-3 series to face the conference No. 1 seed.
• Eastern Conference Wild Card Match: No. 8 vs. No. 9
• Western Conference Wild Card Match: No. 8 vs. No. 9

Round One Best-of-3 Series (8-16 games)

• Every Round One game will have a winner; no ties, no aggregate score.
• The matches will be hosted in a home-away-home format:
• Match 1: higher seed hosts
• Match 2: lower seed hosts
• Match 3: higher seed hosts
• If a match is tied at the end of regulation, no extra time will be played, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• The first team to win two matches will advance.
• Four teams from each conference will advance to the Conference Semifinals.
• Eastern Conference Round One Best-of-3 Series
• No. 1 vs. No. 8 or 9
• No. 2 vs. No. 7
• No. 3 vs. No. 6
• No. 4 vs. No. 5
• Western Conference Round One Best-of-3 Series
• No. 1 vs. No. 8 or 9
• No. 2 vs. No. 7
• No. 3 vs. No. 6
• No. 4 vs. No. 5

Conference Semifinals (4 games)

• Single-game elimination matches, hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of a Conference Semifinal game is tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is still tied at the end of the two extra time periods, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• Conference Semifinal winners will advance to the Conference Final.
• Eastern Conference Semifinals
• Winner of No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 series vs. winner of No. 4 vs. No. 5 series
• Winner of No. 3 vs. No. 6 series vs. winner of No. 2 vs. No. 7 series
• Western Conference Semifinals
• Winner of No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 series vs. winner of No. 4 vs. No. 5 series
• Winner of No. 3 vs. No. 6 series vs. winner of No. 2 vs. No. 7 series

Conference Final (2 games)

• Single-elimination match hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of a Conference Final game is tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is still tied at the end of the two extra time periods, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• The winner of each Conference Final match will advance to MLS Cup presented by Audi.
• Eastern Conference Final: highest advancing seed vs. lowest advancing seed
• Western Conference Final: highest advancing seed vs. lowest advancing seed

MLS Cup (1 game)

• A single match hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of the game is tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is still tied at the end of the two extra time periods, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• MLS Cup presented by Audi: Eastern Conference Champion vs. Western Conference Champion