Following a vote by the MLS Board of Governors, the league confirmed on Thursday that it has decided to shift its calendar to more closely align with much of Europe. The first new season would begin in July 2027 and conclude with MLS Cup in May 2028, with a mini season from February-May 2027 consisting of 14 games to bridge from 2026. The league will take a winter break from mid-December until early February.
Notably, the MLSPA has not yet agreed on the new calendar, with the length of the offseason the main point of contention. Also not quite ready to be finalized is the competition format. Reports have suggested that the league will shift to a single table broken up into five divisions, but no agreement has yet been reached. MLS Commissioner Don Garber only said that they hope to have it finalized by the start of the 2027-28 season.
Although a significant change, the shift still involves a lot of overlap between the two calendars, with more than 90% of games being played during the same “footprint” as the current schedule. Even in the current format, Concacaf Champions Cup begins in mid-February and MLS Cup isn’t until early December. Perhaps the biggest difference is that there will be no MLS games in June.
One of the main reasons for the change was to align the main transfer window with Europe, which owners believe will both allow them to more easily sell players as well as bring in players from abroad. MLS also revealed that FIFA will now allow the three Canadian teams to be treated as domestic for purposes of the transfer window, meaning the league won’t have to negotiate with the Canadian Soccer Federation as they did in previous years. There are also apparently efforts to extend the primary transfer window beyond the close of European windows to provide opportunity to acquire players who don’t sign there.
The new calendar also allows MLS to “optimize” the way it conflicts with other leagues, according to league executive Nelson Rodriguez. Of the big men’s sports leagues, the only competition at the beginning of the season will be Major League Baseball, while the playoffs will now be able to avoid conflicts with the FIFA calendar and American collegiate and pro football. That’s especially useful for the Sounders, who will no longer need to schedule playoff games around the Seahawks and are less likely to have conflicts with other events.
“We think this sets us up to showcase our best form,” Rodriguez said during a press-conference.
Although there appears to have been some internal disagreements about the change, Garber insisted that there was “overwhelming” support from the owners.
“The league in its earliest days strove for unanimity,” Garber said. “As the league continues to evolve, we have to move collectively down a path where we are managing a shared and collective vision and the agreements associated with that.
“But there was overwhelming support for this move. More than I expected. That’s a positive but not necessary.”
Changes to MLS Season Pass
Related to all this, MLS also announced MLS Season Pass has effectively been discontinued and instead all games will now be available as part of an AppleTV subscription, and season ticket holders will now receive a free subscription to that service. At the same time, AppleTV is now offering a bundle with Peacock for $14.99/month. That means fans can get both MLS and the English Premier League — as well as all their other content — for roughly the same price as MLS Season Pass.
