When the MLS Board of Governors meets today, they will be discussing almost literal seismic shifts in the way the league does business.
The main item that will be potentially green lit is a change to the calendar that would see the season begin in summer and conclude in spring, similar to how much of Europe operates. According to a report in The Athletic, MLS owners will also discuss changing the competition format to one that is predicated on a single table, but incorporates five divisions that would allow every team to play each other at least once. As part of that move, there would also be a change to how the playoffs operate.
Nothing has yet been finalized, but advocates are hoping to have this change in place for the 2027 season. There would likely be a mini-season from February until May, bridging the end of the 2026 season and heading into a 2027-28 campaign.
If approved, the new schedule would likely start in July or August 2027, take a break for most of December and January, resume in February and then conclude with a playoff staged in May. Not only would this allow MLS to avoid playing during most (if not all) international breaks and move its playoffs from November and December into spring, but it would also facilitate easier transfers in and out of the league with the hope of selling players at more opportune times and being able to bring in higher-caliber players as well.
Although games would mostly be played during the same months they are now — Concacaf Champions League begins in mid-February and MLS Cup is in early December — it would push more games into the winter months, which will pose significant challenges for colder-weather teams. There would almost certainly need to be infrastructure improvements made to training facilities and stadiums. In Japan, where they are undergoing a similar shift, they’ve given teams a three-year runway to make the necessary changes.
Coupled with the change is reportedly a new competitive format that would see teams competing in a single table for playoff positioning, but broken into five six-team divisions. A source indicated the Sounders are likely to be in a division with the Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps, Real Salt Lake, Colorado Rapids and San Jose Earthquakes, but that remains fluid and up for discussion. Teams would play 10 games in their division and each of the other 24 teams one time each, with home games alternating every season. That would mark the first time since 2019 that MLS teams all faced each other at least once during the season.
The season would reportedly conclude with a reimagined playoff system similar to the one used by Australian League Football. Most likely, the top 16 teams during the regular season would qualify – with at least one team from each division – and be split into two groups. The top 8 teams would face each other with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals and the losers playing the four winners from the bottom half in Round 2 (the four bottom-half losers would be eliminated). The four winners of Round 2 would then advance to the quarterfinals, where a traditional single-elimination tournament would proceed.
The entire playoff would likely take four to five weeks, similar to 2019-22. The new competitive format would likely go into effect at the same time as the new calendar.
All of this would require the agreement of the MLS Players Association, which is reportedly mostly in favor of the changes as they are likely to be paired with more investment into compensation and loosened spending rules.
