In a move to align with the world’s top soccer leagues, Major League Soccer announced plans Thursday to start its season in late summer and wrap up in the spring starting in 2027.
Since its inception in 1996, MLS has begun its seasons in the early spring and ended with its championship match in late fall. Its current 34-match regular season started Feb. 22 and wrapped up on Oct. 18, with the playoffs underway and set to end with the MLS Cup on Dec. 6.
In a move to align with the world’s top soccer leagues, Major League Soccer announced plans Thursday to start its season in late summer and wrap up in the spring starting in 2027.
Since its inception in 1996, MLS has begun its seasons in the early spring and ended with its championship match in late fall. Its current 34-match regular season started Feb. 22 and wrapped up on Oct. 18, with the playoffs underway and set to end with the MLS Cup on Dec. 6.
The proposed schedule change will start MLS’s season in mid-July of 2027, ending with the playoffs in May 2028. The league said it plans to interrupt the season with a lengthy hiatus during winter, from mid-December to early February.
Next year’s schedule will not reflect those changes, although there will be a break in the middle to accommodate the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Then, according to MLS, it will stage a 14-match “transition” season in 2027, followed by playoffs, with a truncated February-to-May format aimed at allowing the 2027-28 season to commence later in the year as planned.
“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Thursday in a statement. “Aligning our schedule with the world’s top leagues will strengthen our clubs’ global competitiveness, create better opportunities in the transfer market, and ensure our Audi MLS Cup Playoffs take center stage without interruption.
“It marks the start of a new era for our league and for soccer in North America.”
MLS said its board of governors approved the new schedule structure during a meeting Thursday in Palm Beach, Florida. That followed a meeting of league officials in December, at which Garber said they were “considering more than ever” making such a drastic change.
The new schedule structure, if implemented, could help limit disruption for MLS teams carrying out personnel changes during FIFA’s global transfer windows. In addition, the teams will be less prone to losing players to international competitions, many of which take place during the summer.
“Moving to the international calendar is going to be a massive game-changer, especially for roster-building,” L.A. Galaxy General Manager Will Kuntz said in a statement shared by MLS. “It finally allows us to operate in sync with the global transfer market. We’ll be able to sign players when the biggest talent movement happens — in the summer — instead of midseason when integration is difficult.”
MLS also touted the new schedule’s postseason window. By taking place in May rather than from October into December, games should be less affected by inclement weather, and MLS would have a showcase that’s not overshadowed by the NFL and college football.
The league also noted that, per initial projections for the 2027-28 season, over 90 percent of its games would fall within the current schedule’s calendar footprint. To a large degree, the beginnings and ends of its seasons would simply be inverted, particularly if MLS follows through on its plan to limit the number of games it stages around the midwinter hiatus.
One issue could be colder conditions in some matches held at the home fields of MLS’s more northern teams, with a trade-off that the league would no longer be scheduling games during some of the year’s hottest weather. In addition, MLS would be competing directly with soccer’s most high-profile leagues for the attention of fans of the sport.
Another possible complication could be reaching agreement with the MLS Players Association, which did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment. ESPN reported Thursday that a source described discussions with the players union as “teetering,” while a league official said a “very good dialogue” was taking place.
“Having MLS on the same timetable as the rest of the world is great,” former league standout Clint Dempsey, now a soccer analyst, said in a statement. “Whether you’re in MLS, Europe, or anywhere else, being aligned means players are sharper when they get called into camp and it’s easier for everyone — players, coaches, and fans — to follow the game year-round.”
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