Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
league in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and the highest level of the
United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and 3 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and is sanctioned by the
United States Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...
. MLS is one of the
. The league is headquartered in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...
.
The predecessor of MLS was the
North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984.
MLS was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to host the
1994 FIFA World Cup. The
inaugural season took place in 1996 with ten teams. MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, losing millions of dollars and folding two teams in 2002.
Since then, developments such as the proliferation of
soccer-specific stadiums around the league, the implementation of the
Designated Player Rule allowing teams to sign star players such as
David Beckham and
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
, and
national TV contracts have made MLS profitable.
In 2022, with an average attendance of over 21,000 per game, MLS had the fourth-highest average attendance of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, behind the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) with over 69,000 fans per game,
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB) with over 26,000 fans per game, and the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...
(CFL) with over 21,700 fans per game. Two years later, MLS was ranked second in the most attended soccer leagues in the world, only trailing the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
.
The MLS regular season typically starts in late February or early March and runs through mid-October, with each team playing 34 games;
the team with the best record is awarded the
Supporters' Shield. Eighteen teams compete in the postseason
MLS Cup playoffs in late October and November, culminating in the league's championship game,
MLS Cup
MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...
. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned clubs, MLS is a single entity in which each team is owned by the league and individually operated by the league's investors.
The league has a fixed membership like most sports leagues in the United States and Canada and Mexico's
Liga MX
Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...
which makes it one of the few soccer leagues that does not use a
promotion and relegation
Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
process.
The
LA Galaxy
The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...
have the most MLS Cups, with six. They are tied with
D.C. United for most Supporters' Shields, with four each.
Competition format
Major League Soccer's regular season runs from late February or early March to October. Teams are geographically divided into the
Eastern and
Western Conferences, playing 34 games in an unbalanced schedule. With 30 teams in 2025, each team plays two games (home and away) against the others teams within their conference, and six games against teams from the opposite conference. The 2020 season was the first season in league history in which teams did not play against every other team in the league. At the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the
Supporters' Shield and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Teams break for the annual
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...
midway through the season, an exhibition game containing the league's best players. The format of the All-Star Game has changed several times since the league's inception; 2020 was the first year in which the MLS All-Stars were planned to play against an all-star team from Mexico's
Liga MX
Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...
, before the event's cancellation due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Since 2015, the final matchday of the season has been branded as "
Decision Day" and has almost all matches played between intra-conference teams kicking off simultaneously during two windows—one for each conference.
Unlike most major soccer leagues around the world, but similar to other leagues in the Americas, the MLS regular season is followed by a postseason knockout tournament to determine the league champion. , eighteen teams participate in the
MLS Cup Playoffs in October and November, which concludes with the
MLS Cup
MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...
championship game in early December. The 2023 playoff format includes a pair of single-elimination play-in matches for the two lowest-ranked teams in each conference ahead of a
best-of-three round; the round is followed by more single-elimination rounds that lead up to the MLS Cup final.
Major League Soccer's spring-to-fall schedule results in scheduling conflicts with the
FIFA calendar and with summertime international tournaments such as the
World Cup and the
Gold Cup, causing some players to miss league matches. While MLS has looked into changing to a fall-to-spring format, there are no current plans to do so. Were the league to change its schedule, a winter break would be necessary to accommodate teams located in harsh winter climates.
It would also have to compete with the popularity and media presence of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL),
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA), and
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL), which all run on fall-to-spring schedules.
Other competitions
MLS teams also play in other international and domestic competitions. Each season, up to ten MLS teams play in the
CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) against other clubs from the
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...
region. Four MLS teams qualify based on regular-season results from the previous year: the
Supporters' Shield champion, the team with the highest point total from the opposite conference, and the next two clubs in the Supporters' Shield rankings. The fifth MLS team to qualify is the reigning
MLS Cup
MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...
champion. An additional U.S.-based MLS team can qualify by winning the
U.S. Open Cup. Starting in 2024, the league will send eight teams to participate in the U.S. Open Cup instead of every U.S.-based club, with
MLS Next Pro teams as representatives for some teams. MLS had announced their intention to remove itself from the tournament entirely, but reached a compromise with U.S. Soccer to send representatives from clubs that were not participating in the Champions Cup, with the exception of the defending Open Cup champions. The last three teams to qualify are the champion, runner-up, and third-place finisher of the
Leagues Cup.
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, and
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
compete against other Canadian sides in the
Canadian Championship for the one CONCACAF Champions Cup berth allocated to Canada. All three Canadian clubs may also qualify through MLS or the Leagues Cup. If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or they are taken by a Canadian MLS team, the berth is reallocated to the next best team in the overall table. If the U.S. Open Cup winner qualifies through multiple methods, the runner-up fills the slot; should the runner-up qualify, the next best team in the overall table earns the slot. If the Leagues Cup champion wins the MLS Cup, the MLS Cup runner-up qualifies to the round of 16; should a Leagues Cup slot already qualify, MLS is awarded with one additional slot given to the next best non-qualified team in the overall table.
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...
became the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup under the competition's updated format in
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
.
Since 2018, the reigning MLS Cup champion plays in the
Campeones Cup, a
Super Cup-style single game against the
Campeón de Campeones from
Liga MX
Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...
, hosted by the MLS team in September. The inaugural edition saw
Tigres UANL defeat Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto in 2018.
Another inter-league competition with Liga MX, the
Leagues Cup, was established in 2019. The 2020 edition of the tournament was originally planned to pair eight MLS clubs against eight Liga MX clubs in a single-elimination tournament hosted in the United States, reviving an inter-league rivalry that previously took place in the now-defunct
North American Superliga, before its cancelation.
Beginning with the 2023 edition all MLS and Liga MX teams participated in the competition, which functions as the regional cup for the
North American zone of
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...
. As of the 2025 edition, only 18 MLS clubs will take part.
Clubs
The league's 30 clubs are divided between the
Eastern and
Western conferences. MLS has regularly expanded since the 2005 season, most recently with the addition of
San Diego FC in 2025.
The league features numerous
rivalry cups that are contested by two or more teams, quite often geographic rivals.
Each trophy is awarded to the team with the best record in matches during the regular season involving the participating teams. The concept is comparable to
rivalry trophies played for by American
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
teams.
MLS features some of the longest travel distances for a domestic soccer league, with
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...
and
Inter Miami CF
Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (M ...
the furthest apart teams at . During the
2018 season, the team with the shortest distance traveled over the entire regular schedule was
Toronto FC at , while the longest was Vancouver at .
Former clubs
Notes
:
:
Timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1996 till:2026
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
PlotArea = right:100 left:5 bottom:70 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:line value:pink
id:Full value:rgb(0.85,0.85,0.95) legend:League_member
id:Former value:rgb(1,0.9,0.9) legend:Former_member
id:Future value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.9) legend:Future_member
id:Other value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) legend:Other_leagues
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width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Colorado Rapids (1996–present)
bar:2 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Columbus Crew (1996–present)
bar:3 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:D.C. United (1996–present)
bar:4 color:Full from:1996 till:2005 text:Dallas Burn (1996–2004)
bar:4 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:FC Dallas (2005–present)
bar:5 color:Full from:1996 till:2011 text:Kansas City Wiz / Wizards (1996–2010)
bar:5 color:Full from:2011 till:end text:Sporting Kansas City (2011–present)
bar:6 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Los Angeles Galaxy (1996–present)
bar:7 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:New England Revolution (1996–present)
bar:8 color:Full from:1996 till:2006 text:New York/New Jersey MetroStars; MetroStars (1996–2005)
bar:8 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:New York Red Bulls (2006–present)
bar:9 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:San Jose Clash (1996–1999)
bar:9 color:Full from:2000 till:2006 text:San Jose Earthquakes (2000–2005)
bar:9 color:Full from:2008 till:end text:San Jose Earthquakes (2008–present)
bar:10 color:Former from:1996 till:2002 text:Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996–2001)
bar:11 color:Full from:1998 till:end text:Chicago Fire (1998–present)
bar:12 color:Former from:1998 till:2002 text:Miami Fusion (1998–2001)
bar:13 color:Former from:2005 till:2015 text:Chivas USA (2005–2014)
bar:14 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Real Salt Lake (2005–present)
bar:15 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:Houston Dynamo (2006–present)
bar:16 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Toronto FC (2007–present)
bar:17 color:Other from:1996 till:2009 text:A-League / USL-1
bar:17 color:Full from:2009 till:end text:Seattle Sounders FC (2009–present)
bar:18 color:Full from:2010 till:end text:Philadelphia Union (2010–present)
bar:19 color:Other from:1996 till:2011 text:A-League / USL-1
bar:19 color:Other from:2009 till:2011 text:D-2 (2010)
bar:19 color:Full from:2011 till:end text:Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2011–present)
bar:20 color:Other from:2001 till:2010 text:A-League / USL-1 (2001–2009)
bar:20 color:Other from:2009 till:2011 text:D-2 (2010)
bar:20 color:Full from:2011 till:end text:Portland Timbers (2011–present)
bar:21 color:Other from:1996 till:1999 text:A-League
bar:21 color:Other from:2000 till:2012 text:A-League / USL-1 (2000–2009)
bar:21 color:Other from:2009 till:2011 text:D-2 / NASL (2010–11)
bar:21 color:Full from:2012 till:2021 text:Montreal Impact (2012–2020)
bar:21 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:CF Montréal (2021–present)
bar:22 color:Other from:2011 till:2015 text:USL Pro (2011–2014)
bar:22 color:Full from:2015 till:end text:Orlando City SC (2015–present)
bar:23 color:Full from:2015 till:end text:New York City FC (2015–present)
bar:24 color:Other from:2010 till:2012 text:D-2 (2010)
bar:24 color:Other from:2012 till:2017 text:NASL (2011–2016)
bar:24 color:Full from:2017 till:end text:Minnesota United FC (2017–present)
bar:25 color:Full from:2017 till:end text:Atlanta United FC (2017–present)
bar:26 color:Full from:2018 till:end text:Los Angeles FC (2018–present)
bar:27 color:Other from:2016 till:2019 text:USL (2016–2018)
bar:27 color:Full from:2019 till:end text:FC Cincinnati (2019–present)
bar:28 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:Inter Miami CF (2020–present)
bar:29 color:Other from:2018 till:2020 text: USL / USLC
bar:29 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:Nashville SC (2020–present)
bar:30 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:Austin FC (2021–present)
bar:31 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:Charlotte FC (2022–present)
bar:32 color:Full from:2023 till:end align:right anchor:till text:St. Louis City SC (2023–present)
bar:33 color:Full from:2025 till:end align:right anchor:till text:San Diego FC (2025–)
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text:
History
Major League Soccer is the most recent of a series of men's premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. The predecessor of MLS was the
North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984.
The United States did not have a truly national top-flight league with
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
-sanctioning until the creation of the NASL. The first league to have U.S. and Canadian professional clubs, the NASL struggled until the mid-1970s when the
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...
, the league's most prominent team, signed a number of the world's best players including
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
and
Franz Beckenbauer. Pelé's arrival attracted other well-known international stars to the league including
Johan Cruyff,
Gerd Müller,
Eusébio,
Bobby Moore, and
George Best. Despite dramatic increases in attendance (with some matches drawing over 70,000 fans such as
Soccer Bowl '78, the highest attendance to date for any club soccer championship in the United States) over-expansion,
the economic recession of the early 1980s, and disputes with the players union ultimately led to the collapse of the NASL following the 1984 season, leaving the United States without a top-level soccer league until MLS.
Establishment and shootout era
In 1988, in exchange for FIFA awarding the right to host the
1994 World Cup,
U.S. Soccer promised to establish a Division 1 professional soccer league.
In 1993, U.S. Soccer selected Major League Professional Soccer (the precursor to MLS) as the exclusive Division 1 professional soccer league.
Major League Soccer was officially formed in February 1995 as a
limited liability company
A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...
.
Tab Ramos was the first player signed by MLS, on January 3, 1995, and was assigned to the
New York/New Jersey MetroStars. MLS began play in
1996 with ten teams. The first game was held on April 6, 1996, as the
San Jose Clash defeated
D.C. United in front of 31,000 fans at
Spartan Stadium in San Jose in a game broadcast on ESPN. The league had generated some buzz by managing to lure some marquee players from the 1994 World Cup to play in MLS—including U.S. stars such as
Alexi Lalas,
Tony Meola and
Eric Wynalda, and foreign players such as Mexico's
Jorge Campos and Colombia's
Carlos Valderrama.
D.C. United won the
MLS Cup
MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...
in three of the league's first four seasons. The league added its first two expansion teams in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
—the
Miami Fusion and the
Chicago Fire; the Chicago Fire won its first title in its inaugural season.
After its first season, MLS suffered from a decline in attendance. The league's low attendance was all the more apparent in light of the fact that eight of the original ten teams played in large
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
stadiums.
One aspect that had alienated fans was that MLS experimented with rules deviations in its early years in an attempt to "Americanize" the sport. The league implemented the use of
shootouts to resolve tie games. MLS also used a countdown clock and halves ended when the clock reached 0:00. The league realized that the rule changes had alienated some traditional soccer fans while failing to draw new American sports fans, and the shootout and countdown clock were eliminated after the
1999 season.
The league's quality was cast into doubt when the
U.S. men's national team, which was made up largely of MLS players, finished in last place out of the 32 teams at the
1998 World Cup.
The league lost an estimated $250 million during its first five years, and more than $350 million between its founding and 2004.
The league's financial problems led to Commissioner
Doug Logan being replaced by
Don Garber, a former NFL executive, in August 1999. Following decreased attendance and increased losses by late 2001, league officials planned to fold but were able to secure new financing from owners
Lamar Hunt,
Philip Anschutz, and the
Kraft family to take on more teams. MLS announced in January 2002 that it had decided to contract the
Tampa Bay Mutiny and
Miami Fusion, leaving the league with ten teams.
Despite the financial problems, though, MLS did have some accomplishments that would set the stage for the league's resurgence. Columbus Crew Stadium, now known as
Historic Crew Stadium, was built in 1999, becoming MLS's first
soccer-specific stadium.
This began a trend among MLS teams to construct their own venues instead of leasing American football stadiums, where they would not be able to generate revenue from other events. In 2000, the league won an antitrust lawsuit, ''
Fraser v. Major League Soccer'', that the players had filed in 1996. The court ruled that MLS's policy of centrally contracting players and limiting player salaries through a salary cap and other restrictions were a legal method for the league to maintain solvency and competitive parity since MLS was a single entity and therefore incapable of conspiring with itself.
Resurgence
The
2002 FIFA World Cup, in which the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
made the quarterfinals, coincided with a resurgence in American soccer and MLS,
with
MLS Cup 2002 drawing 61,316 spectators to
Gillette Stadium, the largest attendance in an MLS Cup final until
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
. MLS limited teams to three substitutions per game in 2003, and adopted
International Football Association Board
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...
(IFAB) rules in 2005.
MLS underwent a transition in the years leading up to the
2006 World Cup. After marketing itself on the talents of American players, the league lost some of its homegrown stars to prominent European leagues. For example,
Tim Howard was transferred to
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
for $4 million in one of the most lucrative contract deals in league history. Many more American players did make an impact in MLS. In 2005,
Jason Kreis
Jason Clarence Kreis (born December 29, 1972) is an American soccer coach and former player who is the director of operations and special projects for Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake and the former head coach of the United States unde ...
became the first player to score 100 career MLS goals.
The league's financial stabilization plan included teams moving out of large American football stadiums and into soccer-specific stadiums.
From 2003 to 2008, the league oversaw the construction of six additional soccer-specific stadiums, largely funded by owners such as
Lamar Hunt and
Phil Anschutz, so that by the end of 2008, a majority of teams were now in soccer-specific stadiums.
It was also in this era that MLS expanded for the first time since 1998.
Real Salt Lake and
Chivas USA
Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...
began play in
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, with Chivas USA becoming the second club in Los Angeles. By 2006 the
San Jose Earthquakes owners, players and a few coaches moved to Texas to become the expansion
Houston Dynamo, after failing to build a stadium in San Jose. The Dynamo became an expansion team, leaving their history behind for a new San Jose ownership group that formed in 2007.
Arrival of Designated Players

In 2007, the league expanded beyond the United States' borders into Canada with the
Toronto FC expansion team.
Major League Soccer took steps to further raise the level of play by adopting the
Designated Player Rule, which helped bring international stars into the league.
The
2007 season witnessed the MLS debut of
David Beckham. Beckham's signing had been seen as a coup for American soccer, and was made possible by the Designated Player Rule. Players such as
Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) and
Juan Pablo Ángel (New York Red Bulls), are some of the first Designated Players who made major contributions to their clubs.
The departures of
Clint Dempsey and
Jozy Altidore, coupled with the return of former U.S. national team stars
Claudio Reyna and
Brian McBride, highlighted the exchange of top prospects to Europe for experienced veterans to MLS.
By 2008, San Jose had returned to the league under new ownership, and in 2009, the expansion side
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...
began play in MLS.
[ The Sounders set a new average attendance record for the league, with 30,943 spectators per match, and were the first expansion team to qualify for the playoffs since 1998. The 2010 season ushered in an expansion franchise in the Philadelphia Union and their new PPL Park stadium (now known as Subaru Park).][ The 2010 season also brought the opening of the New York Red Bulls' soccer-specific stadium, Red Bull Arena, and the debut of French striker Thierry Henry.
The 2011 season brought further expansion with the addition of the ]Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...
, the second Canadian MLS franchise, and the Portland Timbers. Real Salt Lake reached the finals of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.
During the 2011 season, the Galaxy signed another international star in Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
all-time leading goalscorer Robbie Keane. MLS drew an average attendance of 17,872 in 2011, higher than the average attendances of the NBA and NHL. In 2012, the Montreal Impact became the league's 19th franchise and the third in Canada, and made their home debut in front of a crowd of 58,912, while the New York Red Bulls added Australian all-time leading goalscorer Tim Cahill.
Expansion of the league
In 2012, with an average attendance of over 18,000 per game, MLS had the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S. after the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB), and was the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide .
In 2013, MLS introduced New York City FC as its 20th team, and Orlando City Soccer Club as its 21st team, both of which would begin playing in 2015.
In 2013, the league implemented its "Core Players" initiative, allowing teams to retain key players using retention funds instead of losing the players to foreign leagues. Among the first high-profile players re-signed in 2013 using retention funds were U.S. national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler.
Beginning in summer of 2013 and continuing in the run up to the 2014 World Cup, MLS began signing U.S. stars based abroad, including Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, and Michael Bradley from Europe; and DaMarcus Beasley
DaMarcus Lamont Beasley (; born May 24, 1982) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player. A left-footed player, Beasley played both as a left winger and Defender (association football), left-wing back throughout his ...
from Mexico's Liga MX
Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...
. By the 2014 season, fifteen of the nineteen MLS head coaches had previously played in MLS. By 2013, the league's popularity had increased to the point where MLS was as popular as Major League Baseball among 12- to 17-year-olds, as reported by the 2013 Luker on Trends ESPN poll, having jumped in popularity since the 2010 World Cup.
In 2014, the league announced Atlanta United FC as the 22nd team to start playing in 2017. Even though New York City FC and Orlando City were not set to begin play until 2015, each team made headlines during the summer 2014 transfer window by announcing their first Designated Players—Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
's leading scorer David Villa and Chelsea's leading scorer Frank Lampard to New York, and Ballon d'Or winner Kaká to Orlando. The 2014 World Cup featured 21 MLS players on World Cup rosters and a record 11 MLS players playing for foreign teams—including players from traditional powerhouses Brazil ( Júlio César) and Spain ( David Villa); in the U.S. v. Germany match the U.S. fielded a team with seven MLS starters.
On September 18, 2014, MLS unveiled their new logo as part of a branding initiative. In addition to the new crest logo, MLS teams display versions in their own colors on their jerseys. Chivas USA
Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...
folded following the 2014 season, while New York City FC and Orlando City SC joined the league in 2015 as the 19th and 20th teams. Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference in 2015 to make two 10-team conferences.
In early 2015, the league announced that two teams— Los Angeles FC and Minnesota United FC—would join MLS in either 2017 or 2018. The 20th season of MLS saw the arrivals of several players who have starred at the highest levels of European club soccer and in international soccer: Giovanni dos Santos, Kaká, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...
, David Villa, and Sebastian Giovinco. MLS confirmed in August 2016 that Minnesota United would begin play in 2017 along with Atlanta United FC.
In April 2016, the league's commissioner Don Garber reiterated the intention of the league to expand to 28 teams, with the next round of expansion "likely happening in 2020". In December 2016, he updated the expansion plans stating that the league will look to approve the 25th and 26th teams in 2017 and to start play in 2020. In January 2017, the league received bids from 12 ownership groups.
In July 2017, it was reported that Major League Soccer had rejected an offer by MP & Silva to acquire all television rights to the league following the conclusion of its current contracts with Fox, ESPN, and Univision, where MP & Silva insisted that the deal would be conditional on Major League Soccer adopting a promotion and relegation system. The league stated that it rejected the offer due to the exclusive periods that the current rightsholders have to negotiate extensions to their contracts. Additionally, media noted that Major League Soccer has long-opposed the adoption of promotion and relegation, continuing to utilize the fixed, franchise-based model used in other U.S. sports leagues. Furthermore, MP & Silva founder Riccardo Silva also owned Miami FC of the NASL, which stood to benefit from such a promotion and relegation system.
In October 2017, Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...
owner Anthony Precourt announced plans to move the franchise to Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
by 2019. The announcement spawned a league-wide backlash and legal action against the league by the Ohio state government. On August 15, 2018, the Austin City Council voted to approve an agreement with Precourt to move Crew SC to Austin, and on August 22, 2018, the club's new name, Austin FC, was announced. After negotiations between Precourt and Jimmy Haslam
James Arthur Haslam III (born March 9, 1954) is an American businessman and sports executive. He is the chairman of the board of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain. He and his wife Dee own the Cleveland Browns of the National Football Leag ...
, owner of the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
, were announced, MLS made it clear that Austin would receive an expansion team only after a deal to sell Columbus to a local buyer had completed. The purchase of Crew SC by Haslam's group was finalized in late December 2018, and on January 15, 2019, Austin FC was officially announced as a 2021 MLS entry.
MLS announced on December 20, 2017, that it would be awarding an expansion franchise to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, to play in a yet-to-be-built 27,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, Nashville Fairgrounds Stadium, and would join MLS in 2020. The management of the Nashville franchise announced in February 2019 that the MLS side would assume the Nashville SC name then in use by the city's USL Championship team.
On January 29, 2018, MLS awarded Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
an expansion team, led by David Beckham. Inter Miami CF
Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (M ...
started MLS play on March 1, 2020, and plan on opening the proposed 25,000-seat stadium
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
sometime in the near future. An expansion team was awarded to Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
on May 29, 2018, to the ownership group of USL's FC Cincinnati. The team, which assumed the existing FC Cincinnati name, started MLS play in 2019 and moved to the new 26,000-seat TQL Stadium in 2021.
The league planned to expand to 30 teams with the addition of Austin FC in 2021, Charlotte in 2022, and Sacramento and St. Louis in 2023; however, this was reduced to 29 after Sacramento Republic FC's bid was placed on indefinite hold. Commissioner Don Garber has suggested that another round of expansion could lead to 32 teams in MLS.
The league suspended its 2020 season on March 12, 2020, after two weeks, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...
, and other U.S.-based sports leagues did the same. The 2020 season resumed in July with the MLS is Back Tournament, a competition in which 24 out of the 26 teams competed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. In September 2020, the league announced the formation of MLS Next, an academy league for MLS academy teams from the under-13 to under-19 level.
In 2022, the league signed a $2.5 billion, 10-year deal with Apple Inc. that made Apple TV
Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...
the primary broadcaster for all MLS games beginning in 2023. The agreement also included MLS and Leagues Cup games shared across the streaming service. Subscriptions were provided for free for season ticket holders of clubs and certain matches were made free to all users. The schedule was adjusted as a result of the deal, with start times generally at 7:30 p.m. local time on Wednesdays and Saturdays rather than staggered across the matchday.
In May 2023, the league announced it would expand to 30 teams with the addition of San Diego FC for the 2025 season. The 2024 season broke attendance records, with an average of 23,240 per match and over 11 million total spectators. The presence of Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
and other star players was credited with contributing to the record crowds, which included several matches moved to larger venues.
Expansion fees
In 2005, Toronto FC's ownership paid $10 million (about $16 million in 2024) to join the league in 2007; San Jose paid $20 million the next year, and the fee had risen to $30 million when Sounders FC paid the fee in 2007 to join the league in 2009. In 2013, New York City FC agreed to pay a record $100 million expansion fee for the right to join MLS in 2015. This record was surpassed by the ownership groups of FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, which each paid $150 million to join MLS 2019 and 2020, respectively. Despite being announced in January 2018, Inter Miami CF
Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (M ...
only paid a $25 million expansion fee due to a clause in part-owner David Beckham's original playing contract signed in 2007. $150 million was paid as an effective entrance fee by a group that bought Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...
in 2018, which led to that team's previous operator receiving rights to Austin FC, which joined MLS in 2021. In 2019, Charlotte FC agreed to a reported $325 million expansion fee. The most recent expansion team, San Diego FC paid a record $500 million fee in 2023.
League championships
As of the 2024 season, 32 different clubs have competed in the league, with 15 having won at least one MLS Cup
MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...
, and 16 winning at least one Supporters' Shield. The two trophies have been won by the same club in the same year on eight occasions (two clubs have accomplished the feat twice). Of these teams only one, Toronto FC have also won their national elite knockout tournament (In Toronto FC's case, the Canadian Championship) in the same year for a domestic treble.
Organization
Ownership
Major League Soccer operates under a single-entity structure in which teams and player contracts are centrally owned by the league. Each team has an investor-operator that is a shareholder in the league. In order to control costs, MLS shares revenues and holds players contracts instead of players contracting with individual teams. In '' Fraser v. Major League Soccer'', a lawsuit filed in 1996 and decided in 2002, the league won a legal battle with its players in which the court ruled that MLS was a single entity that can lawfully centrally contract for player services. The court also ruled that even absent their collective bargaining agreement
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
, players could opt to play in other leagues if they were unsatisfied.
Having multiple clubs operated by a single investor was a necessity in the league's first ten years. At one time, Phil Anschutz's AEG operated six MLS franchises and Lamar Hunt's Hunt Sports operated three franchises. In order to attract additional investors, in 2002 the league announced changes to the operating agreement between the league and its teams to improve team revenues and increase the incentives to be an individual club operator. These changes included granting operators the rights to a certain number of players they develop through their club's academy system each year, sharing the profits of Soccer United Marketing, and being able to sell individual club jersey sponsorships.
As MLS appeared to be on the brink of overall profitability in 2006 and developed significant expansion plans, MLS announced that it wanted each club to have a distinct operator. The league has attracted new investors that have injected more money into the league. Examples include Red Bull's purchase of the MetroStars from AEG in 2006 for over $100 million.[''Los Angeles Times'']
"MLS Looks Way Down the Field"
March 29, 2006.[''The New York Times'']
, March 10, 2006. For the 2014 season, the league assumed control of the former Chivas USA club, which had suffered from mismanagement and poor financial results under its individual operator relationship. The league eventually dissolved the team, in favor of awarding rights to a second soccer club in the Los Angeles area to a new investor group on October 30, 2014.
The league now has 30 investor-operators for its 30 current clubs, with no member of any club's investor group having a stake in that of any other club. Since December 2015, when AEG sold its remaining 50% interest in the Houston Dynamo, the former multiple-team operators AEG and Hunt Sports, with the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas respectively, now only control one franchise.
League executives
Don Garber has been the commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999, serving as the league's chief executive. The league's first commissioner was Doug Logan, who served in the role from 1995 to 1999.
Mark Abbott, a former MLS business partner, has served as the league's president and Deputy Commissioner since 2006.
Player acquisition and salaries
In 2016, the average salary for MLS players was $373,094, lower than the average salaries in England's second-tier EFL Championship ($420,000 in 2015), the Netherlands' Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
($445,000), or Mexico's Liga MX
Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...
($418,000 in 2015). The league's minimum player salary increased in 2017 to $65,000 for most players, and roster players #25–30 saw their minimum salary increased to $53,000.
MLS salaries are limited by a salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...
, which MLS has had in place since the league's inception in 1996. The purpose of the salary cap is to prevent the team's owners from unsustainable spending on player salaries and to prevent a competitive imbalance among teams. The salary cap survived a legal challenge by the players in the '' Fraser v. Major League Soccer'' lawsuit. The 2017 salary cap increased to $3.845 million per team.[ Each team is allowed up to 30 players on its first team roster.] All 30 players are eligible for selection to each 18-player game-day squad during the regular season and playoffs.
Teams may augment their squads by signing players from other leagues. MLS has two transfer window
In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...
s—the primary pre-season transfer window lasts three months from mid February until mid May, and the secondary mid season transfer window runs one month from early July to early August. When an MLS club sells one of its players overseas, the club and the league split the transfer revenues, with the club retaining from 33% to 75% depending on the player's status and tenure.
MLS teams have a limited number of international roster slots that they can use to sign non-domestic players. However, MLS teams often obtain green cards for their non-domestic players in order to qualify them for domestic status and thus free up international roster slots. In 2015, 49% of MLS players were born outside of the U.S. and Canada, with players from 58 countries represented.
MLS has a set of pool goalkeepers who are signed to a contract with the league and are loaned to teams during emergencies in which they are missing a goalkeeper due to injuries or suspensions. The pool goalkeeper trains with an MLS club or an affiliated team when not assigned to a team; some pool goalkeepers, including Tim Melia, have gone on to be signed to permanent contract with their assigned teams. In the past, when rosters were smaller, there were multiple goalkeepers signed to the pool, however, in recent years only one or two keepers are signed as team rosters are much larger.
Designated Players and allocation money
MLS has also introduced various initiatives and rules intended to improve quality of players while still maintaining the salary cap. Rules concerning Designated Players and allocation money allow for additional wage spending that is exempt from the salary cap. These initiatives have brought about an increase in on-field competition.
The designated player (DP) rule allows teams to sign a limited number of players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap; in 2017, each DP player only counted as $480,625 (the maximum non-DP salary) against the cap. Instituted in 2007, England's David Beckham was the first signing under the DP rule. The DP rule has led to large income inequality in MLS with top DPs earning as much as 180 times more than a player earning the league minimum. In the 2013 season, 21% of the league's wage spending went to just five players; this stretched to 29% on the top 6 players in the 2014 season.
The league's "Core Players" initiative allows teams to re-sign players using retention funds that do not count against the salary cap. Retention funds were implemented in 2013 as a mechanism for MLS to retain key players; among the first high-profile players re-signed using retention funds were U.S. national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. MLS teams can also obtain allocation money, which is money that the team can use on player salaries that does not count against the cap, and teams can earn allocation money in several ways, such as from the transfer fees earned by selling players to teams in other leagues. MLS teams can also use Targeted Allocation Money (often referred to as TAM), an initiative announced in 2015. Teams can use TAM funds to attract high-profile players by "buying down" contracts of players to below the Designated Player level. High-profile players for which TAM funds were used include Hector Villalba, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Giorgio Chiellini.
Youth development
MLS has introduced various initiatives and rules intended to develop young players. Rules concerning Generation Adidas players and home grown players provide incentives for clubs to develop and retain young players.
MLS has required all of its teams to operate youth development programs since 2008. MLS roster rules allow teams to sign an unlimited number of players straight from their academies and bypassing the draft process. There is also supplementary salary budget made by MLS only for homegrown players that are registered using senior roster slots called homegrown player funds. One of the most prominent and lucrative examples of success in "home-grown" development was Jozy Altidore, who rose to prominence as a teenager in MLS before his record transfer fee $10 million move to Villarreal in Spain in 2008. The various MLS teams' development academies play matches in a U.S. Soccer developmental league against youth academies from other leagues such as the North American Soccer League (NASL), which had been a Division II league prior to 2018, and USL Pro, originally a Division III league but now the Division II USL Championship.
The league operates a Generation Adidas program, which is a joint venture between MLS and U.S. Soccer that encourages young American players to enter MLS. The Generation Adidas program has been in place since 1997, and has introduced players such as Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Michael Bradley into MLS. Players under the Home Grown Player rule are signed to Generation Adidas contracts, all players on Generation Adidas contracts are "off budget players" and their salaries do not count against the cap.
MLS has operated reserve leagues, which give playing time to players who were not starters for their MLS teams, during two different periods. The MLS Reserve League was formed in 2005, and operated through 2014 (with the exception of the 2009 & 2010 seasons). MLS began integrating its Reserve League with the league then known as USL Pro in 2013, and after the 2014 season folded the Reserve League, with MLS then requiring all teams to either affiliate with a USL team or field their own reserve side in that league. However, this requirement was never strictly enforced, and MLS eventually relaunched its reserve league in 2022 under the banner of MLS Next Pro. In the inaugural 2022 season, 19 of the league's then-current clubs, plus future club St. Louis City SC, fielded reserve sides in Next Pro. In the 2023 season, the only MLS teams that will not field Next Pro sides are CF Montréal and D.C. United.
Following the folding of the Development Academy, MLS announced its own development league in 2020. It includes all of the MLS team academies as well as 95 clubs across the country; many of which were a part of the Development Academy.
Stadiums
Since 1999, the league has overseen the construction of twelve stadiums specifically designed for soccer. The development of soccer-specific stadiums owned by the teams has generated a better gameday experience for the fans.[''The New York Times'']
"M.L.S. Continues to Bolster Growing Brand With New Stadium in Houston"
, May 12, 2012. The soccer-specific stadiums have yielded positive financial results as teams were no longer required to pay to rent out facilities and gained control over revenue streams such as concessions, parking, naming rights, and the ability to host non-MLS events. Several teams have doubled their season tickets following the team's move into a soccer-specific stadium. The establishment of soccer-specific stadiums is considered the key to the league and the ability of teams to turn a profit.[Sports Business Journal]
"Soccer's visionary: Phil Anschutz"
, June 5, 2006. In 2006, Tim Leiweke, then CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, described the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums as the turning point for MLS.
Columbus Crew owner Lamar Hunt started this trend in 1999 by constructing Columbus Crew Stadium, now known as Historic Crew Stadium, as MLS's first soccer-specific stadium. The Los Angeles Galaxy followed four years later with the opening of the Home Depot Center, now Dignity Health Sports Park
Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...
, in 2003. FC Dallas opened Pizza Hut Park, now Toyota Stadium, in 2005, and the Chicago Fire began playing their home games in Toyota Park, now SeatGeek Stadium, in 2006. The 2007 season brought the opening of Dick's Sporting Goods Park for the Colorado Rapids and BMO Field for Toronto FC.
Near the end of the 2008 season, Rio Tinto Stadium (now known as America First Field
America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is a soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, United States. It is the home of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Utah Royals of the National Wom ...
) became the home of Real Salt Lake, which meant that for the first time in MLS history a majority of MLS's teams (8 out of 14) played in soccer-specific stadiums. Red Bull Arena, the new home of the New York Red Bulls opened for the start of the 2010 season, and the Philadelphia Union opened PPL Park, now Subaru Park, in June 2010, midway through their inaugural season.
The following season, in 2011, the Portland Timbers made their MLS debut in a newly renovated Jeld-Wen Field, now renamed Providence Park, which was originally a multi-purpose venue but turned into a soccer-specific facility. Also in 2011, Sporting Kansas City moved to new Livestrong Sporting Park, now Children's Mercy Park. The Houston Dynamo relocated to their new home at BBVA Compass Stadium, now Shell Energy Stadium, in 2012.[ In the same year, the Montreal Impact joined the league in an expanded Stade Saputo, which reopened in June 2012, when renovations pushed the seating capacity to over 20,000. The Impact has used ]Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...
for early season matches and for games that require a larger capacity. The San Jose Earthquakes, who had played at Buck Shaw Stadium from 2008 until 2014, opened their new Avaya Stadium (now PayPal Park) before the 2015 season. Orlando City SC intended to begin constructing its soccer-specific stadium, now known as Exploria Stadium, in 2014 to be completed in 2015. Delays caused by changes to the stadium plans pushed back the new venue's opening, first to late 2016 and finally to the start of the 2017 season. Orlando City played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, now Camping World Stadium, while awaiting the construction of their new venue through the 2016 season. Exploria Stadium hosted its first MLS match on March 5, 2017, against New York City FC as Orlando City Stadium.
The development of additional MLS stadiums has continued to progress. D.C. United had played their home games at former NFL and Major League Baseball venue RFK Stadium. In 2013, D.C. United announced the signing of a public-private partnership term sheet to build a new soccer stadium in Washington, D.C., and a final deal was reached in late 2014. In late February 2017, D.C. United finally broke ground on their new stadium, Audi Field. After 21 years of playing at RFK Stadium, D.C. United played their first game at Audi Field in July 2018.
Two teams have announced their desire to build a soccer-specific stadium, although these teams have not finalized the stadium site and received all necessary government approvals. New York City FC play home games at Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...
, a Major League Baseball venue, although they intend to move into a soccer-specific stadium in the future. The New England Revolution play home games at Gillette Stadium which is an NFL Stadium also owned by the Revolution's owner, Robert Kraft. The team are currently in discussion with the City of Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
regarding a potential soccer-specific stadium in South Boston.[''Boston Globe'',]
Several remaining clubs play in stadiums not originally built for MLS and have not announced plans to move. The Seattle Sounders FC play at Lumen Field, a dual-purpose facility used for both American football and soccer. The Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined the league with Portland in 2011 and temporarily held matches at Empire Field before moving into the refurbished BC Place in October 2011, a retractable-roof stadium that hosts Canadian football
Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...
as well as soccer.
Of the three teams that made their MLS debuts in 2017 and 2018, one opened a soccer-specific stadium in 2019, a second is playing in a shared football stadium, and the last opened a soccer-specific stadium for its inaugural 2018 season. Minnesota United FC, which debuted in 2017, built Allianz Field in St. Paul which hosted its inaugural game against New York City FC on April 13, 2019. Until that time, the team played in Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium), home to University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. Atlanta United FC began play in 2017 at a college football facility, Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium, before moving into its permanent home at the retractable-roof Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which it shares with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
; the two teams share a common owner and the stadium is equipped with screens to cordon off the upper tiers for most matches. Los Angeles FC, which began play in 2018, opened Banc of California Stadium (now BMO Stadium
BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC ...
) on the former site of the Los Angeles Sports Arena in April of its inaugural season.
FC Cincinnati made its MLS debut in 2019 at Nippert Stadium
James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, located on the campus of University of Cincinnati. Primarily used for American football, it has been home to the Cincinnati Bearcats football, Cincinnati Bearcats ...
, the football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
home of the University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
. The stadium had been home to FCC's USL Championship predecessor for all of its three seasons of play. The club moved within Cincinnati to the new TQL Stadium in 2021. Inter Miami began play in 2020 at Inter Miami CF Stadium, now known as Chase Stadium
Chase Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. Built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium, the 21,550-seat stadium is the home pitch of Inter Miami CF of Major League Soccer (MLS) and its MLS Next ...
, at the former site of Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale before opening Miami Freedom Park in the future. Nashville SC played the 2020 and 2021 seasons at an NFL facility, the Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...
' Nissan Stadium, before opening Geodis Park in 2022. Austin FC opened Q2 Stadium for its first season in 2021. St. Louis City SC opened CityPark in November 2022, a few months before the club's first season in 2023. Construction of Eleven Park was tied to an application for an Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
-based MLS team, initialized in 2024.
Profitability and revenues
Major League Soccer began to demonstrate positive signs of long-term profitability as early as 2004 with the single-entity ownership structure, salary cap, and the media and marketing umbrella Soccer United Marketing (SUM) all contributing towards MLS's financial security. As soccer-specific stadiums are built, ownership expands, and television coverage increases, MLS has seen its revenues increase while controlling costs.
Television coverage and revenue have increased since the league's early years. In 2006, MLS reached an 8-year TV deal with ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
spanning the 2007–2014 seasons, and marked the first time that MLS earned rights fees, reported to be worth $7–8 million annually. In September 2012 the league extended its distribution agreement with London-based Media rights agency MP & Silva until 2014 in a deal worth $10 million annually. Total league TV revenues are over $40 million annually. In 2011, MLS earned $150 million when it sold a 25% stake in SUM.
In early 2005, MLS signed a 10-year, $150 million sponsorship deal with Adidas for its jerseys and other equipment. In 2007, MLS teams started selling ad space on the front of jerseys to go along with the league-wide sponsorship partners who had already been advertising on the back of club jerseys, following the practice of international sport, specifically soccer. MLS established a floor of $500,000 per shirt sponsorship, with the league receiving a flat fee of $200,000 per deal. As of July 2014, sixteen teams had signed sponsorship deals to have company logos placed on the front of their jerseys (and another team is directly owned by its shirt sponsor), and the league average from jersey sponsors was about $2.4 million. Sleeve sponsorship was introduced to MLS in the 2020 season, with the teams able to sell a section on the right arm where the league logo patch is normally positioned.
The Los Angeles Galaxy made a profit in 2003 in their first season at The Home Depot Center,[ and FC Dallas turned a profit after moving into Pizza Hut Park in 2005.][ For each season between 2006 and 2009, two to three MLS clubs (generally clubs with a soccer-specific stadium) were reported as profitable by the league.] In November 2013, ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' published a report that revealed that ten of the league's nineteen teams earned an operating profit in 2012, while two broke even and seven had a loss. Forbes estimated that the league's collective annual revenues were $494 million, and that the league's collective annual profit was $34 million. Forbes valued the league's franchises to be worth $103 million on average, almost three times as much as the $37 million average valuation in 2008. The Seattle Sounders FC franchise was named the most valuable at $175 million, a 483% gain over the $30 million league entrance fee it paid in 2009.
The trend in increased team values has continued with MLS teams seeing a strong 52% increase in franchise values from 2012 to 2014. In August 2015 ''Forbes'' updated its MLS franchise values with the most profitable team measuring $245 million and the least $105 million. The average value jumped from $103 to $157 million. In 2018, ''Forbes'' estimated Atlanta United FC is the most valuable MLS team, worth $330 million, while the Colorado Rapids are the lowest value, at $155 million. These valuations do not include the value of stadiums or training facilities owned by the respective clubs. A '' Sportico'' ranking of club valuations in 2024 placed 20 MLS teams in the top 50 globally, with Los Angeles FC the most valuable at $1.15 billion (15th overall).
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, MLS teams typically used commercial flights to transport players and staff between matches, with only four charter flights allowed under league rules. These commercial flights were often non-direct, requiring transfers and layovers, and contributed to long travel days. The number of charters allowed for league matches was increased to eight legs prior to the 2020 season and lifted entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sun Country Airlines has provided charter service to MLS teams since 2020 and became the league's official carrier in 2022.
Rules and officials
When the league began play, it tried to gain popularity by "Americanizing" the game: the game clock counted down in each half and stopped for certain dead ball situations and games level at the end of regulation were resolved with a running penalty shootout. Now MLS follows the rules and standards of the International Football Association Board
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...
(IFAB).
Since 2005, the playoff extra time structure follows IFAB standards: two full 15-minute periods, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary.
U.S. Soccer hired the first full-time professional referees in league history in 2007 as part of the league's "Game First" initiatives.
Major League Soccer has been implementing fines and suspensions since the 2011 season for simulation (diving) through its Disciplinary Committee, which reviews plays after the match. The first player fined under the new rule was Charlie Davies, fined $1,000 for intentionally deceiving match officials.
MLS uses the list of banned substances published by the World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...
.
Branding
The current MLS logo debuted in 2014, ahead of the league's 20th season, replacing an earlier logo that featured a stylized boot and ball. The current logo is a simple crest with a diagonal stripe, the MLS wordmark, and three stars that represent "community, club, and country". The logo was designed to be remixed in different color schemes that match teams when used on merchandise and jerseys.
The first MLS anthem was unveiled in 2007 and was composed by Audiobrain. The current league anthem debuted in 2020 and was composed by film score composer Hans Zimmer. It will be used during league broadcasts and as a prelude to kickoff at stadiums.
Team names
In the early years of MLS, teams were typically given official nicknames in the style of other U.S. sports leagues (e.g., Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...
, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution). Several club names in MLS originated with previous professional soccer clubs, such as the 1970s-era NASL team names San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, and Vancouver Whitecaps.
D.C. United was the only MLS team to adopt European naming conventions during the 1990s. In more recent years, European-style names have become increasingly common in MLS, with expansion teams such as Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC, New York City FC, Atlanta United FC, Minnesota United FC, and FC Cincinnati, along with rebrandings such as FC Dallas
FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...
(formerly the Dallas Burn), Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...
(formerly the Kansas City Wizards), and CF Montréal (formerly the Montreal Impact).
Austrian beverage company Red Bull GmbH
Red Bull GmbH () is an Austrian multinational private conglomerate company that created the Red Bull range of energy drinks. It is also known for its sponsorship, wide range of sporting events and Works team, teams. The headquarters of Red Bull ...
owns and sponsors the New York Red Bulls as well as other sports teams outside the U.S.
Media coverage
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Since 2023, all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, as well as certain matches from MLS Next Pro and MLS Next, are streamed worldwide on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV
Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...
. This agreement ended the previous regional sports network-based system. The contract allows for some broadcasts on linear television. ESPN and Univision exited negotiations, apparently because MLS would not allow them to stream via their own platforms or use their own commentators. Following their departures, Fox Sports joined Apple as MLS's linear broadcast partners in the U.S., with Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...
's TSN and RDS doing so in Canada.
United States
From 2012 to 2014, MLS matches were broadcast by NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
, with 40 matches per year—primarily on NBCSN, and select matches broadcast on the NBC network. The move from Fox Soccer to the more widely distributed NBCSN caused viewership numbers to double for the 2012 season.
Soccer United Marketing partnered with Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
and Bedrocket Media Ventures in 2012 to launch "KickTV", a premium YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel with original soccer programming. KickTV was sold to Copa90 in 2015 to form its American branch. In 2020, Soccer United Marketing signed a multi-year agreement with Bleacher Report
''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...
to produce content and highlights for MLS and the U.S. national teams through the 2022 season.
From 2015 to 2022, MLS matches were broadcast nationally by ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
networks and Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
in English, and Univision networks in Spanish under an eight-year contract. Each broadcaster had a window for national regular season matches, with UniMás
UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...
airing a game on Friday nights in Spanish and additional matches on Univision Deportes Network
TUDN (pronounced tu-de-ene; formerly called Univision Deportes Network) is a Mexican Spanish language sports channel. Owned by TelevisaUnivision, it is an extension of the company's sports division of the same name, with TUDN the acronym of T ...
, and ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
and Fox Sports 1 airing games on Sunday evenings in English. ESPN, FS1, and Univision shared coverage of the playoffs, while ABC and Fox alternated broadcasting the MLS Cup final in English. In total, at least 125 matches were aired per-season across all three networks. The three contracts have an average estimated value of $90 million per season—five times larger than the average $18 million value of the previous contracts with ESPN, Univision, and NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
.
Matches not televised nationally were broadcast regionally, often by regional sports networks like Bally Sports, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Spectrum Sports and Root Sports, and sometimes by terrestrial stations like KTXA, WGN and KMYU. Regionally televised matches were available outside their local markets on ESPN+
ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communicati ...
, which replaced MLS Live from 2018 until 2022.
Canada
Currently, English-language national MLS broadcast rights in Canada are held by the TSN networks through a five-year deal first renewed in 2017. The networks primarily broadcast matches involving the league's Canadian franchises, in combination with separate "regional" rights deals giving TSN exclusive rights to all Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...
matches. A limited number of matches are also carried by CTV.
TVA Sports holds exclusive French-language rights to MLS in Canada as of the 2017 season. As part of a separate "regional" rights deal, it also holds exclusive rights to all CF Montréal games.
In 2018, online streaming service DAZN obtained Major League Soccer's digital out-of-market service MLS Live with live and on-demand streaming of matches featuring U.S. teams (matches with Canadian teams are only available after a 48-hour delay to protect the league's main rightsholders TSN and TVA Sports).
International
MLS also entered into a four-year contract with Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
to broadcast two MLS matches per week in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2015 to 2019. As part of the agreement, Sky Sports broadcast at least two MLS regular-season matches each week, as well as the MLS All-Star Game, every MLS Cup Playoff game, and the MLS Cup final. The matches appeared across Sky's family of networks. It also carried weekly MLS highlights across various platforms, including Sky Sports News and SkySports.com. Sky Sports also broadcast at least one match from MLS's "Decision Day" – the final day of the MLS regular season. Many of the matches on Decision Day every year are expected to determine the final spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs.
DSport, owned by Discovery Communications, began televising league matches in India in 2017.
SBS Sport Australia broadcast one MLS game per week in Australia from 2025.
Video games
Major League Soccer is a playable league in the EA Sports FC
''EA Sports FC'' is a football video game franchise developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania and published by EA Sports. It serves as the direct successor to their former ''FIFA'' series, which was discontinued following the termination of EA ...
series, the eFootball series, and the Football Manager
''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...
series. The league made its video game debut in 1999 with FIFA 2000. Kids video game company Humongous Entertainment
Humongous, Inc. (formerly Humongous Entertainment, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company developed multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently ''Putt-Putt (series), Putt-Putt' ...
had the rights to teams and players for their game, Backyard Soccer MLS Edition and for Backyard Soccer 2004. In 2000, Konami
, commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
released '' ESPN MLS GameNight'', and two years later, they released its sequel, '' ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002''. The league made its first appearance in the management series '' Football Manager 2005'' in 2004.
Player records
Statistics below are for all-time leaders. Statistics are for regular season only. Bold indicates active MLS players.
Player records (active)
Statistics below are for all-time leaders who are still playing. Statistics are for regular season only.
MLS awards
At the conclusion of each season, the league presents several awards for outstanding achievements, mostly to players, but also to coaches, referees, and teams. The finalists in each category are determined by voting from MLS players, team employees, and the media.
* MLS Best XI
* Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award
* MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award
* MLS Defender of the Year Award
* MLS Fair Play Award (individual)
* MLS Fair Play Award (team)
* MLS Goal of the Year Award
* MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award
* MLS Golden Boot
* MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award
* Landon Donovan MVP Award
* MLS Newcomer of the Year Award
* MLS Referee of the Year Award
* MLS Young Player of the Year Award
* MLS Save of the Year Award
Notes
See also
* MLS SuperDraft
*List of Major League Soccer seasons
Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top-flight professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. , the league has 29 teams—26 in the United States and 3 in Canada—that are divided into the Eastern Confere ...
*List of American and Canadian soccer champions
Despite each receiving FIFA-affiliated status in 1913, both the Soccer in the United States, United States and Soccer in Canada, Canada have lacked a consistent, multi-division soccer system until recently. Consequently, the determination of champ ...
*List of Major League Soccer stadiums
Major League Soccer (MLS) is the premier professional Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. The league has 30 teams in 30 stadiums as of the 2025 season: 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada. At the time of the l ...
* Major League Soccer attendance
* MLS Players Association
* National Women's Soccer League
* United States soccer league system
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1993 establishments in the United States
Multi-national professional sports leagues
Professional soccer leagues in the United States
Soccer leagues in Canada
Sports leagues established in 1993
Summer association football leagues
Top-level association football leagues in North America
Multi-national sports leagues in North America