The Eastern Conference is one of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

's two conferences, along with the Western Conference. As of 2023, the Eastern Conference contains fifteen teams. The conference has produced sixteen

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champions and ten MLS Cup winners in Major League Soccer's first 27 seasons. In 2000 and 2001, the conference was referred to as the ''Eastern Division'' when Major League Soccer briefly reorganized into three divisions.

2023 standings

Members

Current

Conference lineups by year

1996–97 (5 teams)

''Changes from 1995'': Creation of the

1998–99 (6 teams)

''Changes from 1997'': New York/New Jersey MetroStars simplified their name to ''New York MetroStars''; the Miami Fusion were added in the 1998 expansion.

2000–01 (as Eastern Division) (4 teams)

''Changes from 1999'': The Eastern Conference changed its name to Eastern Division with the creation of the Central Division; the Columbus Crew and the Tampa Bay Mutiny moved to the new division.

2002–04 (5 teams)

''Changes from 2001'': The Eastern Division changed back its name to Eastern Conference following the contraction of the Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, resulting in the disbanding of the Central Division; Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew moved in from the Central Division

2005 (6 teams)

''Changes from 2004'':

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

moved in from the Western Conference

2006 (6 teams)

''Changes from 2005'': The New York MetroStars were bought by

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

and changed their name to '' New York Red Bulls''.

2007–09 (7 teams)

''Changes from 2006'': Toronto FC was added as an expansion franchise.

2010 (8 teams)

''Changes from 2009'': The

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

was added as an expansion franchise.

2011 (9 teams)

''Changes from 2010'': The Kansas City Wizards changed their name to ''Sporting Kansas City''; Houston Dynamo moved in from the Western Conference.

2012–14 (10 teams)

''Changes from 2011'': The Montreal Impact was added as an expansion franchise

2015–16 (10 teams)

''Changes from 2014'': New York City FC and

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

were added as expansion franchises;

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

and

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

moved out to the Western Conference; Columbus Crew adds "SC" to the official team name.

2017–18 (11 teams)

''Changes from 2016'': Atlanta United FC was added as an expansion franchise.

2019 (12 teams)

''Changes from 2018'': FC Cincinnati was added as an expansion franchise.

2020 (14 teams)

''Changes from 2019'': Inter Miami CF was added as an expansion franchise; Nashville SC was added since the MLS is Back Tournament up to the end of the 2020 season; Chicago Fire SC was renamed Chicago Fire FC.

2021 (14 teams)

''Changes from 2020'': Nashville SC moved in from the Western Conference; the Montreal Impact was renamed

Club de Foot Montréal Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. Columbus Crew SC was briefly renamed to Columbus SC and then to Columbus Crew.

2022 (14 teams)

''Changes from 2021'': Charlotte FC was added as a then-unnamed expansion franchise in 2019, with its first season initially set for 2021 but delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nashville SC moved back to the Western Conference.

2023 (15 teams)

''Changes from 2022'': Nashville SC was moved back to the Eastern Conference as expansion side

St. Louis City SC St. Louis City SC (stylized as St. Louis CITY SC) is an American professional men's soccer club based in St. Louis, Missouri. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference and will join in 2023 as an expans ...

was added to the Western Conference.

Eastern Conference playoff champions by year

Note: The Conference Finals were a best-of-three series through 2001 (including the MLS semifinals in 2000 and 2001, when a conference playoff format was not used). Matches tied after regulation were decided by a

shoot-out A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only inv ...

. In 2002, a similar format was used except that draws were allowed and the team earning the most points advanced. From 2003 through 2011, the Finals were a single match. Matches tied after regulation moved to

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

( Golden goal extra time was implemented for 2003 only), then a shoot-out if necessary. Beginning in 2012, the finals were a two-match aggregate series. The

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

for series that finished even on aggregate was first implemented in 2014. Extra time and shoot-outs are used if necessary, although away goals did not apply in extra time. In 2019, the playoffs returned to a single match format (including the Conference Finals), hosted by the higher ranked team through the regular season. ^W – Western Conference team.

Eastern Conference regular season champions by year

^ – MLS did not have draws until the 2000 season.
† – Miami Fusion were declared winners of the Eastern Division in 2001 after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks forced the cancellation of the rest of the regular season. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on September 20.

References

External links

Complete MLS History
{{MLS Conference Champions Major League Soccer Divisions of sports leagues