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Report: MLS owners to vote on Fall-Spring season

File photo by Paul Kahl

Second major change could involve realignment to five divisions.

PALM BEACH, FL–The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio and Tom Bogert are reporting that Major League Soccer owners are expected to vote on Thursday to switch the league’s calendar to a Fall-to-Spring calendar in alignment with most leagues in Europe per sources briefed on the agenda. Changes to the competition format are also on the table.

It has been long rumored and anticipated that MLS would eventually move to a Fall-to-Spring calendar, though back in May in Chicago, owners decided to hold off on a vote. However, one may now be coming during the owners’ meeting in Florida barring any last-minute snags.

Some other snags that could arise include a deadline for when it must decide to flip the calendar if it expects to make the changes in time for the 2027 season. Teams need time to structure sponsorship and commercial deals around the change, as well as inform season ticket holders and suite holders. A vote would have to occur by March to give the league the best chance to implement the new calendar, sources said.

The league has also been in discussions with the MLS Players Association about the change, which would impact players’ vacation days and preseason schedule. Any change would require the union’s blessing.

The plan is for the regular season to span from mid-to-late July or August to April, with playoffs staged in May. The league would take a winter break in December and January. Games would likely pause from around the second week in December through the first or third week in February similar to the Bundesliga which takes a six-week break. MLS understandably is trying to avoid restarting the league on Super Bowl weekend which is usually the second weekend in February.Likewise, a summer break would occur in June and July.

A move to a fall-to-spring calendar would allow the league to be in sync with the primary and secondary transfer windows, whereas now the summer window takes place during the middle of the MLS season and lessens the challenge of trying to sign players during the winter window when most European leagues are active.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber has noted these challenges.

“There are a number of key benefits to it aligning with the world standard we think is important for our brand as we try to continue to engage as one of the important, influential leagues in the world,” Garber is quoted in The Athletic. “We want to align on the calendar to be able to be even more engaged on the player transfer market this year, by year end, we could have $150 million in player sales. Compare that to where we were years ago. Imagine what that will be when we’re aligned on the international calendar.

“We also have our most important games in the busiest part of the calendar, right? And I think where we are today in the winter might be very different from when the league was founded. The league continues to have its Cup later and later and later in December, and that is a challenge that has got to be addressed. And then, very importantly, how do we ensure that when we make that decision, our facilities are ready for it, our fans are ready for it, and our corporate partners are ready for it.”

Technical executives at clubs around MLS are aid to be nearly unanimous in their support of a calendar change in the article because of the impact it could have from a sporting perspective.

On the business side, a calendar change would move the playoffs to the spring where they would no longer be up against college and pro football, and, importantly, would not be disrupted anymore by a FIFA international window. The November window means that both Vancouver and LAFC–who will play each other in the Western Conference semifinals will have gone 20 days between matches after sweeping their respective conference quarterfinals. A May MLS Cup would be arguably more attractive than a December one.

A major concern about a fall-to-spring calendar would be how teams in Northern climates would be able to adapt. given they would not benefit as much in terms of warm weather versus the likes of the California and Florida teams. However, major matches such as playoff games and internationals have been held in cold weather climates in the past such as Minnesota’s Allianz Field and Colorado’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

In addition to the calendar, owners are also expected to vote on the format. Currently, there are two 15-team conferences. The change would be to divide the teams into five divisions, though the format would be like a single-table where the top 14 teams would make the playoffs regardless of division and division winners would not automatically be the top five seeds. Teams would teams within their division home and away and then the other 24 teams once to make up a 34-game schedule.

Owners are also currently still finalizing changes to the postseason format, but have not yet finalized plans for the change to the playoff structure. Several formats have been discussed, including one that runs similarly to the Australian Football League finals (though the AFL themselves have made some changes to their format), where higher seeds play “qualifying games” against each other, which gives those higher seeds a second game against lower seeds if they lose the first match, while lower seeded teams play elimination games from the start.

We shall see what happens after Thursday.