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Major League Soccer to align calendar with top leagues

Photo: Leslie Smith

PALM BEACH, FL–On Thursday, Major League Soccer officially announced that they are going to shift to a “summer-spring” calendar which aligns them to most leagues around the world. Starting in 2027, MLS will start their regular season in mid-to-late July and run through April. There will be a break between mid-December and mid-February and playoffs would take place in May where it would not be interrupted by FIFA International Windows.

“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” said MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a news release. “Aligning our schedule with the world’s top leagues will strengthen our clubs’ global competitiveness, create better opportunities in the transfer market, and ensure our Audi MLS Cup Playoffs take center stage without interruption.

“It marks the start of a new era for our league and for soccer in North America.”

Between the 2026 season and this shift for 2027-2028, MLS will run a sprint season between February and May of 2027.

“We will have an MLS regular season. We’ll have a regular season that crowns an MLS champion, we will award Concacaf Champions Cup spots based on performance in that MLS season,” said Nelson Rodriguez, MLS executive vice president of sporting and competition. “We expect the U.S. Open Cup, the Canadian championship to continue to exist and we’ll also have that MLS season serve as a qualifier for Leagues Cup.

“Less matches, less overall League season matches, but with a full playoff and an MLS Cup championship.”

Rodriguez later confirmed there was a vote on the competition format, though details of the changes continue to be discussed.

While the board of governors approved the switch, the league is still working out the details with the MLS Players Association and could hit a stumbling block there. Rodriguez told ESPN there was “very good dialogue” with the MLSPA. Another source said the discussions were “teetering.”

Also to be discussed are the “hard dates” for the 2027-28 season as well as the playoff structure as the MLS Board of Governors also approved a shift to a single-table format to determine standing while dividing the teams into five six-team divisions for scheduling purposes. Teams would play each team within its own division home and away while play the remaining 24 teams once to make up a 34-match schedule.

Two of the arguments made in support of the shift include transfers. Aligning with global schedules allows MLS clubs to participate more effectively in the world’s major transfer windows, improving opportunities to acquire and sell top talent. The transfer windows would be less disruptive to a team’s ambitions for the season as summer signings would have more time to integrate with their new teams.

The league said that this was a two-year process that covered factors such as cold weather. A dozen teams such as Chicago Fire, Minnesota United, and CF Montreal could face a significant portion of their schedule in less than ideal weather that could be disadvantageous to these teams.

While major matches have been stages in cold weather climates on this continent such as World Cup Qualifiers, it would be a challenge to play league matches in these conditions even on a semi-regular basis. The league says that they “intend to limit the number of home matches in northern markets during December and February.”

That and a mid-to-late July start may mitigate those factors to an extent, but it also needs buy in from MLSPA–whose CBA with the league expires in 2027–if this is going to work. If the offseason is too short, that could present problems such as difficulties in player movement and time to heal.

It is a big risk for Major League Soccer to align with most of the rest of the world in its quest to be one of the best leagues in the world. While the calendar that has been approved mitigates some concerns, it needs to address others before its full implementation.

In other news, MLS and Apple announced that they will put all matches on Apple TV without the need to purchase the MLS Season Pass starting next season. The move effectively removes the second paywall that was the Season Pass and allow more fans to access the games. Just as well since MLB games on Apple TV are not subject to a second paywall and Formula 1 races will not be either. Fans can now see MLS games on Apple TV for the subscription price of Apple TV.