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July 14, 2024

How the MLS Season and Playoffs Work – Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer (MLS) is rapidly expanding its influence and reputation. While the United States excels in various sports, particularly in the Olympics, it has traditionally struggled to establish itself among football’s elite leagues. In recent years, MLS has made significant strides to close this gap by attracting some of the greatest players in football history. One notable example is Lionel Messi’s move to Inter Miami in 2023. 

Messi agreed to a two-year deal with a three-year option valued at $12 million per season and received an additional $60 million annually from Apple T.V. for his participation. Although Messi’s signing was for David Beckham’s team, it represented a significant boost for the entire league and helped draw more attention from fans.

Here’s an overview of how playoffs help navigate the MLS structure. The format may initially seem complex compared to traditional European leagues. MLS concludes its season with a unique playoff system that culminates in a single cup match to determine the champion. This format reflects the American penchant for high-stakes, dramatic finishes.

MLS Conferences and Competitions

Major League Soccer (MLS) comprises 29 USA and Canada clubs divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams on the West Coast compete in the Western Conference, while those on the East Coast are in the Eastern Conference. The Eastern Conference has 15 teams, which creates a slight imbalance between the two conferences. Each team plays a 34-match regular season, with 17 games at home and 17 away from February to October. At the end of the regular season, 18 29 teams make it to the postseason.

During the regular season, teams face each opponent in their own Conference twice—once at home and once away. Additionally, they play eight games against teams from the opposing Conference, with four games at home and four on the road. In the Western Conference, teams play one or two extra intra-conference games due to having one fewer team. The SSupporters’Shield is awarded the team with the best overall regular-season record across both conferences. In contrast, the top nine teams in each Conference qualify for the playoffs.

Alongside conference play, teams compete in the U.S. Open Cup, the country’s oldest soccer tournament. This knockout competition features 80 teams vying for the title, similar to the Carabao Cup in England. In December 2023, MLS teams initially sought to withdraw from the 111-year-old tournament. Still, they reversed their decision after U.S. Soccer rejected proposals to field developmental MLS Next Pro teams. Currently, teams participating in the CONCACAF Champions League do not enter the U.S. Open Cup, but the remaining 23 clubs do.

Western Conference	Eastern Conference
Austin FC	Atalanta United
Colorado Rapids	Charlotte FC
FC Dallas	Chicago Fire
Houston Dynamo	Columbus Crew
LA Galaxy	F.C. Cincinnati
Los Angeles FC	DC United
Minnesota United	Inter Miami
Portland Timbers	C.F. Montreal
Real Salt Lake	Nashville
San Jose Earthquakes	New England Revolution
Seattle Sounders	New York City
Sporting Kansas City	New York Red Bulls
St Louis City	Orlando City
Vancouver Whitecaps	Philadelphia Union
	Toronto FC

MLS Playoffs

While regular-season performance in the Conferences is crucial, it only matters until teams qualify for the playoffs. Regular-season records are set aside once the playoffs begin in October, and the focus shifts entirely to the knockout format. The top eight teams from each Conference make it to the MLS playoffs, competing in a single-elimination format. Each Conference’s top-seeded squad hosts the eighth seed, the second seed hosts the seventh, and so forth.

Each playoff round is a single-match elimination, with the higher seed hosting. The winners of the first round advance to the Conference semi-finals and then to the Conference finals. The Conference champions then face off in the MLS Cup final, which pits the Eastern Conference team against the Western Conference team. The MLS Cup final is held at the team’s home stadium with the best regular-season record.

The format has been criticized for only sometimes rewarding the most consistent teams. A team could dominate the regular season but be eliminated in the early stages of the playoffs. This contrasts sharply with leagues like the Premier League, where the champion is determined by the most points accumulated over the entire season.

Qualification to the Champions League

Four MLS teams qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, North America equivalent to the UEFA Champions League every season. However, although three Canadian teams compete in the MLS, they can not qualify for the continental competition through the domestic league.

Two U.S. teams, one from the Western Conference and one from the Eastern Conference, qualify based on regular season results. The MLS Cup winner will be the third American team to qualify, and a fourth can do so by winning the U.S. Open Cup—the American equivalent of the Carabao Cup.

Suppose a team qualifies through multiple berths or is taken by a Canadian MLS team. In that case, the Champions League spot is reallocated to the next-best U.S. team in the overall table. Canadian MLS clubs play against other Canadian clubs in the Canadian Championship—their annual cup competition—for one spot in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Leagues Cup

During the MLS season, teams take a break to compete in the Leagues Cup, a tournament featuring all MLS clubs and teams from Mexico Liga MX. The 2023 edition included 47 teams, with the top 15 from each league seeded into groups according to their standings from the prior campaign. The remaining teams were grouped geographically.

The group stage featured three round-robin matches, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage. The reigning MLS Cup and the highest-ranked Liga MX champions received automatic byes to the knockout rounds. The tournament progressed through single-elimination matches until only two teams remained for the final. The top three teams in the League Cup earn berths in the CONCACAF Champions League.

MLS Player Limit

Building a squad in MLS involves navigating specific league rules that differ from most leagues worldwide. Each club must manage its roster within the constraints set by the league, including salary budget limits. For the 2024 season, each team’s salary budget is $5,470,000, with up to 20 players (slots 1-20) counting against this budget. Players in these senior roster slots are part of the team’s main salary cap considerations.

In addition to the senior roster, teams can have up to 10 additional players on a supplemental roster (slots 21-30) whose salaries do not impact the salary budget. A crucial aspect of MLS roster rules is the “designated player” provision. Under this rule, teams may sign up to three players who can earn above the salary budget cap, with the team only covering the amount exceeding the budget charge.

In 2024, the salary budget charge for a designated player over 24 years old was $683,750 unless the player joined after the secondary transfer window, which reduced the charge to $341,875. Clubs can trade designated players but are responsible for all associated costs and can only make one such trade per year.

While these rules lead to most MLS players being American or Canadian, they also support the league’s growth and expansion, exemplified by high-profile signings like Lionel Messi, who joined Inter Miami thanks to these provisions.

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