Major League Soccer is shifting its calendar to align with the best soccer leagues in Europe, and match its dates with the FIFA international windows starting in 2027. It will also adopt a new regular-season format.
MLS owners voted to approve the calendar change on Thursday.
Dubbed MLS 3.0, the new changes will see MLS kick off the regular season in July, culminating in Decision Day in April. The MLS Cup playoffs would then follow, running through May. These changes would come into effect for the 2027-28 season.
Included in the new schedule is a lengthy winter break to avoid playing some games in harsher winter climates, as seen with clubs like Minnesota United, Toronto FC, and Columbus Crew, among others. The break would feature minimal matches in December and no games through February, before resuming the regular season in February.
“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “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.”
Here’s everything you need to know.
How Will MLS Change Schedules?
MLS will introduce the full-fledged new system for 2027–28, but will have a transition year in 2027, the year after several markets host the 2026 FIFA World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The transition year will be 2027, with an abbreviated 14-game MLS season played between February and April, followed by the MLS Cup playoffs in May.
Format Changes coming 2027
MLS did not confirm full structural updates to its competition format in the announcement, but confirmed that it will adopt a new regular season format which “blends elements of the global game and North American sports traditions.”
According to The Athletic, the league will move to a single-table competition, split into five six-team divisions beginning in 2027.
How Does the New MLS Schedule Compare to Old?
While the calendar flips, the months MLS is played are relatively similar, as it has been through the spring-to-fall model. Currently, the MLS offseason runs from mid-December through the last week of February—similar to the newly introduced winter break.
The only month currently with MLS regular-season games that will be removed from the new plan is June. That month, though, often features international tournaments where MLS teams play without some key players.
The shift also sees the league’s pinnacle match, MLS Cup, played in the spring rather than the often frigid temperatures that accompany its current December scheduling.
International Windows Become Key
One of the key changes with the schedule shift is that MLS players will be able to fully participate in international windows without harming their clubs. In the current setup, MLS teams could play without several stars due to clashes with regular-season and international matches.
Aligning with the international window also ensures the playoffs can proceed without disruption.
In recent years, the playoffs have been split by the November international break. This season, both Vancouver Whitecaps and LAFC had three weeks between their first-round matchups and their Western Conference semifinal matchup.
Transfer Window Participation
Aligning with the top European leagues will allow MLS clubs to fully participate in the transfer windows for the best players in the world, now relying on the same primary windows to add players.
Many of the top transfers take place through the summer, and MLS clubs have had trouble in the past making those key additions midseason. The new changes allow MLS to align with the winter and summer windows, enabling clubs to compete for more of the world’s most coveted players.
READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND GOSSIP
This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLS Reveals Huge Changes to Align with World’s Best Leagues.
