Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It has 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation. MLS is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, headquartered in New York City.

The league began in 1996, after the North American Soccer League ended in 1984. MLS faced financial struggles early on but became profitable with changes like building soccer-specific stadiums, signing famous players, and getting national TV deals. In 2024, MLS had an average attendance of about 23,200 fans per game, making it the third-highest attended major professional sports league in North America.

The regular season runs from late February to mid-October, with teams playing 34 matches. The team with the best record wins the Supporters' Shield. Eighteen teams enter the playoffs in late October and November, leading to the MLS Cup championship match. The LA Galaxy have won the most MLS Cups, while Inter Miami CF won their first title in 2025.

History

Main article: History of Major League Soccer

See also: Soccer in Canada and Soccer in the United States

Major League Soccer is the latest in a series of top-level men's soccer leagues in the United States and Canada. Before MLS, the main league was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which operated from 1968 to 1984. The NASL brought famous international players like Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, and others to the U.S., but it eventually folded due to financial problems.

MLS began in 1995 and started playing in 1996 with ten teams. Early years were challenging, with rule changes that confused fans and financial losses. However, the league grew, adding new teams and building soccer-specific stadiums. The arrival of international stars like David Beckham helped raise the league's profile.

MLS continued to expand, adding teams in cities across the U.S. and Canada. The league faced challenges, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also saw record attendance numbers, especially after the arrival of famous players like Lionel Messi. Today, MLS is one of the top soccer leagues in North America, with plans for further growth in the coming years.

Competition format

See also: Supporters' Shield, MLS Cup, and MLS Cup playoffs

The Major League Soccer regular season runs from late February to October. Teams are split into the Eastern and Western Conferences and play 34 matches. In 2025, with 30 teams, each team plays two matches against every team in its own conference and six matches against teams in the other conference. The team with the most points at the end of the regular season wins the Supporters' Shield and gets an advantage in the playoffs.

There is a break in the middle of the season for the All-Star Game, where the best players play an exhibition match. After the regular season, there is a playoff tournament to decide the league champion. In 2023, eighteen teams enter the MLS Cup playoffs in October and November, ending with the MLS Cup final in early December.

MLS is planning to change its schedule to start in mid-July and end in May starting in 2027. This new schedule will include a winter break and is meant to make the league stronger and give the playoffs more attention.

Clubs

See also: Expansion of Major League Soccer, Major League Soccer defunct clubs, and List of Major League Soccer coaches

Major League Soccer (MLS) has 30 clubs split into the Eastern and Western conferences. The league has grown since 2005 and added San Diego FC in 2025.

MLS has special rivalry cups for teams that compete closely, often because they are near each other. These cups go to the team that does best in their matches during the season. This idea is similar to trophies in American college football.

MLS teams sometimes travel very far to play each other. For example, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Inter Miami CF are about 2,801 miles apart.

Former clubs

Notes

¹ Not a soccer-specific stadium

² Standard reduced capacity for soccer; can be increased

Timeline

League championships

See also: List of MLS Cup finals and Supporters' Shield

Since the 2025 season, 33 different clubs have been part of the league. Sixteen of these clubs have won at least one MLS Cup, and seventeen have won at least one Supporters' Shield. Sometimes, the same club has won both prizes in a single year, and this has happened eight times. Only one team, Toronto FC, has also won its country’s main domestic cup tournament, which for Toronto is the Canadian Championship, in the same year.

Organization

Ownership

MLS runs with all teams and player contracts owned by the league itself. Each team has an owner who is also a part owner of the whole league. To keep costs down, MLS shares money and manages player contracts for all teams. A court case in 2002 confirmed that MLS can legally run this way.

In the early years, some owners ran many teams, but now each team has its own owner. This change helped teams grow stronger and attract more investors.

League executives

Don Garber has been the main leader of MLS since 1999. Before him, Doug Logan was the first leader from 1995 to 1999. Mark Abbott has been the president and deputy leader since 2006.

League facilities

MLS is based in New York City, in a big office with space for 500 workers. The office opened in 2026. Before that, the office was in Los Angeles. MLS games are shown using a studio in Connecticut, and a special system for referees is run from Texas.

Player acquisition and salaries

In 2016, players earned about $373,094 on average, which is less than in some other leagues. MLS has rules to keep salaries fair, including a limit on how much teams can spend. Teams can buy players from other leagues during certain times of the year.

MLS also has special rules for very expensive players and ways for teams to get extra money to sign players. Young players can join teams directly from their youth academies.

Youth development

MLS has programs to help young players grow. Teams can sign players straight from their youth teams. There are special funds for these young players, and MLS has a program called Generation Adidas to support young American players.

MLS also has reserve leagues for players who aren’t regular starters. These leagues have changed over time but help give everyone a chance to play.

Stadiums

Since 1999, MLS has built stadiums just for soccer. These stadiums make games better for fans and help teams make money. Teams own these stadiums, which means they keep all the money from tickets, food, and ads.

The first soccer-specific stadium was built in 1999. Since then, many teams have built their own stadiums. Some teams still play in bigger stadiums shared with other sports, but many have moved to their own places.

New stadiums continue to be built, with teams like D.C. United and New York City FC planning new homes. Some teams still play in shared stadiums, but many have their own special places to play.

Profitability and revenues

MLS started making a profit in the early 2000s by sharing money, keeping costs down, and building new stadiums. As more people watched games on TV and teams grew, MLS made more money.

TV deals and sponsor agreements helped MLS grow. Teams with their own stadiums often made profits. By 2012, ten teams were making money, and the league’s value kept going up.

Even with challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, MLS has kept growing, with teams now worth much more than when they started.

Rules and officials

When MLS started, it used some different rules to attract fans, like a countdown clock and penalty shootouts. Now, MLS follows the standard international rules.

In 2007, U.S. Soccer hired full-time referees. Since 2011, players can be punished for pretending to be fouled. MLS also follows rules against using banned substances.

Branding

MLS updated its logo in 2014 to a simple design with a stripe, the league name, and three stars for community, club, and country.

The league has had different anthems, with the current one starting in 2020, composed by Hans Zimmer. It’s used before games and during broadcasts.

Team names

MLS teams often have names like other U.S. sports teams, such as the Columbus Crew or Los Angeles Galaxy. Some names come from older soccer teams, like the San Jose Earthquakes or Seattle Sounders.

A few teams use European-style names, like Real Salt Lake or Toronto FC. Some teams changed their names to fit this style, like FC Dallas or Sporting Kansas City.

Media coverage

See also: List of current Major League Soccer broadcasters

Since 2023, all Major League Soccer matches and some other games are shown worldwide on MLS Season Pass using Apple TV. This changed the old way of showing games on different TV channels in certain areas. Some games are still shown on regular TV. ESPN and Univision left because they wanted to show games their own way, and now Fox Sports works with Apple for TV in the U.S. In Canada, Bell Media’s TSN and RDS show the games.

From 2012 to 2014, NBC Sports showed MLS games in the U.S., and the number of people watching doubled compared to before. In 2015 to 2022, ESPN, Fox Sports, and Univision shared showing games in different languages. Not all games were shown nationally; some were shown only in certain areas by local TV channels. In Canada, TSN mainly shows games involving Canadian teams, and TVA Sports shows games in French.

MLS games are also shown in other countries. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sky Sports showed games from 2015 to 2019. In India, DSport began showing games in 2017. Starting in 2025, SBS Sport Australia will show one MLS game each week in Australia.

MLS appears in several video games, including the EA Sports FC and eFootball series. It first appeared in a game in 1999 with FIFA 2000.

Player records

See also: Major League Soccer records and statistics, 2025 Major League Soccer season § Player statistics, List of Major League Soccer players with 100 or more goals, and List of Major League Soccer players with 400 or more games played

Statistics below show the best players in Major League Soccer history. These numbers are only for regular season games. Bold names mean the player is still playing.

As of 26 July 2025

Player records (active)

These statistics show the best players who are still playing in Major League Soccer. The numbers are only for regular season games.

As of July 1, 2024

Awards

At the end of each season, Major League Soccer gives out several awards to honor great achievements. These awards go to players, coaches, referees, and even teams. The winners are chosen by voting from MLS players, team staff, and the media.

The league gives out awards such as the MLS Best XI, Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award, MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award, and many more, including the Landon Donovan MVP Award and the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award. These awards celebrate the best moments and players in the league each year.

• MLS Best XI
• Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award
• MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award
• MLS Defender of the Year Award
• MLS Fair Play Award (individual & team)
• MLS Goal of the Year Award
• MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award
• MLS Golden Boot
• MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award
• Landon Donovan MVP Award
• MLS Newcomer of the Year Award
• MLS Referee of the Year Award
• MLS Young Player of the Year Award
• MLS Save of the Year Award