Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is the most recent of a series of men's premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984. Pelé's arrival attracted other well-known international stars to the league including Johan Cruyff, Gerd Müller, Eusébio, Bobby Moore, and George Best. Despite dramatic increases in attendance (with some matches drawing over 70,000 fans such as Soccer Bowl '78, the highest attendance to date for any club soccer championship in the United States), factors such as over-expansion, the economic recession of the early 1980s, and disputes with the players union ultimately led to the collapse of the NASL following the 1984 season, leaving the United States without a top-level soccer league until MLS. Establishment and shootout era In 1988, in exchange for FIFA awarding the right to host the 1994 World Cup, U.S. Soccer promised to establish a Division 1 professional soccer league. In 1993, U.S. Soccer selected Major League Professional Soccer (the precursor to MLS) as the exclusive Division 1 professional soccer league. MLS began play in 1996 with ten teams. The first match was held on April 6, 1996, as the San Jose Clash defeated D.C. United in front of 31,000 fans at Spartan Stadium in San Jose in a match broadcast on ESPN. The league had generated some buzz by managing to lure some marquee players from the 1994 World Cup to play in MLS—including U.S. stars such as Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola and Eric Wynalda, and foreign players such as Mexico's Jorge Campos and Colombia's Carlos Valderrama. D.C. United won the MLS Cup in three of the league's first four seasons. The league added its first two expansion teams in 1998—the Miami Fusion and the Chicago Fire; the Chicago Fire won its first title in its inaugural season. After its first season, MLS suffered from a decline in attendance. The league's low attendance was all the more apparent in light of the fact that eight of the original ten teams played in large American football stadiums. The league's quality was cast into doubt when the U.S. men's national team, which was made up largely of MLS players, finished in last place out of the 32 teams at the 1998 World Cup. The league's financial problems led to Commissioner Doug Logan being replaced by Don Garber, a former NFL executive, in August 1999. Following decreased attendance and increased losses by late 2001, league officials planned to fold but were able to secure new financing from owners Lamar Hunt, Philip Anschutz, and the Kraft family to take on more teams. MLS announced in January 2002 that it had decided to contract the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion, leaving the league with ten teams. (the home of the Columbus Crew until 2021) was the first soccer-specific stadium in MLS. Despite the financial problems, though, MLS did have some accomplishments that would set the stage for its resurgence. Columbus Crew Stadium, now known as Historic Crew Stadium, was built in 1999, becoming MLS' first soccer-specific stadium. This began a trend among MLS teams to construct their own venues instead of leasing American football stadiums, where they would not be able to generate revenue from other events. In 2000, the league won an antitrust lawsuit, Fraser v. Major League Soccer, that the players had filed in 1996. The court ruled that MLS' policy of centrally contracting players and limiting player salaries through a salary cap and other restrictions were a legal method for the league to maintain solvency and competitive parity since MLS was a single entity and therefore incapable of conspiring with itself. Resurgence The 2002 FIFA World Cup, in which the United States made the quarterfinals, coincided with a resurgence in American soccer and MLS, with MLS Cup 2002 drawing 61,316 spectators to Gillette Stadium, the largest attendance in an MLS Cup final until 2018. MLS limited teams to three substitutions per game in 2003, and adopted International Football Association Board (IFAB) rules in 2005. MLS underwent a transition in the years leading up to the 2006 World Cup. After marketing itself on the talents of American players, the league lost some of its homegrown stars to prominent European leagues. For example, Tim Howard was transferred to Manchester United for $4 million in one of the most lucrative contract deals in league history. Many more American players did make an impact in MLS. In 2005, Jason Kreis became the first player to score 100 career MLS goals. The league's financial stabilization plan included teams moving out of large American football stadiums and into soccer-specific stadiums. By 2006 the San Jose Earthquakes owners, players and a few coaches moved to Texas to become the expansion Houston Dynamo, after failing to build a stadium in San Jose. The Dynamo became an expansion team, leaving their history behind for a new San Jose ownership group that formed in 2007. Arrival of Designated Players . In 2007, the league expanded beyond the United States' borders into Canada with the Toronto FC expansion team. Major League Soccer took steps to further raise the level of play by adopting the Designated Player Rule, which helped bring international stars into the league. The 2007 season witnessed the MLS debut of David Beckham. Beckham's signing had been seen as a coup for American soccer, and was made possible by the Designated Player Rule. Players such as Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) and Juan Pablo Ángel (New York Red Bulls), are some of the first Designated Players who made major contributions to their clubs. The departures of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, coupled with the return of former U.S. national team stars Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride, highlighted the exchange of top prospects to Europe for experienced veterans to MLS. By 2008, San Jose had returned to the league under new ownership, and in 2009, the expansion side Seattle Sounders FC began play in MLS. The 2010 season ushered in an expansion franchise in the Philadelphia Union and their new PPL Park stadium (now known as Subaru Park). The 2011 season brought further expansion with the addition of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the second Canadian MLS franchise, and the Portland Timbers. Real Salt Lake reached the finals of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League. During the 2011 season, the Galaxy signed another international star in Republic of Ireland all-time leading goalscorer Robbie Keane. MLS drew an average attendance of 17,872 in 2011, higher than the average attendances of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL). In 2012, the Montreal Impact became the league's 19th franchise and the third in Canada, and made their home debut in front of a crowd of 58,912, while the New York Red Bulls added Australian all-time leading goalscorer Tim Cahill. Expansion of the league (2009) (2011) In 2012, with an average attendance of over 18,000 per game, MLS had the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S. after the NFL and MLB, and was the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide . In 2013, MLS introduced New York City FC as its 20th team, and Orlando City Soccer Club as its 21st team, both of which would begin playing in 2015. In 2013, the league implemented its "Core Players" initiative, allowing teams to retain key players using retention funds instead of losing the players to foreign leagues. Among the first high-profile players re-signed in 2013 using retention funds were U.S. national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. Beginning in summer of 2013 and continuing in the run up to the 2014 World Cup, MLS began signing U.S. stars based abroad, including Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, and Michael Bradley from Europe; and DaMarcus Beasley from Mexico's Liga MX. By the 2014 season, 15 of the 19 MLS head coaches had previously played in MLS. By 2013, the league's popularity had increased to the point where MLS was as popular as MLB among 12- to 17-year-olds, as reported by the 2013 Luker on Trends ESPN poll, having jumped in popularity since the 2010 World Cup. In 2014, the league announced Atlanta United FC as the 22nd team to start playing in 2017. Even though New York City FC and Orlando City were not set to begin play until 2015, each team made headlines during the summer 2014 transfer window by announcing their first Designated Players—Spain's leading scorer David Villa and Chelsea's leading scorer Frank Lampard to New York, and Ballon d'Or winner Kaká to Orlando. The 2014 World Cup featured 21 MLS players on World Cup rosters and a record 11 MLS players playing for foreign teams—including players from traditional powerhouses Brazil (Júlio César) and Spain (David Villa); in the U.S. v. Germany match the U.S. fielded a team with seven MLS starters. On September 18, 2014, MLS unveiled their new logo as part of a branding initiative. In addition to the new crest logo, MLS teams display versions in their own colors on their jerseys. Chivas USA folded following the 2014 season, while New York City FC and Orlando City SC joined the league in 2015. Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference in 2015 to make two 10-team conferences. In early 2015, the league announced that two teams—Los Angeles FC and Minnesota United FC—would join MLS in either 2017 or 2018. The 20th season of MLS saw the arrivals of several players who have starred at the highest levels of European club soccer and in international soccer: Giovanni dos Santos, Kaká, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba, David Villa, and Sebastian Giovinco. MLS confirmed in August 2016 that Minnesota United would begin play in 2017 along with Atlanta United FC. In April 2016, the league's commissioner Don Garber reiterated the intention of the league to expand to 28 teams, with the next round of expansion "likely happening in 2020". In December 2016, he updated the expansion plans stating that the league will look to approve the 25th and 26th teams in 2017 and to start play in 2020. In January 2017, the league received bids from 12 ownership groups. In July 2017, it was reported that Major League Soccer had rejected an offer by MP & Silva to acquire all television rights to the league following the conclusion of its current contracts with Fox, ESPN, and Univision, where MP & Silva insisted that the deal would be conditional on Major League Soccer adopting a promotion and relegation system. The league stated that it rejected the offer due to the exclusive periods that the current rightsholders have to negotiate extensions to their contracts. Additionally, media noted that Major League Soccer has long-opposed the adoption of promotion and relegation, continuing to utilize the fixed, franchise-based model used in other U.S. sports leagues. Furthermore, MP & Silva founder Riccardo Silva also owned Miami FC of the NASL, which stood to benefit from such a promotion and relegation system. The announcement spawned a league-wide backlash and legal action against the league by the Ohio state government. On August 15, 2018, the Austin City Council voted to approve an agreement with Precourt to move Crew SC to Austin, and on August 22, 2018, the club's new name, Austin FC, was announced. After negotiations between Precourt and Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, were announced, MLS made it clear that Austin would receive an expansion team only after a deal to sell Columbus to a local buyer had completed. The purchase of Crew SC by Haslam's group was finalized in late December 2018, and on January 15, 2019, Austin FC was officially announced as a 2021 MLS entry. MLS announced on December 20, 2017, that it would be awarding an expansion franchise to Nashville, Tennessee, to play in a yet-to-be-built 27,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, Nashville Fairgrounds Stadium, and would join MLS in 2020. The management of the Nashville franchise announced in February 2019 that the MLS side would assume the Nashville SC name then in use by the city's USL Championship team. On January 29, 2018, MLS awarded Miami an expansion team, led by David Beckham. Inter Miami CF started MLS play on March 1, 2020, and plan on opening the proposed 25,000-seat stadium sometime in the near future. An expansion team was awarded to Cincinnati, Ohio on May 29, 2018, to the ownership group of USL's FC Cincinnati. The team, which assumed the existing FC Cincinnati name, started MLS play in 2019 and moved to the new 26,000-seat TQL Stadium in 2021. The league planned to expand to 30 teams with the addition of Austin FC in 2021, and Sacramento and St. Louis in 2023; however, this was reduced to 29 after Sacramento Republic FC's bid was placed on indefinite hold. Commissioner Don Garber has suggested that another round of expansion could lead to 32 teams in MLS. The league suspended its 2020 season on March 12, 2020, after two weeks, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and other U.S.-based sports leagues did the same. The 2020 season resumed in July with the MLS is Back Tournament, a competition in which 24 out of the 26 teams competed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. In September 2020, the league announced the formation of MLS Next, an academy league for MLS academy teams from the under-13 to under-19 level. In 2022, the league signed a $2.5 billion, 10-year deal with Apple Inc. that made Apple TV the primary broadcaster for all MLS matches beginning in 2023. The agreement also included MLS and Leagues Cup matches shared across the streaming service. Subscriptions were provided for free for season ticket holders of clubs and certain matches were made free to all users. The schedule was adjusted as a result of the deal, with start times generally at 7:30 p.m. local time on Wednesdays and Saturdays rather than staggered across the matchday. In May 2023, the league announced it would expand to 30 teams with the addition of San Diego FC for the 2025 season. The 2024 season broke attendance records, with an average of 23,240 per match and over 11 million total spectators. The presence of Lionel Messi and other star players was credited with contributing to the record crowds, which included several matches moved to larger venues. Expansion fees In 2005, Toronto FC's ownership paid $10 million (about $16 million in 2024) to join the league in 2007; San Jose paid $20 million the next year, and the fee had risen to $30 million when Sounders FC paid the fee in 2007 to join the league in 2009. In 2013, New York City FC agreed to pay a record $100 million expansion fee for the right to join MLS in 2015. This record was surpassed by the ownership groups of FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, which each paid $150 million to join MLS 2019 and 2020, respectively. Despite being announced in January 2018, Inter Miami CF only paid a $25 million expansion fee due to a clause in part-owner David Beckham's original playing contract signed in 2007. $150 million was paid as an effective entrance fee by a group that bought Columbus Crew in 2018, which led to that team's previous operator receiving rights to Austin FC, which joined MLS in 2021. In 2019, Charlotte FC agreed to a reported $325 million expansion fee. The most recent expansion team, San Diego FC paid a record $500 million fee in 2023. ==Competition format==

The MLS regular season runs from late February to October. Teams are geographically divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences, playing 34 matches in an unbalanced schedule. With 30 teams in 2025, each team plays two matches (home and away) against the other teams within their conference, and six matches against teams from the opposite conference. The 2020 season was the first season in league history in which teams did not play against every other team in the league. At the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters' Shield and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Teams break for the annual All-Star Game midway through the season, an exhibition match containing the league's best players. The format of the All-Star Game has changed several times since the league's inception; 2020 was the first year in which the MLS All-Stars were planned to play against an all-star team from Mexico's Liga MX, before the event's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike most major soccer leagues around the world, but similar to other leagues in the Americas, the MLS regular season is followed by a postseason knockout tournament to determine the league champion. , eighteen teams participate in the MLS Cup playoffs in October and November, which concludes with the MLS Cup championship match in early December. The playoff format includes a pair of single-elimination play-in matches for the two lowest-ranked teams in each conference ahead of a best-of-three round; the round is followed by more single-elimination rounds that lead up to the MLS Cup final. The MLS spring-to-fall schedule results in scheduling conflicts with the FIFA calendar and with summertime international tournaments such as the World Cup and the Gold Cup, causing some players to miss league matches. The schedule also causes issues with transfer windows; some players may be reluctant to sign with an MLS team during the North American midseason window while waiting for more lucrative options to appear during the European offseason, the scheduling of the window limits the number of matches new signings are able to appear in, and MLS teams can lose players in the middle of the season to European transfers, with few options to replace them. The MLS Cup playoffs compete for popularity and media presence with the MLB postseason, the heart of the regular season in American football (including college football and the NFL), as well as the start of the NBA and NHL regular seasons. On November 13, 2025, MLS announced that it will transition to a summer-to-spring schedule closer to European leagues beginning in 2027. The regular season will begin in mid-July, a winter break will take place from mid-December to early or mid-February, and the MLS Cup playoffs will occur in May. MLS stated that moving to this schedule would improve the league's competitiveness, transfer opportunities, and allow the playoffs to have more prominence and be held in warmer weather. Under the new schedule, the MLS Cup playoffs would now compete primarily with the NBA and NHL playoffs, but will still fall within a less-crowded period of North America's professional sports calendar. As part of the transition process, the league will play an abbreviated 14-match regular season in early 2027, followed by the 2027–28 season in July. In addition, MLS will replace its conference-based format with a single table divided into five regional divisions: each team will play home and away matches against each of its divisional opponents, and one match against each team in the other four divisions. Other competitions MLS teams also play in other international and domestic competitions. Each season, up to ten MLS teams play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) against other clubs from the CONCACAF region. Four MLS teams qualify based on regular-season results from the previous year: the Supporters' Shield champion, the team with the highest point total from the opposite conference, and the next two clubs in the Supporters' Shield rankings. The fifth MLS team to qualify is the reigning MLS Cup champion. An additional U.S.-based MLS team can qualify by winning the U.S. Open Cup. Starting in 2024, the league will send eight teams to participate in the U.S. Open Cup instead of every U.S.-based club, with MLS Next Pro teams as representatives for some teams. MLS had announced their intention to remove itself from the tournament entirely, but reached a compromise with U.S. Soccer to send representatives from clubs that were not participating in the Champions Cup, with the exception of the defending Open Cup champions. The last three teams to qualify are the champion, runner-up, and third-place finisher of the Leagues Cup. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver compete against other Canadian sides in the Canadian Championship for the one CONCACAF Champions Cup berth allocated to Canada. All three Canadian clubs may also qualify through MLS or the Leagues Cup. If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or they are taken by a Canadian MLS team, the berth is reallocated to the next best team in the overall table. If the U.S. Open Cup winner qualifies through multiple methods, the runner-up fills the slot; should the runner-up qualify, the next best team in the overall table earns the slot. If the Leagues Cup champion wins the MLS Cup, the MLS Cup runner-up qualifies to the round of 16; should a Leagues Cup slot already qualify, MLS is awarded with one additional slot given to the next best non-qualified team in the overall table. Seattle Sounders FC became the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup under the competition's updated format in 2022. Since 2018, the reigning MLS Cup champion plays in the Campeones Cup, a Super Cup-style single match against the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX, hosted by the MLS team in September. The inaugural edition saw Tigres UANL defeat Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto in 2018. Another inter-league competition with Liga MX, the Leagues Cup, was established in 2019. The 2020 edition of the tournament was originally planned to pair eight MLS clubs against eight Liga MX clubs in a single-elimination tournament hosted in the United States, reviving an inter-league rivalry that previously took place in the now-defunct North American Superliga, before its cancellation. Beginning with the 2023 edition all MLS and Liga MX teams participated in the competition, which functions as the regional cup for the North American zone of CONCACAF. As of the 2025 edition, only 18 MLS clubs take part. == Clubs ==

The league's 30 clubs are divided between the Eastern and Western conferences. MLS has regularly expanded since the 2005 season, most recently with the addition of San Diego FC in 2025. The league features numerous rivalry cups that are contested by two or more teams, quite often geographic rivals. MLS features some of the longest travel distances for a domestic soccer league, with Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Inter Miami CF the furthest apart teams at . During the 2018 season, the team with the shortest distance traveled over the entire regular season schedule was Toronto FC at , while the longest was Vancouver at . Former clubs Notes : : Timeline DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1996 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom PlotArea = right:100 left:5 bottom:70 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20" ==League championships==

As of the 2025 season, 33 different clubs have competed in the league, with 16 having won at least one MLS Cup, and 17 winning at least one Supporters' Shield. The two trophies have been won by the same club in the same year on eight occasions (two clubs have accomplished the feat twice). Of these teams only one, Toronto FC, has also won its national domestic cup tournament (in Toronto FC's case, the Canadian Championship) in the same year for a domestic treble. ==Organization==

Ownership MLS operates under a single-entity structure in which teams and player contracts are centrally owned by the league. Each team has an investor-operator that is a shareholder in the league. These changes included granting operators the rights to a certain number of players they develop through their club's academy system each year, sharing the profits of Soccer United Marketing, and being able to sell individual club jersey sponsorships. The league has attracted new investors that have injected more money into the league. For the 2014 season, the league assumed control of the former Chivas USA club, which had suffered from mismanagement and poor financial results under its individual operator relationship. in favor of awarding rights to a second soccer club in the Los Angeles area to a new investor group on October 30, 2014. The league now has 30 investor-operators for its 30 current clubs, with no member of any club's investor group having a stake in that of any other club. Since December 2015, when AEG sold its remaining 50% interest in the Houston Dynamo, the former multiple-team operators AEG and Hunt Sports, with the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas respectively, now only control one franchise. League executives Don Garber has been the commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999, serving as the league's chief executive. The league's first commissioner was Doug Logan, who served in the role from 1995 to 1999. Mark Abbott, a former MLS business partner, has served as the league's president and Deputy Commissioner since 2006. League facilities MLS is headquartered at 420 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Prior to moving to New York City in 1996, the league's main office was in Los Angeles. MLS Season Pass content is produced through a partnership with IMG at the Studios at WWE in Stamford, Connecticut. The video assistant referee system used by MLS is operated by the American branch of Sportec Solutions at a facility in Arlington, Texas, that opened in 2024. Player acquisition and salaries was the league's first Designated Player in 2007. In 2016, the average salary for MLS players was $373,094, lower than the average salaries in England's second-tier EFL Championship ($420,000 in 2015), the Netherlands' Eredivisie ($445,000), or Mexico's Liga MX ($418,000 in 2015). The league's minimum player salary increased in 2017 to $65,000 for most players, and roster players #25–30 saw their minimum salary increased to $53,000. MLS salaries are limited by a salary cap, which MLS has had in place since the league's inception in 1996. The purpose of the salary cap is to prevent the team's owners from unsustainable spending on player salaries and to prevent a competitive imbalance among teams. All 30 players are eligible for selection to each 18-player matchday squad during the regular season and playoffs. Teams may augment their squads by signing players from other leagues. MLS has two transfer windows—the primary pre-season transfer window lasts three months from mid February until mid May, and the secondary mid season transfer window runs one month from early July to early August. MLS teams have a limited number of international roster slots that they can use to sign non-domestic players. However, MLS teams often obtain green cards for their non-domestic players in order to qualify them for domestic status and thus free up international roster slots. In 2015, 49% of MLS players were born outside of the U.S. and Canada, with players from 58 countries represented. MLS has a set of pool goalkeepers who are signed to a contract with the league and are loaned to teams during emergencies in which they are missing a goalkeeper due to injuries or suspensions. The pool goalkeeper trains with an MLS club or an affiliated team when not assigned to a team; some pool goalkeepers, including Tim Melia, have gone on to be signed to permanent contract with their assigned teams. In the past, when rosters were smaller, there were multiple goalkeepers signed to the pool, however, in recent years only one or two keepers are signed as team rosters are much larger. Designated Players and allocation money MLS has also introduced various initiatives and rules intended to improve quality of players while still maintaining the salary cap. Rules concerning Designated Players and allocation money allow for additional wage spending that is exempt from the salary cap. These initiatives have brought about an increase in on-field competition. The Designated Player Rule (DPR) allows teams to sign a limited number of players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap; in 2017, each DP only counted as $480,625 (the maximum non-DP salary) against the cap. Instituted in 2007, England's David Beckham was the first signing under the DPR. In the 2013 season, 21% of the league's wage spending went to just five players; this stretched to 29% on the top 6 players in the 2014 season. The league's "Core Players" initiative allows teams to re-sign players using retention funds that do not count against the salary cap. MLS teams can also use Targeted Allocation Money (often referred to as TAM), an initiative announced in 2015. Teams can use TAM funds to attract high-profile players by "buying down" contracts of players to below the DP level. High-profile players for which TAM funds were used include Hector Villalba, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Giorgio Chiellini. Youth development MLS has introduced various initiatives and rules intended to develop young players and has required all of its teams to operate youth development programs since 2008. MLS roster rules allow teams to sign an unlimited number of players straight from their academies and bypassing the draft process. One of the most prominent and lucrative examples of success in "home-grown" development was Jozy Altidore, who rose to prominence as a teenager in MLS before his record transfer fee $10 million move to Villarreal in Spain in 2008. The various MLS teams' development academies play matches in a U.S. Soccer developmental league against youth academies from other leagues such as the North American Soccer League (NASL), which had been a Division II league prior to 2018, and USL Pro, originally a Division III league but now the Division II USL Championship. The league operates a Generation Adidas program, which is a joint venture between MLS and U.S. Soccer that encourages young American players to enter MLS. Rules concerning Generation Adidas players and home-grown players provide incentives for clubs to develop and retain young players. MLS began integrating its Reserve League with the league then known as USL Pro in 2013, and after the 2014 season folded the Reserve League, with MLS then requiring all teams to either affiliate with a USL team or field their own reserve side in that league. However, this requirement was never strictly enforced, and MLS eventually relaunched its reserve league in 2022 under the banner of MLS Next Pro. In the inaugural 2022 season, 19 of the league's then-current clubs, plus future club St. Louis City SC, fielded reserve sides in Next Pro. In the 2023 season, the only MLS teams that did not field Next Pro sides were CF Montréal and D.C. United. Following the folding of the Development Academy, MLS announced its own development league in 2020. It includes all of the MLS team academies as well as 95 clubs across the country; many of which were a part of the Development Academy. Stadiums 's first stadium was MLS's first soccer-specific stadium Since 1999, the league has overseen the construction of twelve stadiums specifically designed for soccer. The development of soccer-specific stadiums owned by the teams has generated a better matchday experience for the fans. The soccer-specific stadiums have yielded positive financial results as teams were no longer required to pay to rent out facilities and gained control over revenue streams such as concessions, parking, naming rights, and the ability to host non-MLS events. The establishment of soccer-specific stadiums is considered the key to the league and the ability of teams to turn a profit. In 2006, Tim Leiweke, then CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, described the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums as the turning point for MLS. FC Dallas opened Pizza Hut Park, now Toyota Stadium, in 2005, and the Chicago Fire began playing their home matches in Toyota Park, now SeatGeek Stadium, in 2006. The 2007 season brought the opening of Dick's Sporting Goods Park for the Colorado Rapids and BMO Field for Toronto FC. Near the end of the 2008 season, Rio Tinto Stadium (now known as America First Field) became the home of Real Salt Lake, which meant that for the first time in MLS history a majority of MLS teams (8 out of 14) played in soccer-specific stadiums. Red Bull Arena, now Sports Illustrated Stadium, the new home of the New York Red Bulls, opened for the start of the 2010 season, and the Philadelphia Union opened PPL Park, now Subaru Park, in June 2010, midway through their inaugural season. The following season, in 2011, the Portland Timbers made their MLS debut in a newly renovated Jeld-Wen Field, now renamed Providence Park, which was originally a multi-purpose venue but turned into a soccer-specific facility. Also in 2011, Sporting Kansas City moved to new Livestrong Sporting Park, now Children's Mercy Park. The Houston Dynamo relocated to their new home at BBVA Compass Stadium, now Shell Energy Stadium, in 2012. The San Jose Earthquakes, who had played at Buck Shaw Stadium from 2008 until 2014, opened their new Avaya Stadium (now PayPal Park) before the 2015 season. Orlando City SC intended to begin constructing its soccer-specific stadium, now known as Inter&Co Stadium, in 2014 to be completed in 2015. Delays caused by changes to the stadium plans pushed back the new venue's opening, first to late 2016 and finally to the start of the 2017 season. Orlando City played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, now Camping World Stadium, while awaiting the construction of their new venue through the 2016 season. Exploria Stadium hosted its first MLS match on March 5, 2017, against New York City FC as Orlando City Stadium. , home of Seattle Sounders FC The development of additional MLS stadiums has continued to progress. D.C. United had played their home matches at former NFL and MLB venue RFK Stadium. In 2013, D.C. United announced the signing of a public-private partnership term sheet to build a new soccer stadium in Washington, D.C., and a final deal was reached in late 2014. In late February 2017, D.C. United finally broke ground on their new stadium, Audi Field. After 21 years of playing at RFK Stadium, D.C. United played their first match at Audi Field in July 2018. Two teams have announced their desire to build a soccer-specific stadium, although these teams have not finalized the stadium site and received all necessary government approvals. New York City FC play home matches at Yankee Stadium, an MLB venue, although they intend to move into Etihad Park, expected to be completed by the 2027 season. The New England Revolution play home matches at Gillette Stadium, which is an NFL stadium also owned by the Revolution's owner, Robert Kraft. The team is currently in discussion with the City of Boston regarding a potential soccer-specific stadium in South Boston. Several remaining clubs play in stadiums not originally built for MLS and have not announced plans to move. The Seattle Sounders FC play at Lumen Field, a dual-purpose facility used for both American football and soccer. The Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined the league with Portland in 2011 and temporarily held matches at Empire Field before moving into the refurbished BC Place in October 2011, a retractable-roof stadium that hosts Canadian football as well as soccer. Of the three teams that made their MLS debuts in 2017 and 2018, one opened a soccer-specific stadium in 2019, a second is playing in a shared football stadium, and the last opened a soccer-specific stadium for its inaugural 2018 season. Minnesota United FC, which debuted in 2017, built Allianz Field in St. Paul which hosted its inaugural match against New York City FC on April 13, 2019. Until that time, the team played in Minneapolis at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium), home to University of Minnesota football. Atlanta United FC began play in 2017 at a college football facility, Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium, before moving into its permanent home at the retractable-roof Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which it shares with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons; both teams are owned by Arthur Blank and the stadium is equipped with screens to cordon off the upper tiers for most matches. Los Angeles FC, which began play in 2018, opened Banc of California Stadium (now BMO Stadium) on the former site of the Los Angeles Sports Arena in April of its inaugural season. 's TQL Stadium in 2021 FC Cincinnati made its MLS debut in 2019 at Nippert Stadium, the home of the University of Cincinnati football. The stadium had been home to FCC's USL Championship predecessor for all of its three seasons of play. The club moved within Cincinnati to the new TQL Stadium in 2021. Nashville SC played the 2020 and 2021 seasons at an NFL facility, Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans, before opening Geodis Park in 2022. Austin FC opened Q2 Stadium for its first season in 2021. Construction of Eleven Park was tied to an application for an Indianapolis-based MLS team, initialized in 2024. Profitability and revenues Major League Soccer began to demonstrate positive signs of long-term profitability as early as 2004 with the single-entity ownership structure, salary cap, and the media and marketing umbrella Soccer United Marketing (SUM) all contributing towards MLS' financial security. In September 2012 the league extended its distribution agreement with London-based Media rights agency MP & Silva until 2014 in a deal worth $10 million annually. Total league TV revenues are over $40 million annually. In 2011, MLS earned $150 million when it sold a 25% stake in SUM. As of July 2014, sixteen teams had signed sponsorship deals to have company logos placed on the front of their jerseys (and another team is directly owned by its shirt sponsor), and the league average from jersey sponsors was about $2.4 million. Sleeve sponsorship was introduced to MLS in the 2020 season, with the teams able to sell a section on the right arm where the league logo patch is normally positioned. The LA Galaxy made a profit in 2003 in their first season at The Home Depot Center, In November 2013, Forbes published a report that revealed that ten of the league's nineteen teams earned an operating profit in 2012, while two broke even and seven had a loss. Forbes estimated that the league's collective annual revenues were $494 million, and that the league's collective annual profit was $34 million. Forbes valued the league's franchises to be worth $103 million on average, almost three times as much as the $37 million average valuation in 2008. The Seattle Sounders FC franchise was named the most valuable at $175 million, a 483% gain over the $30 million league entrance fee it paid in 2009. These valuations do not include the value of stadiums or training facilities owned by the respective clubs. A Sportico ranking of club valuations in 2024 placed 20 MLS teams in the top 50 globally, with Los Angeles FC the most valuable at $1.15 billion (15th overall). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLS teams typically used commercial flights to transport players and staff between matches, with only four charter flights allowed under league rules. These commercial flights were often non-direct, requiring transfers and layovers, and contributed to long travel days. The number of charters allowed for league matches was increased to eight legs prior to the 2020 season and lifted entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sun Country Airlines has provided charter service to MLS teams since 2020 and became the league's official carrier in 2022. Rules and officials When the league began play, it tried to gain popularity by "Americanizing" the game: the game clock counted down in each half and stopped for certain dead ball, and matches level at the end of regulation were resolved with a running penalty shootout. Now MLS follows the rules and standards of the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Since 2005, the playoff extra time structure follows IFAB standards: two full 15-minute periods, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary. U.S. Soccer hired the first full-time professional referees in league history in 2007 as part of the league's "Game First" initiatives. Major League Soccer has been implementing fines and suspensions since the 2011 season for simulation (diving) through its Disciplinary Committee, which reviews plays after the match. The first player fined under the new rule was Charlie Davies, fined $1,000 for intentionally deceiving match officials. MLS uses the list of banned substances published by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Branding The current MLS logo debuted in 2014, ahead of the league's 20th season, replacing an earlier logo that featured a stylized boot and ball. The current logo is a simple crest with a diagonal stripe, the MLS wordmark, and three stars that represent "community, club, and country". The logo was designed to be remixed in different color schemes that match teams when used on merchandise and jerseys. The first MLS anthem was unveiled in 2007 and was composed by Audiobrain. The current league anthem debuted in 2020 and was composed by film score composer Hans Zimmer. It's used during league broadcasts and as a prelude to kickoff at stadiums. Team names In the early years of MLS, teams were typically given official nicknames in the style of other U.S. sports leagues (e.g., Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution). Several club names in MLS originated with previous professional soccer clubs, such as the 1970s-era NASL team names San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, and Vancouver Whitecaps. D.C. United was the only MLS team to adopt European naming conventions during the 1990s. In more recent years, European-style names have become increasingly common in MLS, with expansion teams such as Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC, New York City FC, Atlanta United FC, Minnesota United FC, and FC Cincinnati, along with rebrandings such as FC Dallas (formerly the Dallas Burn), Sporting Kansas City (formerly the Kansas City Wizards), and CF Montréal (formerly the Montreal Impact). Austrian beverage company Red Bull GmbH owns and sponsors the New York Red Bulls as well as other sports teams outside the U.S. ==Media coverage==

MLS Season Pass on Apple TV Since 2023, all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, as well as certain matches from MLS Next Pro and MLS Next, are streamed worldwide on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. This agreement ended the previous regional sports network-based system. The contract allows for some broadcasts on linear television. ESPN and Univision exited negotiations, apparently because MLS would not allow them to stream via their own platforms or use their own commentators. Following their departures, Fox Sports joined Apple as MLS' linear broadcast partners in the U.S., with Bell Media's TSN and RDS doing so in Canada. United States From 2012 to 2014, MLS matches were broadcast by NBC Sports, with 40 matches per year—primarily on NBCSN, and select matches broadcast on the NBC network. The move from Fox Soccer to the more widely distributed NBCSN caused viewership numbers to double for the 2012 season. Soccer United Marketing partnered with Google and Bedrocket Media Ventures in 2012 to launch "KickTV", a premium YouTube channel with original soccer programming. KickTV was sold to Copa90 in 2015 to form its American branch. In 2020, Soccer United Marketing signed a multi-year agreement with Bleacher Report to produce content and highlights for MLS and the U.S. national teams through the 2022 season. From 2015 to 2022, MLS matches were broadcast nationally by ESPN networks and Fox Sports in English, and Univision networks in Spanish under an eight-year contract. Each broadcaster had a window for national regular season matches, with UniMás airing a game on Friday nights in Spanish and additional matches on Univision Deportes Network, and ESPN and Fox Sports 1 airing matches on Sunday evenings in English. ESPN, FS1, and Univision shared coverage of the playoffs, while ABC and Fox alternated broadcasting the MLS Cup final in English. In total, at least 125 matches were aired per season across all three networks. The three contracts have an average estimated value of $90 million per season—five times larger than the average $18 million value of the previous contracts with ESPN, Univision, and NBC Sports. Matches not televised nationally were broadcast regionally, often by regional sports networks like Bally Sports, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Spectrum Sports and Root Sports, and sometimes by terrestrial stations like KTXA, WGN and KMYU. Canada hosting D.C. United (August 2012). Currently, English-language national MLS broadcast rights in Canada are held by the TSN networks through a five-year deal first renewed in 2017. The networks primarily broadcast matches involving the league's Canadian franchises, in combination with separate "regional" rights deals giving TSN exclusive rights to all Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC matches. In 2018, online streaming service DAZN obtained the league's digital out-of-market service MLS Live with live and on-demand streaming of matches featuring U.S. teams (matches with Canadian teams were only available after a 48-hour delay to protect the league's main rightsholders TSN and TVA Sports). International MLS also entered into a four-year contract with Sky Sports to broadcast two MLS matches per week in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2015 to 2019. As part of the agreement, Sky Sports broadcast at least two MLS regular season matches each week, as well as the MLS All-Star Game, every MLS Cup Playoff game, and the MLS Cup final. The matches appeared across Sky's family of networks. It also carried weekly MLS highlights across various platforms, including Sky Sports News and SkySports.com. Sky Sports also broadcast at least one match from MLS' "Decision Day" – the final day of the MLS regular season. Many of the matches on Decision Day every year are expected to determine the final spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs. DSport, owned by Discovery Communications, began televising league matches in India in 2017. SBS Sport Australia broadcast one MLS game per week in Australia from 2025. Video games Major League Soccer is a playable league in the EA Sports FC series, the eFootball series, and the Football Manager series. The league made its video game debut in 1999 with FIFA 2000. Kids video game company Humongous Entertainment had the rights to teams and players for their game, Backyard Soccer MLS Edition and for Backyard Soccer 2004. In 2000, Konami released ESPN MLS GameNight, and two years later, they released its sequel, ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002. The league made its first appearance in the management series Football Manager 2005 in 2004. ==Player records==

Statistics below are for all-time leaders. Statistics are for regular season only. Bold indicates active MLS players. Player records (active) Statistics below are for all-time leaders who are still playing. Statistics are for regular season only. ==Awards==

At the conclusion of each season, the league presents several awards for outstanding achievements, mostly to players, but also to coaches, referees, and teams. The finalists in each category are determined by voting from MLS players, team employees, and the media. • 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 ==Notes==