The league was organized as the "Professional Arena Soccer League" on May 18, 2008, as an offshoot of the
Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier), the largest amateur league in the United States. The league was originally nicknamed "PASL-Pro" to distinguish it from PASL-Premier. The first league game was played on October 25, 2008, in front of a crowd of 3,239 at
Stockton Arena, in Stockton, California, with the
California Cougars defeating the
Colorado Lightning 10–5. In 2011, it was announced the professional league would officially be referred to as simply PASL, while the amateur league would still be referred to as the PASL-Premier. On March 17, 2014, one day after the 2013–2014
Major Indoor Soccer League Championship finale,
United Soccer Leagues President Tim Holt announced "a number" of teams would not be returning to MISL the following year. In April 2014 it was officially announced that six teams (
Baltimore Blast,
Milwaukee Wave,
Missouri Comets,
Rochester Lancers,
St. Louis Ambush, and
Syracuse Silver Knights) joined PASL for the 2014–2015 season. The league announced a change in its name from the Professional Arena Soccer League to the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) on May 18, 2014. This represents a merging of the MISL and PASL names. MASL fielded 23 teams for the 2014–15 season.
Split and re-merger into the MASL In February 2016, the current owner of the
Baltimore Blast, Ed Hale, announced his intentions to leave the MASL and form a new league, the
Indoor Professional League. Hale was later announced as the chairman of the league, and Sam Fantauzzo, former owner of the
Rochester Lancers, was announced as the first commissioner of the league. The St. Louis Ambush, Baltimore Blast, and Harrisburg Heat announced plans to join, along with the expansion Florida Tropics SC. In July 2016, the MASL was reformed as a new not-for-profit entity [501(c)6], a new entity separate from the previous MASL, LLC. In August 2016, the new MASL announced that the Blast, Heat, and Ambush would return to the MASL while the Tropics would join the MASL as an expansion team. This effectively ended the IPL split with the MASL. In a repeat of the
2015-16 Newman Cup the Baltimore Blast would go on to once again defeat
Soles de Sonora 2–1.
Launch of MASL 2 In October 2017 it was officially announced the
Major Arena Soccer League 2 (
MASL 2) would launch in December 2017. MASL 2 serves as the developmental league for the MASL. The initial lineup of this league consisted of former MASL clubs
Chicago Mustangs,
Waza Flo, the reserve teams for the
Ontario Fury,
San Diego Sockers, former
PASL clubs, and new expansion teams.
High-profile players In the 2018–19 season, the MASL saw an influx of players to the arena game with past
MLS experience, headlined by the additions of
Landon Donovan to the
San Diego Sockers,
Jermaine Jones to the
Ontario Fury, and
Dwayne De Rosario with the
Mississauga MetroStars. The
Empire Strykers signed
Marco Fabián to the second-largest contract in league history in December 2023 in an attempt to lure more professional players to the league.
End of the 2019–20 season Like many sports leagues, the MASL ended its regular 2019–20 season early because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. In May, the league announced that it was looking at conducting its playoffs in a centralized location. However, this did not take place, and the remainder of the season was cancelled.
Formation of the Major Arena Soccer League 3 On July 20, 2020, the MASL launched a new semi-professional/amateur developmental league known as
MASL 3 (
Major Arena Soccer League 3) set to kick off in 2021. The anticipated conferences expected to play were to be in the North East, Mid-Atlantic, South East, Great Lakes, Central North, Central South, Heartland Conference, Mountain North, Mountain South, Southwest, Pacific North, and Pacific South regions. The Omaha Kings FC, Sunflower State FC, Grand Rapids Wanderers FC and
Muskegon Risers SC were announced as the first members of the league. However, the Risers were dropped from M3 and replaced by the
Springfield Demize and
Wichita Wings 2. The league launched their new website on January 30, 2021.
Formation of the Major Arena Soccer League Women (2024) On September 3, 2024, the MASL launched a new women's league known as
MASL W (
Major Arena Soccer League Women) set to kick off in 2024. ==Teams==