We're entering the final few months of the 2026 MLS regular season, which means we're entering the final few months of the soccer calendar as we know it in North America.
With a calendar switch looming in 2027, here's what's next for MLS.
Fall-to-spring calendar
Starting in July 2027, MLS will be adopting the European summer-to-spring calendar.
"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," said MLS Commissioner Don Garber in the league's announcement. "It marks the start of a new era for our league and for soccer in North America."
Ben Wright
This new calendar will see the MLS season kick off in mid-to-late July, with MLS Cup playoffs and MLS Cup wrapping up the season in late May. Due to North America’s harsh winters – particularly in northern markets – MLS will take a winter break in the middle of the regular season. This break will take place from mid-December through early February, meaning no January games.
As with any major change to any sports league, there will always be pros and cons. A major con of this new format is the mid-season break, which essentially splits it into two regular seasons. A major pro to the new format is aligning with the FIFA calendar, which will mean MLS's primary buying and selling periods run simultaneously with the rest of the world.
2027 sprint season
To bridge the gap before this calendar switch comes into effect, MLS will play an abbreviated "sprint season". The regular season will run from February to April 2027. Each team will play 14 regular season games: seven home matches and seven away matches.
These matches will be intra-conference only, meaning Nashville will play each Eastern Conference side once. The eight best teams from each conference will qualify for playoffs, which will be single-elimination from the start. The sprint season will conclude with MLS Cup in May, heading into a summer offseason before the full 2027-28 season begins in late July.
US Open Cup
The US Open Cup is back! For the first time since 2023, all 27 United States-based MLS sides will be competing in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. In 2027, MLS clubs will enter in the Round of 64, set to take place before the regular season begins.
Ben Wright
The tournament will ultimately conclude with the final on December 15th. It’s the quickest route to a trophy for an MLS side, needing to win only six matches to lift the most historic soccer tournament in the US.
Leagues Cup?
With the recent announcement of the return to Open Cup, there’s no clear decision on what will happen with Leagues Cup going into the new calendar structure.
There’s reason to believe, due to how MLS has been structured, the league could hold in place a rule of how many competitions a club is allowed to compete in, which could effectively push out Leagues Cup.
There's also the clear fact that MLS and Liga MX value working in partnership with each other, and Leagues Cup was born out of that desire for an expanded working relationship. Despite schedule congestion, it's hard to see it going away completely.
Consistently low attendance across games has made it evident that fans simply don’t care for this tournament; it forces clubs to put their regular-season push on hold, while Open Cup does not. Perhaps there's a potential to play the tournament over the winter break, but there's no imminent answer on how and where it will fit.
Tradition will always win over a quick cash-grab.
Potential Playoff
Finally, there’s another piece of news that hasn't been confirmed, but widely reported on by The Athletic. There’s a possibility of expanding the playoff format once again. If this took place, it would put into effect the first full season of the new calendar schedule.
Once again, MLS can’t pick something and stick with it, with the league reportedly switching to a 20-team playoff format.
Paul Harvey
The league would also switch away from the two-conference model and move to five divisions. However, playoff spots won’t be determined by division standings; with the top 20 overall in the regular season reported to make it to the playoffs. According to The Guardian, at the end of the regular season, MLS would put every club into a single table, and that would sort out who makes the playoffs and who misses out.
The lowest eight seeds would partake in a play-in round. Those four winners would be put into the Round of 16. In this format, the top eight seeds play double-elimination games. A win in that round would see that team to the quarterfinals. Clubs would be reseeded each round to allow the higher seed the competitive and home-field advantage.
MLS is reportedly planning a major playoff shakeup for 2027.
— Chris Ivey (@ChrisIvey865) August 20, 2026
20 teams, one combined table, and a "double chance" round for the top 8 seeds modeled on Australian Rules Football's system.
I mocked up how the new MLS playoff system could work 👇
(Reporting via @MLSist) pic.twitter.com/TWX21eY3aD
There's a compelling argument to be made that the new format devalues the regular season. Currently, MLS has 30 clubs. That would mean two-thirds of the league would for the playoffs, playing over 97% of a season's games to eliminate 10 teams.
It’s absurd.
MLS is trying to add more playoff games simply for the sake of adding playoff games.
