After 30 Years, MLS Finally Joins, Aligns With The Rest Of The World

COLUMBUS, OHIO – DECEMBER 08: MLS Commissioner Don Garber speaks during his state of the league address ahead of the 2023 MLS Cup at Lower.com Field on December 08, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Major League Soccer, welcome to the world, welcome to the real world of soccer.

And say goodbye to a paywall that limited supporters and would-be fans who wanted to watch games on a regular basis.

The North American soccer league has been around for 30 years, but it wasn’t until Thursday aligned its schedule with the rest of the world.

In other words, MLS will shift from a winter-to-fall season to a summer-to-spring campaign, with a winter break.

The decision, made by the league’s board of governors at a meeting in Palm Springs, Calif. on Thursday, had considered the pros and cons of the change for several years.

“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a press release. “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.”

End of a three-decade tradition

The final traditional MLS season will run from February to December 2026. After a multi-month break, the new schedule will kick off in mid-to-late July 2027 and will conclude with the MLS Cup Playoffs, and MLS Cup in late May. There will be a winter break from mid-December through early to mid-February.

“This is an opportunity for us to eliminate the competition that we had for our playoffsas they exist today, a very crowded time of the year,” Garber said during a media Zoom call on Thursday evening. “It allows us to be aligned with the international transfer windows, which we think is incredibly important. It gives us a wide variety of opportunities that will expand our ability to be on this path to be one of the top and leading leagues in the world.”

The change will optimize the league’s 30 teams in the global transfer market. Teams will be better positioned to acquire and sell talent. Clubs also won’t have to worry about selling a player and losing its chance for playoff success.

The new schedule also will align the league with the FIFA international match calendar and reduce potential headaches of international player call-ups during the season.

Garber declined to reveal the results of the Board of Governors vote.

“There was overwhelming support for this move,” he said. “That was positive, but it wasn’t necessary.”

Some climate challenges

Several northern teams, such as Minnesota United, Montreal CF, Toronto FC and the New England Revolution, could be affected by the cold weather in December.

Asked if he had some pushback from the northern clubs, Garber replied, “It’s not really appropriate at this time to talk about what happened inside our board rooms over the last year or so when you make changes to a competitive format or change your revenue share or change your rules like we did with the designated player.

“They all have different impact on different clubs, and our northern teams will be impacted far more than certainly our southern teams were, but our southern teams were very impacted by playing games in Texas and in Florida, parts of the United States that were super-hot during the summer window.”

Garber noted that “an initial projection of the 2027-28, schedule, 91 percent of our matches will fall within the MLS season footprint.”

In a statement released by the Revolution, which calls Foxborough Mass. its home, welcomed the change.

“The summer-to-spring competition calendar also positions the MLS Cup Playoffs in May, the ideal timing and weather conditions for the most important part of our season, without interruptions for FIFA international windows,” the club said. “Now, our players can be in their best condition to compete in a championship season that better aligns with the rest of the soccer world.

“We also appreciate the league’s proactive steps to minimize the impact of this transition on cold-weather markets like New England, where seasonal climates can significantly affect the matchday experience. Revolution fans can be confident that more than 90 percent of the league’s games fall within today’s current MLS footprint. Additionally, the league schedule will minimize the number of home games the Revolution play in the winter by having us on the road both before and after the winter break.”

Pochettino likes it

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who has coached Espanyol, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux in Europe and will direct the squad at the 2026 World Cup, hailed MLS’ decision.

“For sure this is a great step forward for MLS to be on par with the top leagues in the world,” he said in a league press release. “Having managed club teams and now the U.S. National Team, the ability to align with the international calendar will have a huge positive impact for the players, coaches and clubs. This also extends beyond the senior national teams; it will allow us to have access to the youth national team players during critical periods of international competition, further advancing their development.”

So does Berhalter

Pochettino’s predecessor, Gregg Berhalter, who coaches the Chicago Fire in MLS, had similar sentiments.

“The beauty of MLS is how it has evolved over the years, and another step in that evolution is aligning with the top leagues in the world,” Berhalter said in a statement. “Moving to an international calendar helps position MLS on par with the best.”

Dempsey knows that feel already

And former USMNT forward Clint Dempsey, who played in MLS and with Fulham and Tottenham in England, gave the move two thumbs up.

“Having MLS on the same timetable as the rest of the world is great,” he said in a statement. “Whether you’re in MLS, Europe, or anywhere else, being aligned means players are sharper when they get called into camp and it’s easier for everyone – players, coaches, and fans – to follow the game year-round.”

No decision has been made regarding the MLS NEXT Pro schedule. MLS NEXT Pro is the third tier of professional soccer in North America.

“MLS NEXT Pro has been a part of MLS’ discussions over the last several months and will continue to have conversations with their owners to make a decision,” the press release stated.

And a new era for MLS, Apple TV

In another announcement, Garber said that the league will end its subscriber-driven MLS Season Pass after this season and will be open to those individuals who have an Apple TV subscription.

“This transition expands the reach of our games and our tournaments to tens of millions of subscribers globally, and integrates all the content that we produce at the local level and at the league level with one of the world’s leading streaming platforms,” Garber said, adding that “it allows us to put our games alongside other great sports like Major League Baseball, recently announced by Apple, F1 [Formula One racing] all the great content and long and short form programming that exists today on Apple TV and will exist in the future, and having our casual viewers have an opportunity to be exposed to Major League Soccer and a broader footprint and hopefully become lifelong MLS fans.”

Garber noted that its MLS Season Pass ratings increased by almost 30 percent.

“But we now have the opportunity, with just one click, with no blackouts, with global distribution, to have our fans have greater access to our games,” he said.

In 2023, MLS began a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with Apple TV to stream every league game, Leagues Cup match and MLS Cup Playoff contests. It was not known if the decision to get rid of MLS Season Pass affected the contract