Major League Soccer is changing the schedule to start in the summer and end in the spring starting in 2027.
The move, approved Thursday by the league's board of governors, means the MLS season will begin in mid-July and run through April, with the playoffs and championship game taking place in May.
This season, games began in February and the playoffs began in mid-October. The MLS Cup final is scheduled for December 6.
The new schedule will include a winter break from mid-December to early to mid-February, with no games played in January, and another break in June and July, when many international competitions are played.
“Today our owners made a decision that I believe is one of the most important in the history of our league,” Commissioner Don Garber said at a news conference.
“This gives us a wide range of opportunities that will enhance our ability to become one of the best and leading leagues in the world.”
The 2026 season will still be played on the current winter/winter schedule, but MLS will then hold a “transition season” from February to May 2027.
This season will include a 14-game regular season, playoffs and MLS Cup, with the results determining which clubs will qualify for the Canadian Championship, US Open Cup, Leagues Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup.
There have been concerns about what the schedule change could mean for the league's northernmost teams, including Toronto and Montreal, which play their home games in outdoor stadiums.
While the start and end of the season will change, the league expects 91 percent of games will still be played in the same window, including cold weather months, Garber said.
He added that whenever the league makes major changes, some clubs are hit harder than others, and that's true for scheduling changes as well.
“Our northern teams will suffer much more than our southern teams,” he said. “But our southern teams were very influenced by the games in Texas and Florida, parts of the United States where it was very hot during the summer window. Overall, our owners are very committed to becoming one of the best leagues in the world.”
The league plans to take climate into account when crafting the new schedule, looking not only at which clubs might be more prone to winter weather, but also which might experience sweltering heat in the summer.
The benefits outweigh the problems
TFC released a statement Thursday saying it looks forward to working with MLS to ensure the changes benefit everyone involved.
“Of course, discussions about changing the calendar have also raised weather-related concerns for a number of the league's northernmost teams, but we are confident in the efforts being made and will remain a priority across the league,” the club said.
“We believed that the benefits of a future league product outweighed the potential problems.”
Vancouver Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement that the move is a “milestone moment in the history of our league.”
“We see this as an extremely positive step for the development of sport on our continent, which will allow us to move closer to the top leagues of the world,” he said.
FC Montreal president and CEO Gabriel Gervais is set to speak to reporters about the changes on Friday.
Garber declined to comment on how the vote for the calendar change split, but said there was “overwhelming” support for the move — even more than he expected.
“As the league continues to evolve, we must collectively move toward a path where we manage a shared and collective vision and the agreements that go with it,” the commissioner said.
The move will also better fit the FIFA calendar and help clubs avoid losing their best players to their national teams at crucial points in the season.
The league is currently on an international break, having suspended playoff games for international play.
The Whitecaps advanced to the second round of the playoffs on November 1, but due to the break, they will not face Los Angeles in the Western Conference semifinals until November 22.
The schedule change means MLS clubs that attract talent during the summer transfer window used by most European leagues will have more players to choose from, and when they sign up those athletes, they will be available for most of the season, said Nelson Rodriguez, the league's vice president in charge of sports and competition.
Mirroring leagues around the world
When clubs consider selling a player at this time, they will not have to consider whether it will affect their potential MLS Cup performance, he added.
“We think aligning with the huge global window that will happen in the summer will help improve the quality of play in MLS,” Rodriguez said.
“This will make our league more dynamic and improve the quality of our players overall.”
Garber said further changes are also in the works ahead of the 2027 season, including changing the regular season format.
Reports have surfaced that MLS is considering moving from the Western and Eastern Conference standings to a single table format.
The commissioner declined to comment on specifics Thursday, saying the league wants to get the format right.
“This is a change and an evolution that will transform the league,” Garber said. “Changing the competition format is something leagues rarely do. So we'll continue to work through this process and do it the right way, get the right amount of information, do the right amount of research.”
