The typical cliche for a regular season is that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. In 2027, Major League Soccer will be the exception.
On Thursday, MLS revealed how its short 2027 “sprint season” will be formatted as it nears flipping its schedule to a fall-to-spring format next year. The competition’s structure will be familiar in many ways, with the regular season table seeding a postseason bracket and culminating with MLS Cup. Lasting just under three months, it’ll proceed at a breakneck pace that could be an enthralling departure from the league’s usual flow.
How will the sprint season be formatted?
The sprint season will start in February and see all 30 teams play a fully in-conference slate: Western Conference teams will only play Western Conference teams, and same for the East. Each team’s season will consist of 14 regular season games against conference opponents: seven at home, and seven away. The top eight teams in each conference will enter the playoffs for a streamlined single-elimination bracket with the playoffs wrapping up in May.
To put it another way: the only way a team from the West will face an Eastern opponent would be if they advance to an MLS Cup unlike any before or, almost certainly, hereafter.
How will cup qualification play out?
From the time MLS announced it would be flipping its schedule, there were questions about how seriously teams would take the interregnum between the 2026 season and 2027-28. As it turns out, the sprint season will carry considerable stakes beyond the playoffs. Five berths into the 2028 Concacaf Champions Cup will be determined by the sprint season results. 18 teams – nine per conference – will qualify for the 2028 Leagues Cup based on their sprint season showings.
US Soccer has not yet announced how MLS’s calendar decision will impact its annual US Open Cup, making it difficult to project if or how the tournament will affect the sprint season. That tournament has historically been contained within one calendar year, with amateur club qualifying held in the preceding fall. The 2026 installment kicked off in earnest on 17 March with the first round of matches. A total of 16 MLS teams will enter the competition in its third round, with notable non-participants including defending Open Cup champion Nashville SC and MLS Cup holder Inter Miami.
How are teams preparing?
Many teams began preparing their squads for the sprint season as they negotiated deals for new acquisitions and holdovers alike. For example, DC United’s signing of former US international goalkeeper Sean Johnson was guaranteed through June 2027. More speculative signings, like Nashville’s additions of Shak Mohammed and Isaiah LeFlore, included team options for both the 2027 sprint season and the 2027-28 campaign.
What comes after the sprint season?
The first full season after the calendar switch will kick off in July 2027, with MLS Cup scheduled to conclude the campaign in May of 2028. The league will take a winter break from mid-December until early February.
