The Major League Soccer Board of Governors voted to align with the international soccer calendar by moving the regular season from a summer to a spring campaign starting in 2027.
Unlike most international leagues, MLS currently plays on a February to November calendar.
“The calendar change is one of the most important decisions in our history,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a news release. “Aligning our program with the world’s top leagues will strengthen the global competitiveness of our clubs, create better opportunities in the transfer market and ensure that our Audi MLS Cup Playoffs take center stage without interruption.
“This marks the beginning of a new era for our league and soccer in North America.”
Under this change, the season will begin in mid-July and run through the spring, with Decision Day in April and the MLS Cup Playoffs in May. MLS will allocate a winter break to prioritize player recovery, with action halted from mid-December to early or mid-February.
More than 90% of the games are expected to be played in the footprint currently planned by the league.
The upcoming calendar change will coincide with the MLS international transfer window, giving clubs the ability to participate in the global transfer market. The MLS primary transfer window in the current calendar runs from January 31 to April 23, while most international leagues transfer players during the traditional summer window.
MLS will run a shortened season from February to May in 2027, where an MLS Cup champion will be crowned before the league officially shifts to a summer/spring calendar.
“We will have an MLS regular season. We will have a regular season that crowns an MLS champion, we will award Concacaf Champions Cup spots based on performance in that MLS season,” said Nelson Rodriguez, MLS executive vice president of sports and competitions. “We hope the US Open Cup, Canadian Championships will continue to exist and we will also have an MLS season that serves as qualifiers for the League Cup.
“Fewer matches, fewer overall league season matches, but with full playoffs and an MLS Cup championship.”
Nelson later confirmed that a vote on the competition format had taken place, although details of the changes remained under discussion.
While the Board of Governors has approved this change, the league is still working out the details with the MLS Players Association and there could be a major hurdle to overcome. Rodriguez said there were “very good conversations” with the MLSPA. Another source said discussions were “slow”.
Sources told ESPN that the primary issue for the MLSPA was the league’s reluctance to commit to tough dates in terms of schedule changes as well as the length of the offseason. If the offseason were too short, it could make the movement of players via free agency – which the MLSPA has fought for through multiple collective bargaining agreements – difficult.
Negotiations for the final CBA ratified in 2021 were contentious in that the league forced renegotiations twice, giving back a considerable amount of leverage gained by the MLSPA at the bargaining table.
The first rollback resulted in the MLSPA giving up $150 million over the life of the deal to avoid salary cuts. MLS was also successful in extending the term of the CBA for an additional two years, until 2027.
More recently, the two sides clashed over bonuses for the FIFA Club World Cup. It’s no surprise that the union is trying to gain some leverage in its discussions with MLS.
Garber had previously teased the possibility of calendar changes, saying coordination with international leagues made sense. Although the Board of Governors failed to pass the proposal during its summer meeting, discussions on the topic continued before it was finally ratified on Thursday.
“We’re not making any announcements today, but we’re working very closely with our fans, our partners, all our chief football executives and our clubs to get us closer to the point where we’re able to make a decision,” Garber said in July. “But we believe the alignment is something that makes sense.”
ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle contributed to this report.
