MLS shifting schedule starting in 2027 to align with world soccer calendar
Major League Soccer owners voted on Thursday to align with the international soccer calendar by shifting to a Summer to Spring schedule beginning in 2027.
MLS currently plays from late February through the first week of December and is among the few leagues in the world that do not sync with the global calendar.
The 2027–28 MLS regular season will kick off in mid-to-late July 2027 and conclude with the playoffs and MLS Cup in late May 2028.
Like many other soccer leagues around the world, MLS will observe a midwinter break from mid-December through early February, with no league matches scheduled in January. The league plans to limit the number of home matches in northern markets during December and February.
In addition to a new calendar, league owners also voted to update the regular season format. Details are still being worked out. The playoff format is still in discussion.
The league will stage a 14-game abbreviated “sprint season” during the transition from mid-February to May 2027.
The vast majority (91 percent) of the new season schedule will overlap with the current MLS calendar. But with the new schedule, the playoffs and championship will no longer compete directly against college football and the NFL and will avoid a FIFA international window.
“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “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.”
Nelson Rodriguez, the MLS vice president of sporting competition, added: “We are optimizing our calendar through this new footprint. We’ll open our season in July, when the only active men’s professional league at that time is MLB…and we’ll end our season in prime conditions, with an April run in and a May playoff that is uninterrupted by a FIFA window, excellent weather, fields will be pristine. This sets us up to showcase ourselves in a much better form.”
Mauricio Pochettino, head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team, agrees.
“For sure this is a great step forward for MLS to be on par with the top leagues in the world,” he said. “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.”
The schedule shift will help optimize the global transfer market, with marquee players traditionally joining in the summer.
It will also align better with the FIFA international match calendar, which will significantly reduce conflicts between MLS league matches and national team call-ups for players.
MLS research revealed strong support for the shift, including 92 percent of league soccer viewers – defined as those who have watched at least one professional club soccer match during the most recent season – supporting the calendar change.
The league also announced that beginning with the 2026 season, all matches will be available to Apple TV subscribers with no need for a secondary MLS Season Pass subscription.
“This will allow us to put our games alongside other great sports like Major League Baseball, FI and all the great content and long and short form programming that exists on Apple TV,” Garber said. “Casual viewers will have an opportunity to be exposed to MLS in a broader footprint and hopefully become lifelong MLS fans.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 5:55 PM.