From the time I started watching Major League Soccer (MLS), I always enjoyed the fact that the league was unique to its counterparts. For most soccer leagues across the world, especially in Europe, the August to May calendar is the standard template. With MLS, a late winter to late fall calendar felt normal to me.
It’s like clockwork for me every year. The fall is for the NFL and college football. In the winter, it’s meant for the NBA, NHL and college basketball.
Yes, football will be played in the colder winter months. Yes, the NBA and NHL have their Finals in June. But once all of those sports conclude, the MLS is in the heart of their season.
When fans get to the summer months, the sports calendar gets interesting. I’m not an active watcher of the MLB, but I will find time to watch the WNBA or the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The MLS season though, that is when I’m fully immersed in the league.
For decades, the MLS has operated on the same calendar that differs from other leagues like the Premier League and Bundesliga. That, however, will soon be changing and to be honest, I have mixed reactions.
On Thursday, the league announced a seismic change in the schedule, one that would properly align with leagues elsewhere. The regular season will operate on a summer to spring campaign starting in 2027 .
“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said.
For the 2027-2028 regular season, the league will start play in mid-to-late July, and the season will conclude in late May. Essentially, the MLS Cup will take place around the same time as the UEFA Champions League Final.
The league will also conduct a transition season between February and May 2027 with teams playing in a 14-game regular season.
There are a lot of benefits from this approved change, which is currently still being worked on with the MLS Players Association (MLSPA). These benefits include being more active in the major transfer windows, aligning with the FIFA calendar and many more.
However, as a traditionalist of sorts, I understand why the change is being made, but I’m not pleased with this decision. It comes down to a few things for me: weather, exposure, competition and history.
Let’s get the main one out of the way, which is the climate teams will endure. MLS fans know very well how hot matches can get in the summer time, especially down south. For the most part, most matches don’t start until 7:30 p.m. so it’s a little cooler at kickoff.
Now, imagine matches with snowy conditions and low temperatures. This happens every season in the playoffs so fans aren’t bothered by it to an extent. But, I believe supporters would get irritated to sit through a regular season match where they can’t feel their toes.
The league does deserve some credit for how they are handling this upcoming change. For most northern market teams, think Toronto FC and CF Montréal, the league will try to limit the number of home contests in December and February. There are expected to be no league matches in January.
The next two points coincide with each other. Moving to the traditional world calendar would result in the season starting close to the college football and NFL seasons. As everyone knows, football is king in this country and the MLS in my eyes would struggle to gain traction to start their season.
One of the reasons why I love this league is because I devote all my time to it in the summer. I love basketball, I love hockey, but I want to make MLS the main league I watch and cover during the hottest months of the year. The fact that the playoffs would take place in May means that MLS will just be competing with the NBA and NHL playoffs.
You could counter and say the Premier League, La Liga and other leagues run through those sports’ seasons and have no problem. In fairness, the Premier League does well on NBC and Peacock, even when a massive college football game is taking place on a different network. But that league is the best in the world and MLS is still not there yet.
Exposure is once again at the forefront with this change in the schedule. One thing to note though, starting in 2026, the league will be getting rid of their season pass on Apple TV to make it more accessible for fans. All future MLS matches will be available to stream for Apple TV users without the Season Pass subscription.
What people forget and don’t realize still is that matches still air on FOX and FS1. As the media nerd I am, a large chunk of the season will have to compete with other properties on the network. Just between September and December alone, FOX Sports would have football, baseball, and men’s and women’s college basketball all airing.
I love MLS, but even the soccer fan in me realizes some fans will be watching a massive college football game instead. In the case of Apple TV’s Sunday Night Soccer, fans will be watching NBC’s Sunday Night Football instead. At least MLS Cup, which should be played in November, won’t have to compete against college football conference championship games.
To tie this in with the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC, this isn’t necessarily great for either of them. Both clubs already face some issues creating new fans and being discussed in the local New Jersey/New York market. I bet some people still don’t realize their games are not on MSG or the YES Network anymore.
In a region with teams like the Giants, Devils, Knicks, Yankees, both clubs would have to fight hard to get peoples’ attention. Specifically with the Red Bulls, they just endured one of their more disastrous seasons in years. If they do perform terribly let’s say, people will have other things to focus on in the winter months.
The league has faced these challenges in its current format and all I want is this league to succeed. This is truly one of the biggest decisions in the league’s history and if it fails to yield positive results, what will the consequences be?
MLS has made many changes since the league first started play in 1996, all to various results. Will this change be successful, especially for an American audience who’s been accustomed to their standard schedule for decades? I want to say yes since I cover and adore this league.
At the same time, I can’t help but disagree with what the league wants to do. The change may help MLS in the long run. However, I do feel like this will end up being a mistake.
