The 2027 Major League Soccer sprint season will run from February to May, featuring 14 intra-conference matches to adjust the calendar to a summer-to-spring format.
Each club will play seven matches at home and seven away during the regular season, all against opponents from the same conference. The top eight teams from each conference will then qualify for the playoffs, where games are set to be played in a single-elimination bracket to determine an Eastern and Western conference champion.
The winners of each conference will face off in the 2027 MLS Cup.
Despite the shortened format, teams can still earn qualification for the 2028 Concacaf Champions Cup and the 2028 Leagues Cup. The five available Concacaf Champions Cup spots will be determined by the result of the regular season and playoffs.
“The 2027 Sprint Season schedule, including each team’s home and away matchups, will be announced in the coming months,” said MLS in a press release.
The new format for the 2027-28 MLS regular season kicks off in July 2027and concludes at the MLS Cup in May of the following year. The new schedule also sees the league pause for a winter break from mid-December through early February, with no matches scheduled in January.
MLS announced the shift from a summer-to-spring schedule in November, calling it a new era for the league.
“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a news release. “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.”
The league currently runs from February to November, with the MLS Cup being played in December. Despite the shift, more than 90% of games are expected to be played in the footprint the league currently employs.
