Major League Soccer is planning a significant overhaul of its playoff format, multiple league and club sources told the Guardian this week. The changes, which would debut in 2028 alongside the league’s shift to a fall-to-spring schedule, could include a “double-elimination” component and see as many as 20 teams feature. Sources spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the league’s plans.
The Guardian has viewed a potential schedule for the new format, in which the playoffs start in late April and unfold over roughly three weeks with MLS Cup being played on Sunday 21 May 2028. The changes to the playoff format would pair with long-reported changes to MLS’s regular season, with the league going to a five-division setup in place of its current Eastern and Western Conference structure.
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Notably, the 20 potential spots wouldn’t necessarily be evenly distributed among the league’s divisions; instead, all teams would be combined into a single table at season’s end, with the overall 20 best teams advancing to the postseason. Eight of those 20 teams would take part in a play-in round, with four advancing to create a final field of 16 teams.
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The top eight teams in the combined table would play in a double-elimination round, a move that seems aimed at further incentivizing the league’s regular season matches. A win in that initial round would see a team through directly to the quarter-finals. Teams, sources said, would be re-seeded after each round, ensuring that higher-seeded teams are offered a competitive and hosting advantage throughout the playoffs.
Major League Soccer declined to comment on the potential changes.
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The proposed format is unique in US sports but closely mirrors that of the AFL, the elite level of Australian rules football. It has used what it calls a “double-chance” format for decades. The league has had discussions with the AFL about its playoff approach, one source said this week.
MLS has altered its playoff format many times during its history. In the league’s infancy, eight of its 10 teams qualified for the postseason, which featured a best-of-three format for the conference semi-finals and finals. The format was tweaked again in 2000 and later altered again as teams were added and conferences realigned, moving to two-legged matchups in 2003. In 2019, MLS streamlined things, moving to a single-elimination format.
When MLS began its current media rights deal with Apple TV in 2023, the league sought to add more matches to its postseason and introduced its current format, a mishmash of best-of-three and single-elimination matches and also a “play-in” match between the eighth- and ninth-place teams in each conference. That move increased match inventory for television but has been criticized by fans, coaches and players alike.
At the time, the league had considered other options, including a “World Cup-style” format which would have seen teams navigate a group stage before advancing to a single-elimination component.
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MLS is in the midst of regearing itself after this summer’s World Cup. The league has named Los Angeles FC co-owner Larry Berg as its new commissioner, with Berg set to take the reins from Don Garber next year. Fundamental changes to the league’s roster regulations have been proposed. MLS will play a shortened “sprint season” in 2027 before the most foundational shift in league history: aligning with the international calendar and shifting to a fall-to-spring season.
