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Wikipedia

Major League Soccer

May 04, 2023

"MLS" redirects here. For other uses, see MLS (disambiguation).

Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States.[2][3] The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada—since the 2023 season.[4][5] The league is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.

Major League Soccer
FoundedDecember 17, 1993; 29 years ago (1993-12-17)[1]
First season1996
CountryUnited States (26 teams)
Other club(s) fromCanada (3 teams)
ConfederationCONCACAF
ConferencesEastern Conference
Western Conference
Number of teams29
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)U.S. Open Cup
Canadian Championship
International cup(s)CONCACAF Champions League
Campeones Cup
Leagues Cup
Current MLS CupLos Angeles FC (1st title)
(2022)
Current Supporters' ShieldLos Angeles FC (2nd shield)
(2022)
Most MLS CupsLA Galaxy
(5 titles)
Most Supporters' ShieldsD.C. United
LA Galaxy
(4 shields each)
Most appearancesNick Rimando (514)
Top goalscorerChris Wondolowski (171)
TV partnersMLS Season Pass
(Apple TV)
Websitemlssoccer.com
Current: 2023 Major League Soccer season

Major League Soccer is the most recent in a series of men's premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984.[6] MLS was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[7] The inaugural season took place in 1996 with ten teams.[8] MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, losing millions of dollars and folding two teams in 2002.[9] Since then, developments such as the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums around the league, implementation of the Designated Player Rule allowing teams to sign star players such as David Beckham, and national TV contracts have made MLS profitable.[10] With an average attendance of over 20,000 per game, MLS has the fourth-highest average attendance of any major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada after the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and Canadian Football League (CFL),[citation needed] and was the seventh-highest attended professional soccer league worldwide by 2013.[11]

The MLS regular season typically starts in late February or early March and runs through mid-October, with each team playing 34 games;[12][13] the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters' Shield. Eighteen teams compete in the postseason MLS Cup Playoffs in late October and November, culminating in the league's championship game, the MLS Cup.[14]

Instead of operating as an association of independently owned clubs, MLS is a single entity in which each team is owned by the league and individually operated by the league's investors.[15] The league has a fixed membership like most sports leagues in the United States and Canada, which makes it one of the few soccer leagues that does not use a promotion and relegation process.[16]

LA Galaxy have the most MLS Cups, with five. They are also tied with D.C. United for most Supporters' Shields, with four each. Los Angeles FC are the defending champions, as they defeated Philadelphia Union 3–0 on penalties in MLS Cup 2022 on November 5, 2022, to mark the end of the 2022 season.

Competition format

See also: Supporters' Shield, MLS Cup, and MLS Cup Playoffs

Major League Soccer's regular season runs from late February or early March to October. Teams are geographically divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences, playing 34 games in an unbalanced schedule. With 29 teams in 2023, each team plays two games, home and away, against every team in its conference and one game against all but four or five of the teams in the opposite conference. The 2020 season was the first season in league history in which teams did not play against every other team in the league.[17] At the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters' Shield and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.[18]

Teams break for the annual All-Star Game midway through the season, an exhibition game containing the league's best players. The format of the All-Star Game has changed several times since the league's inception; 2020 was the first year in which the MLS All-Stars were planned to play against an all-star team from Mexico's Liga MX, before the event's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19][20]

Unlike most major soccer leagues around the world, but similar to other leagues in the Americas,[21] the MLS regular season is followed by a postseason knockout tournament to determine the league champion.[22] As of 2023, eighteen teams participate in the MLS Cup Playoffs in October and November, which concludes with the MLS Cup championship game in early December.[23]

Major League Soccer's spring-to-fall schedule results in scheduling conflicts with the FIFA calendar and with summertime international tournaments such as the World Cup and the Gold Cup,[24] causing some players to miss league matches.[25] While MLS has looked into changing to a fall-to-spring format, there are no current plans to do so. Were the league to change its schedule, a winter break would be necessary to accommodate teams located in harsh winter climates.[26][27][28] It would also have to compete with the popularity and media presence of the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), and National Hockey League (NHL), which all run on fall-to-spring schedules.[28]

On February 21, 2023, MLS announced a new playoff format which "will see the addition of a pair of single-elimination Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card matches ahead of an enhanced Round One, which now includes a Best-of-3 series".[29]

Other competitions

See also: MLS performance in the CONCACAF Champions League, Campeones Cup, and Leagues Cup

MLS teams also play in other international and domestic competitions. Each season, up to five MLS teams—four from the U.S. and one from Canada—play in the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) against other clubs from the CONCACAF region. Two U.S.-based MLS teams qualify based on regular-season results from the previous year: the teams with the highest point total from each of the two conferences, one of whom is the Supporter's Shield champion. The third U.S. team to qualify is the reigning MLS Cup champion. A fourth U.S.-based MLS team can qualify by winning the U.S. Open Cup.[30] If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or if any of the three MLS berths are taken by a Canadian team, the berth is reallocated to the highest-placed U.S.-based team in the previous season's overall table that has otherwise not qualified. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver compete against other Canadian sides in the Canadian Championship for the one CONCACAF Champions League berth allocated to Canada.[31] Seattle Sounders FC became the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions League under the competition's current branding in 2022.[32][33]

Since 2018, the reigning MLS Cup champion plays in the Campeones Cup, a single game against the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX, hosted by the MLS team in September.[34] The inaugural edition saw Tigres UANL defeat Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto in 2018.[35]

Another inter-league competition with Liga MX, the Leagues Cup, was established in 2019. The 2020 edition of the tournament was originally planned to pair eight MLS clubs against eight Liga MX clubs in a single-elimination tournament hosted in the United States, reviving an inter-league rivalry that previously took place in the now-defunct North American Superliga, before its cancelation.[36] The 2023 edition will have all MLS and Liga MX teams participate.[37]

Teams

See also: Expansion of Major League Soccer, Major League Soccer defunct clubs, List of Major League Soccer coaches, and List of Major League Soccer stadiums

The 29 teams of Major League Soccer are divided between the Eastern and Western conferences. MLS has regularly expanded since the 2005 season, most recently with the addition of St. Louis City SC for the 2023 season.[38]

The league features numerous rivalry cups that are contested by two or more teams, usually geographic rivals.[39] Each trophy is awarded to the team with the best record in matches during the regular season involving the participating teams. The concept is comparable to rivalry trophies played for by American college football teams.[40]

Team Location Stadium Capacity Founded Joined Head coach
Eastern Conference
Atlanta United FC Atlanta, Georgia Mercedes-Benz Stadium1 42,5002 2014 2017 Gonzalo Pineda
Charlotte FC Charlotte, North Carolina Bank of America Stadium1 38,0002 2019 2022 Christian Lattanzio
Chicago Fire FC Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field1 24,9952 1997 1998 Ezra Hendrickson
FC Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio TQL Stadium 26,000 2015 2019 Pat Noonan
Columbus Crew Columbus, Ohio Lower.com Field 20,371 1994 1996 Wilfried Nancy
D.C. United Washington, D.C. Audi Field 20,000 1994 1996 Wayne Rooney
Inter Miami CF Fort Lauderdale, Florida DRV PNK Stadium 18,000 2018 2020 Phil Neville
CF Montréal Montreal, Quebec Saputo Stadium 19,619 1992 2012 Hernán Losada
Nashville SC Nashville, Tennessee Geodis Park 30,000 2016 2020 Gary Smith
New England Revolution Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium1 20,0002 1995 1996 Bruce Arena
New York City FC New York City, New York Yankee Stadium1 30,3212 2013 2015 Nick Cushing
New York Red Bulls Harrison, New Jersey Red Bull Arena 25,000 1994 1996 Gerhard Struber
Orlando City SC Orlando, Florida Exploria Stadium 25,500 2010 2015 Óscar Pareja
Philadelphia Union Chester, Pennsylvania Subaru Park 18,500 2008 2010 Jim Curtin
Toronto FC Toronto, Ontario BMO Field 28,351 2005 2007 Bob Bradley
Western Conference
Austin FC Austin, Texas Q2 Stadium 20,738 2018 2021 Josh Wolff
Colorado Rapids Commerce City, Colorado Dick's Sporting Goods Park 18,061 1995 1996 Robin Fraser
FC Dallas Frisco, Texas Toyota Stadium 19,096 1995 1996 Nico Estévez
Houston Dynamo FC Houston, Texas Shell Energy Stadium 22,039 2005 2006 Ben Olsen
Sporting Kansas City Kansas City, Kansas Children's Mercy Park 18,467 1995 1996 Peter Vermes
LA Galaxy Carson, California Dignity Health Sports Park 27,000 1994 1996 Greg Vanney
Los Angeles FC Los Angeles, California BMO Stadium 22,000 2014 2018 Steve Cherundolo
Minnesota United FC Saint Paul, Minnesota Allianz Field 19,400 2010 2017 Adrian Heath
Portland Timbers Portland, Oregon Providence Park 25,218 1975 2011 Giovanni Savarese
Real Salt Lake Sandy, Utah America First Field 20,213 2004 2005 Pablo Mastroeni
San Jose Earthquakes San Jose, California PayPal Park 18,000 1974 1996 Luchi Gonzalez
Seattle Sounders FC Seattle, Washington Lumen Field1 37,7222 1973 2009 Brian Schmetzer
St. Louis City SC St. Louis, Missouri CityPark 22,500 2019 2023 Bradley Carnell
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver, British Columbia BC Place1 22,1202 1973 2011 Vanni Sartini

Former teams

Notes
1 Shared facility; not a soccer-specific stadium
2 Standard reduced capacity for soccer; can be increased

Timeline

League member Former member Future member Other leagues

History

Main article: History of Major League Soccer
See also: Soccer in Canada and Soccer in the United States

Major League Soccer is the most recent of a series of men's premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984.[41] The United States did not have a truly national top-flight league with FIFA-sanctioning until the creation of the NASL. The first league to have U.S. and Canadian professional clubs, the NASL struggled until the mid-1970s when the New York Cosmos, the league's most prominent team, signed a number of the world's best players including Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer.[42] Pelé's arrival attracted other well-known international stars to the league including Johan Cruyff, Gerd Müller, Eusébio, Bobby Moore, and George Best. Despite dramatic increases in attendance (with some matches drawing over 70,000 fans such as Soccer Bowl '78, the highest attendance to date for any club soccer championship in the United States) over-expansion, the economic recession of the early 1980s, and disputes with the players union ultimately led to the collapse of the NASL following the 1984 season, leaving the United States without a top-level soccer league until MLS.[43][44]

Establishment

In 1988, in exchange for FIFA awarding the right to host the 1994 World Cup, U.S. Soccer promised to establish a Division 1 professional soccer league.[45] In 1993, U.S. Soccer selected Major League Professional Soccer (the precursor to MLS) as the exclusive Division 1 professional soccer league.[45] Major League Soccer was officially formed in February 1995 as a limited liability company.[45]

Tab Ramos was the first player signed by MLS, on January 3, 1995, and was assigned to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.[46] MLS began play in 1996 with ten teams. The first game was held on April 6, 1996, as the San Jose Clash defeated D.C. United before 31,000 fans at Spartan Stadium in San Jose in a game broadcast on ESPN.[47] The league had generated some buzz by managing to lure some marquee players from the 1994 World Cup to play in MLS—including U.S. stars such as Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola and Eric Wynalda, and foreign players such as Mexico's Jorge Campos and Colombia's Carlos Valderrama.[48] D.C. United won the MLS Cup in three of the league's first four seasons.[49] The league added its first two expansion teams in 1998—the Miami Fusion and the Chicago Fire; the Chicago Fire won its first title in its inaugural season.[50]

After its first season, MLS suffered from a decline in attendance.[51] The league's low attendance was all the more apparent in light of the fact that eight of the original ten teams played in large American football stadiums.[50] One aspect that had alienated fans was that MLS experimented with rules deviations in its early years in an attempt to "Americanize" the sport. The league implemented the use of shootouts to resolve tie games. MLS also used a countdown clock and halves ended when the clock reached 0:00. The league realized that the rule changes had alienated some traditional soccer fans while failing to draw new American sports fans, and the shootout and countdown clock were eliminated after the 1999 season.[52] The league's quality was cast into doubt when the U.S. men's national team, which was made up largely of MLS players, finished in last place at the 1998 World Cup.[50]

Major League Soccer lost an estimated $250 million during its first five years, and more than $350 million between its founding and 2004.[53][54][55][56] The league's financial problems led to Commissioner Doug Logan being replaced by Don Garber, a former NFL executive, in August 1999.[57] Following decreased attendance and increased losses by late 2001, league officials planned to fold but were able to secure new financing from owners Lamar Hunt, Philip Anschutz, and the Kraft family to take on more teams.[58] MLS announced in January 2002 that it had decided to contract the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion, leaving the league with ten teams.[59]

 
Built in 1999, Historic Crew Stadium (the home of the Columbus Crew until 2021) was the first soccer-specific stadium in MLS.

Despite the financial problems, though, MLS did have some accomplishments that would set the stage for the league's resurgence. Columbus Crew Stadium, now known as Historic Crew Stadium, was built in 1999, becoming MLS's first soccer-specific stadium.[60] This began a trend among MLS teams to construct their own venues instead of leasing American football stadiums, where they would not be able to generate revenue from other events.[61][62] In 2000, the league won an antitrust lawsuit, Fraser v. Major League Soccer, that the players had filed in 1996. The court ruled that MLS's policy of centrally contracting players and limiting player salaries through a salary cap and other restrictions were a legal method for the league to maintain solvency and competitive parity since MLS was a single entity and therefore incapable of conspiring with itself.[63]

Resurgence

The 2002 FIFA World Cup, in which the United States unexpectedly made the quarterfinals, coincided with a resurgence in American soccer and MLS.[39] MLS Cup 2002 drew 61,316 spectators to Gillette Stadium, the largest attendance in an MLS Cup final until 2018.[64] MLS limited teams to three substitutions per game in 2003, and adopted International Football Association Board (IFAB) rules in 2005.[65]

MLS underwent a transition in the years leading up to the 2006 World Cup. After marketing itself on the talents of American players, the league lost some of its homegrown stars to prominent European leagues. For example, Tim Howard was transferred to Manchester United for $4 million in one of the most lucrative contract deals in league history.[66][67] Many more American players did make an impact in MLS. In 2005, Jason Kreis became the first player to score 100 career MLS goals.[68]

The league's financial stabilization plan included teams moving out of large American football stadiums and into soccer-specific stadiums.[59] From 2003 to 2008, the league oversaw the construction of six additional soccer-specific stadiums, largely funded by owners such as Lamar Hunt and Phil Anschutz, so that by the end of 2008, a majority of teams were now in soccer-specific stadiums.[50]

It was also in this era that MLS expanded for the first time since 1998. Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA began play in 2005, with Chivas USA becoming the second club in Los Angeles.[69] By 2006 the San Jose Earthquakes owners, players and a few coaches moved to Texas to become the expansion Houston Dynamo, after failing to build a stadium in San Jose. The Dynamo became an expansion team, leaving their history behind for a new San Jose ownership group that formed in 2007.[70]

Arrival of Designated Players

 
The 2010 season also brought the opening of the New York Red Bulls' soccer-specific stadium, Red Bull Arena.

In 2007, the league expanded beyond the United States' borders into Canada with the Toronto FC expansion team.[71] Major League Soccer took steps to further raise the level of play by adopting the Designated Player Rule, which helped bring international stars into the league.[72] The 2007 season witnessed the MLS debut of David Beckham. Beckham's signing had been seen as a coup for American soccer, and was made possible by the Designated Player Rule. Players such as Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) and Juan Pablo Ángel (New York Red Bulls), are some of the first Designated Players who made major contributions to their clubs.[73] The departures of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, coupled with the return of former U.S. national team stars Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride, highlighted the exchange of top prospects to Europe for experienced veterans to MLS.[74]

By 2008, San Jose had returned to the league under new ownership, and in 2009, the expansion side Seattle Sounders FC began play in MLS.[71] The Sounders set a new average attendance record for the league, with 30,943 spectators per match, and were the first expansion team to qualify for the playoffs since 1998.[75] The 2010 season ushered in an expansion franchise in the Philadelphia Union and their new PPL Park stadium (now known as Subaru Park).[71] The 2010 season also brought the opening of the New York Red Bulls' soccer-specific stadium, Red Bull Arena, and the debut of French striker Thierry Henry.[76]

The 2011 season brought further expansion with the addition of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the second Canadian MLS franchise, and the Portland Timbers.[77] Real Salt Lake reached the finals of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.[78] During the 2011 season, the Galaxy signed another international star in Republic of Ireland all-time leading goalscorer Robbie Keane.[79] MLS drew an average attendance of 17,872 in 2011, higher than the average attendances of the NBA and NHL.[80] In 2012, the Montreal Impact became the league's 19th franchise and the third in Canada, and made their home debut in front of a crowd of 58,912,[81] while the New York Red Bulls added Australian all-time leading goalscorer Tim Cahill.

Expansion of the league

With an average attendance of over 20,000 per game, MLS has the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S. after the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB),[citation needed] and is the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide as of 2013.[11]

In 2013, MLS introduced New York City FC[82] as its 20th team, and Orlando City Soccer Club[83] as its 21st team, both of which would begin playing in 2015.

In 2013, the league implemented its "Core Players" initiative, allowing teams to retain key players using retention funds instead of losing the players to foreign leagues.[84] Among the first high-profile players re-signed in 2013 using retention funds were U.S. national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. Beginning in summer of 2013 and continuing in the run up to the 2014 World Cup, MLS began signing U.S. stars based abroad, including Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, and Michael Bradley from Europe; and DaMarcus Beasley from Mexico's Liga MX.[85] By the 2014 season, fifteen of the nineteen MLS head coaches had previously played in MLS.[86] By 2013, the league's popularity had increased to the point where MLS was as popular as Major League Baseball among 12- to 17-year-olds, as reported by the 2013 Luker on Trends ESPN poll, having jumped in popularity since the 2010 World Cup.[87][88]

In 2014, the league announced Atlanta United FC as the 22nd team to start playing in 2017.[89] Even though New York City FC and Orlando City were not set to begin play until 2015, each team made headlines during the summer 2014 transfer window by announcing their first Designated Players—Spain's leading scorer David Villa and Chelsea's leading scorer Frank Lampard to New York, and Ballon d'Or winner Kaká to Orlando.[90] The 2014 World Cup featured 21 MLS players on World Cup rosters and a record 11 MLS players playing for foreign teams—including players from traditional powerhouses Brazil (Júlio César) and Spain (David Villa); in the U.S. v. Germany match the U.S. fielded a team with seven MLS starters.[91]

On September 18, 2014, MLS unveiled their new logo as part of a branding initiative. In addition to the new crest logo, MLS teams display versions in their own colors on their jerseys.[92] Chivas USA folded following the 2014 season, while New York City FC and Orlando City SC joined the league in 2015 as the 19th and 20th teams.[93] Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference in 2015 to make two 10-team conferences.[93][94]

In early 2015, the league announced that two teams—Los Angeles FC and Minnesota United—would join MLS in either 2017 or 2018.[95] The 20th season of MLS saw the arrivals of several players who have starred at the highest levels of European club soccer and in international soccer: Giovanni dos Santos, Kaká, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba, David Villa, and Sebastian Giovinco.[96] MLS confirmed in August 2016 that Minnesota United would begin play in 2017 along with Atlanta United FC.[97]

In April 2016, the league's commissioner Don Garber reiterated the intention of the league to expand to 28 teams, with the next round of expansion "likely happening in 2020".[98][99] In December 2016, he updated the expansion plans stating that the league will look to approve the 25th and 26th teams in 2017 and to start play in 2020.[100] In January 2017, the league received bids from 12 ownership groups.[101]

In July 2017, it was reported that Major League Soccer had rejected an offer by MP & Silva to acquire all television rights to the league following the conclusion of its current contracts with Fox, ESPN, and Univision, where MP & Silva insisted that the deal would be conditional on Major League Soccer adopting a promotion and relegation system. The league stated that it rejected the offer due to the exclusive periods that the current rightsholders have to negotiate extensions to their contracts. Additionally, media noted that Major League Soccer has long-opposed the adoption of promotion and relegation, continuing to utilize the fixed, franchise-based model used in other U.S. sports leagues.[16][102] Furthermore, MP & Silva founder Riccardo Silva also owned Miami FC of the NASL, which stood to benefit from such a promotion and relegation system.[102]

In October 2017, Columbus Crew owner Anthony Precourt announced plans to move the franchise to Austin, Texas by 2019.[103] The announcement spawned a league-wide backlash and legal action against the league by the Ohio state government.[104] On August 15, 2018, the Austin City Council voted to approve an agreement with Precourt to move Crew SC to Austin, and on August 22, 2018, the club's new name, Austin FC, was announced.[105] After negotiations between Precourt and Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, were announced, MLS made it clear that Austin would receive an expansion team only after a deal to sell Columbus to a local buyer had completed.[106] The purchase of Crew SC by Haslam's group was finalized in late December 2018,[107] and on January 15, 2019, Austin FC was officially announced as a 2021 MLS entry.[108]

MLS announced on December 20, 2017, that it would be awarding an expansion franchise to Nashville, Tennessee, to play in a yet-to-be-built 27,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, Nashville Fairgrounds Stadium, and would join MLS in 2020.[109] The management of the Nashville franchise announced in February 2019 that the MLS side would assume the Nashville SC name then in use by the city's USL Championship team.[110]

 
FC Cincinnati's inaugural MLS home match drew a 32,250 sellout crowd.

On January 29, 2018, MLS awarded Miami an expansion team, led by David Beckham. Inter Miami CF started MLS play on March 1, 2020, and plan on opening the proposed 25,000-seat stadium sometime in the near future.[111] An expansion team was awarded to Cincinnati, Ohio on May 29, 2018, to the ownership group of USL's FC Cincinnati. The team, which assumed the existing FC Cincinnati name, started MLS play in 2019 and moved to the new 26,000-seat TQL Stadium in 2021.[112]

In 2013, New York City FC agreed to pay a record $100 million expansion fee for the right to join MLS in 2015.[113] This record was surpassed by the ownership groups of FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, which each paid $150 million to join MLS (FC Cincinnati in 2019 and Nashville SC in 2020).[114] Despite being announced in January 2018, Inter Miami CF only paid a $25 million expansion fee due to a clause in part-owner David Beckham's original playing contract signed in 2007.[115] The same $150 million was paid as an effective entrance fee by a group that bought Columbus Crew in 2018, which led to that team's previous operator receiving rights to Austin FC, which joined MLS in 2021.[116][117] MLS has also announced the ownership groups of the 28th and 29th teams would each pay a $200 million entrance fee.[113]

The league planned to expand to 30 teams with the addition of Austin FC in 2021,[108] Charlotte in 2022,[118] and Sacramento and St. Louis in 2023; however, this was reduced to 29 after Sacramento Republic FC's bid was placed on indefinite hold.[38][119][5][120] Commissioner Don Garber has suggested that another round of expansion could lead to 32 teams in MLS.[121]

The league suspended its 2020 season on March 12, 2020, after two weeks, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and other U.S.-based sports leagues did the same.[122][123][124] The 2020 season resumed in July with the MLS is Back Tournament, a competition in which 24 out of the 26 teams competed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. In September 2020, the league announced the formation of MLS Next, an academy league for MLS academy teams from the under-13 to under-19 level.[125]

In 2022, the league signed a $2.5 billion deal with Apple Inc. that will make Apple TV the primary broadcaster for all MLS games. The agreement will see both MLS and Leagues Cup games shared across the streaming service.[126]

League championships

See also: List of American and Canadian soccer champions

As of the 2023 season, 31 different clubs have competed in the league, with 15 having won at least one MLS Cup, and 15 winning at least one Supporters' Shield.[127] The two trophies have been won by the same club in the same year on eight occasions (two clubs have accomplished the feat twice).[128]

MLS Cup titles and Supporters' Shield wins
Team MLS
Cups 		Year(s)
won 		Supporters'
Shields 		Year(s)
won 		Total
combined 		MLS
seasons
LA Galaxy 5 2002, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014 4 1998, 2002, 2010, 2011 9 27
D.C. United 4 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004 4 1997, 1999, 2006, 2007 8 27
Columbus Crew 2 2008, 2020 3 2004, 2008, 2009 5 27
San Jose Earthquakes 2 2001, 2003 2 2005, 2012 4 25
Sporting Kansas City 2 2000, 2013 1 2000 3 27
Seattle Sounders FC 2 2016, 2019 1 2014 3 14
Houston Dynamo FC 2 2006, 2007 0 – 2 17
Los Angeles FC 1 2022 2 2019, 2022 3 5
Chicago Fire FC 1 1998 1 2003 2 25
Toronto FC 1 2017 1 2017 2 16
Real Salt Lake 1 2009 0 – 1 18
Colorado Rapids 1 2010 0 – 1 27
Portland Timbers 1 2015 0 – 1 12
Atlanta United FC 1 2018 0 – 1 6
New York City FC 1 2021 0 – 1 8
New York Red Bulls 0 – 3 2013, 2015, 2018 3 27
Tampa Bay Mutiny  0 – 1 1996 1 6 
Miami Fusion  0 – 1 2001 1 4 
FC Dallas 0 – 1 2016 1 27
Philadelphia Union 0 – 1 2020 1 13
New England Revolution 0 – 1 2021 1 27
  Franchise folded after completion of the 2001 season

Organization

Ownership

See also: Major League Soccer owners

Major League Soccer operates under a single-entity structure in which teams and player contracts are centrally owned by the league.[3][129][130] Each team has an investor-operator that is a shareholder in the league.[131] In order to control costs, MLS shares revenues and holds players contracts instead of players contracting with individual teams. In Fraser v. Major League Soccer, a lawsuit filed in 1996 and decided in 2002, the league won a legal battle with its players in which the court ruled that MLS was a single entity that can lawfully centrally contract for player services.[3] The court also ruled that even absent their collective bargaining agreement, players could opt to play in other leagues if they were unsatisfied.[3]

Having multiple clubs operated by a single investor was a necessity in the league's first ten years.[132] At one time, Phil Anschutz's AEG operated six MLS franchises and Lamar Hunt's Hunt Sports operated three franchises. In order to attract additional investors, in 2002 the league announced changes to the operating agreement between the league and its teams to improve team revenues and increase the incentives to be an individual club operator.[133] These changes included granting operators the rights to a certain number of players they develop through their club's academy system each year, sharing the profits of Soccer United Marketing, and being able to sell individual club jersey sponsorships.[133]

As MLS appeared to be on the brink of overall profitability in 2006 and developed significant expansion plans, MLS announced that it wanted each club to have a distinct operator.[134] The league has attracted new investors that have injected more money into the league.[135] Examples include Red Bull's purchase of the MetroStars from AEG in 2006 for over $100 million.[132][136] For the 2014 season, the league assumed control of the former Chivas USA club, which had suffered from mismanagement and poor financial results under its individual operator relationship.[137][138] The league eventually dissolved the team,[139] in favor of awarding rights to a second soccer club in the Los Angeles area to a new investor group on October 30, 2014.[140]

The league now has 29 investor-operators for its 29 current clubs, with no member of any club's investor group having a stake in that of any other club. Since December 2015, when AEG sold its remaining 50% interest in the Houston Dynamo, the former multiple-team operators AEG and Hunt Sports, with the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas respectively, now only control one franchise.[141][142]

League executives

Don Garber has been the commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999, serving as the league's chief executive. The league's first commissioner was Doug Logan, who served in the role from 1995 to 1999.[143][144]

Mark Abbott, a former MLS business partner, has served as the league's president and Deputy Commissioner since 2006.[145]

Player acquisition and salaries

 
David Beckham was the league's first Designated Player in 2007.

The average salary for MLS players is $373,094,[146] lower than the average salaries in England's second-tier EFL Championship ($420,000 in 2015),[147] the Netherlands' Eredivisie ($445,000),[148] or Mexico's Liga MX ($418,000 in 2015).[149] The league's minimum player salary increased in 2017 to $65,000 for most players, and roster players #25–30 saw their minimum salary increased to $53,000.[150][151]

MLS salaries are limited by a salary cap, which MLS has had in place since the league's inception in 1996. The purpose of the salary cap is to prevent the team's owners from unsustainable spending on player salaries and to prevent a competitive imbalance among teams.[45] The salary cap survived a legal challenge by the players in the Fraser v. Major League Soccer lawsuit. The 2017 salary cap increased to $3.845 million per team.[150][151] Each team is allowed up to 30 players on its first team roster.[152] All 30 players are eligible for selection to each 18-player game-day squad during the regular season and playoffs.

Teams may augment their squads by signing players from other leagues. MLS has two transfer windows—the primary pre-season transfer window lasts three months from mid February until mid May, and the secondary mid season transfer window runs one month from early July to early August.[153] When an MLS club sells one of its players overseas, the club and the league split the transfer revenues, with the club retaining from 33% to 75% depending on the player's status and tenure.[154] MLS teams have a limited number of international roster slots that they can use to sign non-domestic players. However, MLS teams often obtain green cards for their non-domestic players in order to qualify them for domestic status and thus free up international roster slots.[155] In 2015, 49% of MLS players were born outside of the U.S. and Canada, with players from 58 countries represented.[156][157]

MLS has a set of pool goalkeepers who are signed to a contract with the league and are loaned to teams during emergencies in which they are missing a goalkeeper due to injuries or suspensions.[158] The pool goalkeeper trains with an MLS club or an affiliated team when not assigned to a team; some pool goalkeepers, including Tim Melia, have gone on to be signed to permanent contract with their assigned teams.[159] In the past, when rosters were smaller, there were multiple goalkeepers signed to the pool, however, in recent years only one or two keepers are signed as team rosters are much larger.[160]

Designated Players and allocation money

MLS has also introduced various initiatives and rules intended to improve quality of players while still maintaining the salary cap. Rules concerning Designated Players and allocation money allow for additional wage spending that is exempt from the salary cap. These initiatives have brought about an increase in on-field competition.[161][unreliable source?]

The designated player (DP) rule allows teams to sign a limited number of players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap; in 2017, each DP player only counted as $480,625 (the maximum non-DP salary) against the cap. Instituted in 2007, England's David Beckham was the first signing under the DP rule.[72] The DP rule has led to large income inequality in MLS with top DPs earning as much as 180 times more than a player earning the league minimum.[162] In the 2013 season, 21% of the league's wage spending went to just five players; this stretched to 29% on the top 6 players in the 2014 season.[163][164][unreliable source?]

The league's "Core Players" initiative allows teams to re-sign players using retention funds that do not count against the salary cap.[84] Retention funds were implemented in 2013 as a mechanism for MLS to retain key players; among the first high-profile players re-signed using retention funds were U.S. national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler.[84] MLS teams can also obtain allocation money, which is money that the team can use on player salaries that does not count against the cap, and teams can earn allocation money in several ways, such as from the transfer fees earned by selling players to teams in other leagues.[165] MLS teams can also use Targeted Allocation Money (often referred to as TAM), an initiative announced in 2015. Teams can use TAM funds to attract high-profile players by "buying down" contracts of players to below the Designated Player level.[166] High-profile players for which TAM funds were used include Hector Villalba, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Giorgio Chiellini.

Youth development

See also: MLS Next Pro and Homegrown Player Rule (Major League Soccer)

MLS has introduced various initiatives and rules intended to develop young players. Rules concerning Generation Adidas players and home grown players provide incentives for clubs to develop and retain young players.[161]

MLS has required all of its teams to operate youth development programs since 2008.[167] MLS roster rules allow teams to sign an unlimited number of players straight from their academies and bypassing the draft process.[168] There is also supplementary salary budget made by MLS only for homegrown players that are registered using senior roster slots called homegrown player funds.[169] One of the most prominent and lucrative examples of success in "home-grown" development was Jozy Altidore, who rose to prominence as a teenager in MLS before his record transfer fee $10 million move to Villarreal in Spain in 2008.[170] The various MLS teams' development academies play matches in a U.S. Soccer developmental league against youth academies from other leagues such as the North American Soccer League (NASL), which had been a Division II league prior to 2018, and USL Pro, originally a Division III league but now the Division II USL Championship.[171]

The league operates a Generation Adidas program, which is a joint venture between MLS and U.S. Soccer that encourages young American players to enter MLS.[172] The Generation Adidas program has been in place since 1997, and has introduced players such as Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Michael Bradley into MLS. Players under the Home Grown Player rule are signed to Generation Adidas contracts,[153] all players on Generation Adidas contracts are "off budget players" and their salaries do not count against the cap.

MLS has operated reserve leagues, which give playing time to players who were not starters for their MLS teams, during two different periods. The MLS Reserve League was formed in 2005, and operated through 2014 (with the exception of the 2009 & 2010 seasons).[173] MLS began integrating its Reserve League with the league then known as USL Pro in 2013,[174] and after the 2014 season folded the Reserve League, with MLS then requiring all teams to either affiliate with a USL team or field their own reserve side in that league. However, this requirement was never strictly enforced, and MLS eventually relaunched its reserve league in 2022 under the banner of MLS Next Pro. In the inaugural 2022 season, 19 of the league's then-current clubs, plus future club St. Louis City SC, fielded reserve sides in Next Pro. In the 2023 season, the only MLS teams that will not field Next Pro sides are CF Montréal and D.C. United.[175][176]

Following the folding of the Development Academy,[177] MLS announced its own development league in 2020.[citation needed] It includes all of the MLS team academies as well as 95 clubs across the country; many of which were a part of the Development Academy.[citation needed]

Stadiums

See also: Soccer-specific stadium and List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Since 1999, the league has overseen the construction of twelve stadiums specifically designed for soccer. The development of soccer-specific stadiums owned by the teams has generated a better gameday experience for the fans.[178] The soccer-specific stadiums have yielded positive financial results as teams were no longer required to pay to rent out facilities and gained control over revenue streams such as concessions, parking, naming rights, and the ability to host non-MLS events.[138][178] Several teams have doubled their season tickets following the team's move into a soccer-specific stadium.[179] The establishment of soccer-specific stadiums is considered the key to the league and the ability of teams to turn a profit.[180] In 2006, Tim Leiweke, then CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, described the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums as the turning point for MLS.[180]

Columbus Crew owner Lamar Hunt started this trend in 1999 by constructing Columbus Crew Stadium, now known as Historic Crew Stadium, as MLS's first soccer-specific stadium.[60] The Los Angeles Galaxy followed four years later with the opening of the Home Depot Center, now Dignity Health Sports Park, in 2003.[181] FC Dallas opened Pizza Hut Park, now Toyota Stadium, in 2005, and the Chicago Fire began playing their home games in Toyota Park, now SeatGeek Stadium, in 2006. The 2007 season brought the opening of Dick's Sporting Goods Park for the Colorado Rapids and BMO Field for Toronto FC.[182]

Near the end of the 2008 season, Rio Tinto Stadium (now known as America First Field) became the home of Real Salt Lake, which meant that for the first time in MLS history a majority of MLS's teams (8 out of 14) played in soccer-specific stadiums.[183] Red Bull Arena, the new home of the New York Red Bulls opened for the start of the 2010 season,[184] and the Philadelphia Union opened PPL Park, now Subaru Park, in June 2010, midway through their inaugural season.[185]

The following season, in 2011, the Portland Timbers made their MLS debut in a newly renovated Jeld-Wen Field, now renamed Providence Park, which was originally a multi-purpose venue but turned into a soccer-specific facility.[186] Also in 2011, Sporting Kansas City moved to new Livestrong Sporting Park, now Children's Mercy Park.[187] The Houston Dynamo relocated to their new home at BBVA Compass Stadium, now PNC Stadium, in 2012.[184] In the same year, the Montreal Impact joined the league in an expanded Stade Saputo, which reopened in June 2012, when renovations pushed the seating capacity to over 20,000. The Impact has used Olympic Stadium for early season matches and for games that require a larger capacity.[188] The San Jose Earthquakes, who had played at Buck Shaw Stadium from 2008 until 2014, opened their new Avaya Stadium (now PayPal Park) before the 2015 season.[189] Orlando City SC intended to begin constructing its soccer-specific stadium, now known as Exploria Stadium, in 2014 to be completed in 2015.[190] Delays caused by changes to the stadium plans pushed back the new venue's opening, first to late 2016 and finally to the start of the 2017 season.[191] Orlando City played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, now Camping World Stadium, while awaiting the construction of their new venue through the 2016 season. Exploria Stadium hosted its first MLS match on March 5, 2017, against New York City FC as Orlando City Stadium.

The development of additional MLS stadiums has continued to progress. D.C. United had played their home games at former NFL and Major League Baseball venue RFK Stadium. In 2013, D.C. United announced the signing of a public-private partnership term sheet to build a new soccer stadium in Washington, D.C., and a final deal was reached in late 2014. In late February 2017, D.C. United finally broke ground on their new stadium, Audi Field.[192] After 21 years of playing at RFK Stadium, DC United played their first game at Audi field in July 2018.

Two teams have announced their desire to build a soccer-specific stadium, although these teams have not finalized the stadium site and received all necessary government approvals. New York City FC play home games at Yankee Stadium, a Major League Baseball venue, although they intend to move into a soccer-specific stadium in the future. The New England Revolution play home games at Gillette Stadium which is an NFL Stadium also owned by the Revolution's owner, Robert Kraft. The team are currently in discussion with the City of Boston regarding a potential soccer-specific stadium in South Boston.[193]

Several remaining clubs play in stadiums not originally built for MLS and have not announced plans to move. The Seattle Sounders FC play at Lumen Field, a dual-purpose facility used for both American football and soccer. The Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined the league with Portland in 2011 and temporarily held matches at Empire Field before moving into the refurbished BC Place in October 2011,[194] a retractable-roof stadium that hosts Canadian football as well as soccer.[195]

Of the three teams that made their MLS debuts in 2017 and 2018, one opened a soccer-specific stadium in 2019, a second is playing in a shared football stadium, and the last opened a soccer-specific stadium for its inaugural 2018 season. Minnesota United FC, which debuted in 2017, built Allianz Field in St. Paul which hosted its inaugural game against New York City FC on April 13, 2019.[196][197] Until that time, the team played in Minneapolis at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium), home to University of Minnesota football.[198] Atlanta United FC began play in 2017 at a college football facility, Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium, before moving into its permanent home at the retractable-roof Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which it shares with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons; the two teams share a common owner and the stadium is equipped with screens to cordon off the upper tiers for most matches.[199] Los Angeles FC, which began play in 2018, opened Banc of California Stadium (now BMO Stadium) on the former site of the Los Angeles Sports Arena in April of its inaugural season.[200]

FC Cincinnati made its MLS debut in 2019 at Nippert Stadium, the football home of the University of Cincinnati. The stadium had been home to FCC's USL Championship predecessor for all of its three seasons of play. The club moved within Cincinnati to the new TQL Stadium in 2021.[201] Inter Miami began play in 2020 at Inter Miami CF Stadium, now known as DRV PNK Stadium, at the former site of Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale before opening Miami Freedom Park in the future.[202] Nashville SC played the 2020 and 2021 seasons at an NFL facility, the Tennessee Titans' Nissan Stadium, before opening Geodis Park in 2022.[203] Austin FC opened Q2 Stadium for its first season in 2021.[108] St. Louis City SC opened CityPark in November 2022, a few months before the club's first season in 2023.[204]

Profitability and revenues

Average franchise valuations
Year Value
2008 $37 million
2013 $103 million
2015 $157 million
2016 $185 million
2017 $223 million
2018 $240 million
2019 $313 million
2021 $550 million
2022 $582 million
See also: Major League Soccer defunct clubs and List of professional sports leagues by revenue

Major League Soccer began to demonstrate positive signs of long-term profitability as early as 2004 with the single-entity ownership structure, salary cap, and the media and marketing umbrella Soccer United Marketing (SUM) all contributing towards MLS's financial security.[54] As soccer-specific stadiums are built, ownership expands, and television coverage increases, MLS has seen its revenues increase while controlling costs.[9]

Television coverage and revenue have increased since the league's early years. In 2006, MLS reached an 8-year TV deal with ESPN spanning the 2007–2014 seasons, and marked the first time that MLS earned rights fees, reported to be worth $7–8 million annually.[205] In September 2012 the league extended its distribution agreement with London-based Media rights agency MP & Silva until 2014 in a deal worth $10 million annually. Total league TV revenues are over $40 million annually.[206][207] In 2011, MLS earned $150 million when it sold a 25% stake in SUM.[9]

Jersey sponsorships
Team Sponsor Annual value
Atlanta United FC AmFam (game – main)
Piedmont Hospital (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[208]
Austin FC Yeti (game – main)
Netspend (game – sleeve)
St. David's Healthcare (prematch) 		Undisclosed[209]
Charlotte FC Ally (game – main)
Centene (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[210]
Colorado Rapids UCHealth (game – main) Undisclosed[211]
Columbus Crew Nationwide (game – main)
Tipico (game – sleeve)
Ohio Health (prematch) 		$3 million[212]
D.C. United XDC Network (game – main)
EagleBank (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[213]
FC Cincinnati Mercy Health (game – main)
Kroger (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[214]
FC Dallas Children's Health (game - main)
UT Southwestern (game – main)
AdvoCare (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[215]
Houston Dynamo FC MD Anderson (game – main)
Kroger (game – sleeve)
FuboTV (prematch) 		Undisclosed[216]
Inter Miami CF XBTO (game – main)
Xmanna (game – sleeve)
AutoNation (prematch) 		Undisclosed[217]
LA Galaxy Herbalife (game – main)
Honey (game – sleeve) 		$4.4 million[218]
Los Angeles FC Flex (game – main)
Ford (game – sleeve)
Rockstar (prematch) 		Undisclosed[219]
Minnesota United FC Target (game – main)
Allianz (game – sleeve)
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (prematch) 		Undisclosed[220]
CF Montréal Bank of Montreal (game – main)
Saputo (game – sleeve) 		US$4 million[221]
Nashville SC Renasant (game – main)
Hyundai (game – sleeve)
Vanderbilt Health (prematch) 		Undisclosed[222]
New England Revolution UnitedHealthcare (game – main)
Santander (game – sleeve)
Socios.com (prematch) 		Undisclosed[223]
New York City FC Etihad Airways (game – main)
Dude Wipes (game – sleeve)
NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital (prematch) 		Undisclosed[224]
New York Red Bulls Red Bull (game – main)
Provident Bank (game – sleeve) 		Owns club
Orlando City SC Orlando Health (game – main)
Exploria (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[225]
Philadelphia Union Bimbo Bakeries USA (game – main)
Subaru (game – sleeve) 		$3 million[226]
Portland Timbers Alaska Airlines (game – main)
TikTok (game – sleeve)
Dutch Brothers Coffee (prematch) 		Undisclosed[227]
Real Salt Lake LifeVantage (game – main)
KeyBank (game – sleeve) 		$3 million[228]
San Jose Earthquakes Intermedia Cloud Communications (game – main)
Sutter Health (prematch) 		Undisclosed[229]
Seattle Sounders FC Providence (game – main)
Emerald Queen Casino (game – sleeve)
CHI Franciscan (prematch) 		Undisclosed[230]
Sporting Kansas City Compass Minerals (game – main)
Children's Mercy (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[231]
St. Louis City SC Purina (game – main)
BJC HealthCare (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[232]
Toronto FC Bank of Montreal (game – main and sleeve)
GE Appliances (game – sleeve) 		C$4 million+[233]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Telus (game – main)
GE Appliances (game – sleeve) 		Undisclosed[234]

In early 2005, MLS signed a 10-year, $150 million sponsorship deal with Adidas for its jerseys and other equipment.[54] In 2007, MLS teams started selling ad space on the front of jerseys to go along with the league-wide sponsorship partners who had already been advertising on the back of club jerseys, following the practice of international sport, specifically soccer. MLS established a floor of $500,000 per shirt sponsorship, with the league receiving a flat fee of $200,000 per deal.[235] As of July 2014, sixteen teams had signed sponsorship deals to have company logos placed on the front of their jerseys (and another team is directly owned by its shirt sponsor), and the league average from jersey sponsors was about $2.4 million.[236] All MLS teams have had jersey sponsors since February 2016.[citation needed] Sleeve sponsorship was introduced to MLS in the 2020 season, with the teams able to sell a 2-by-2-inch (51 by 51 mm) section on the right arm where the league logo patch is normally positioned.[237]

The Los Angeles Galaxy made a profit in 2003 in their first season at The Home Depot Center,[53] and FC Dallas turned a profit after moving into Pizza Hut Park in 2005.[238] For each season between 2006 and 2009, two to three MLS clubs (generally clubs with a soccer-specific stadium) were reported as profitable by the league.[238][239][240]

By 2012 the league had shown a marked improvement in its financial health. In November 2013, Forbes published a report that revealed that ten of the league's nineteen teams earned an operating profit in 2012, while two broke even and seven had a loss. Forbes estimated that the league's collective annual revenues were $494 million, and that the league's collective annual profit was $34 million. Forbes valued the league's franchises to be worth $103 million on average, almost three times as much as the $37 million average valuation in 2008. The Seattle Sounders FC franchise was named the most valuable at $175 million, a 483% gain over the $30 million league entrance fee it paid in 2009.[138]

The trend in increased team values has continued with MLS teams seeing a strong 52% increase in franchise values from 2012 to 2014. In August 2015 Forbes updated its MLS franchise values with the most profitable team measuring $245 million and the least $105 million. The average value jumped from $103 to $157 million.[10]

As of 2018 Forbes estimates Atlanta United FC are the most valuable MLS team, worth $330 million, while the Colorado Rapids are the lowest value, at $155 million.[241] These valuations do not include the value of stadiums or training facilities owned by the respective clubs.

MLS teams typically use commercial flights to transport players and staff between matches, with only four charter flights allowed under league rules.[242]

Rules and officials

MLS follows the rules and standards of the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Since 2005, the playoff extra time structure follows IFAB standards: two full 15-minute periods, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary.

U.S. Soccer hired the first full-time professional referees in league history in 2007 as part of the league's "Game First" initiatives.[243] Major League Soccer has been implementing fines and suspensions since the 2011 season for simulation (diving) through its Disciplinary Committee, which reviews plays after the match. The first player fined under the new rule was Charlie Davies, fined $1,000 for intentionally deceiving match officials.[244]

MLS uses the list of banned substances published by the World Anti-Doping Agency.[245]

Branding

The current MLS logo debuted in 2014, ahead of the league's 20th season, replacing an earlier logo that featured a stylized boot and ball. The current logo is a simple crest with a diagonal stripe, the MLS wordmark, and three stars that represent "community, club, and country". The logo was designed to be remixed in different color schemes that match teams when used on merchandise and jerseys.[246]

The first MLS anthem was unveiled in 2007 and was composed by Audiobrain. The current league anthem debuted in 2020 and was composed by film score composer Hans Zimmer. It will be used during league broadcasts and as a prelude to kickoff at stadiums.[247]

Team names

For more information on MLS team names, see the individual team entries.

In the early years of MLS, teams were typically given official nicknames in the style of other U.S. sports leagues (e.g., Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution). Several club names in MLS originated with previous professional soccer clubs, such as the 1970s-era NASL team names San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps.[248]

D.C. United and Miami Fusion FC were the only two MLS teams to adopt European naming conventions during the 1990s.[249] In recent years, European-style names have become increasingly common in MLS, with expansion teams such as Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC, New York City FC, Atlanta United FC, Minnesota United FC, and FC Cincinnati, along with rebrandings such as FC Dallas (formerly the Dallas Burn), Sporting Kansas City (formerly the Kansas City Wizards)[250] and CF Montréal (formerly the Montreal Impact).

Austrian beverage company Red Bull GmbH owns and sponsors the New York Red Bulls as well as other sports teams outside the U.S.[136]

Media coverage

Main article: Major League Soccer on television
See also: List of current Major League Soccer broadcasters

United States

From 2015 to 2022, MLS matches were broadcast nationally by ESPN networks and Fox Sports in English, and Univision networks in Spanish under an eight-year contract. Each broadcaster had a window for national regular season matches, with UniMás airing a game on Friday nights in Spanish and additional matches on Univision Deportes Network, and ESPN and Fox Sports 1 airing games on Sunday evenings in English. ESPN, FS1, and Univision shared coverage of the playoffs, while ABC and Fox alternated broadcasting the MLS Cup final in English. In total, at least 125 matches were aired per-season across all three networks. The three contracts have an average estimated value of $90 million per season—five times larger than the average $18 million value of the previous contracts with ESPN, Univision, and NBC Sports.[251][252][253]

Matches not televised nationally were broadcast regionally, often by regional sports networks like Bally Sports, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Spectrum Sports and Root Sports, and sometimes by terrestrial stations like KTXA, WGN and KMYU.[80] Regionally televised matches were available outside their local markets on ESPN+, which replaced MLS Live from 2018 until 2022.[254]

From 2012 to 2014, MLS matches were broadcast by NBC Sports, with 40 matches per year—primarily on NBCSN, and select matches broadcast on the NBC network.[255] The move from Fox Soccer to the more widely distributed NBCSN caused viewership numbers to double for the 2012 season.[256]

Soccer United Marketing partnered with Google and Bedrocket Media Ventures in 2012 to launch "KickTV", a premium YouTube channel with original soccer programming.[257] KickTV was sold to Copa90 in 2015 to form its American branch.[258] In 2020, Soccer United Marketing signed a multi-year agreement with Bleacher Report to produce content and highlights for MLS and the U.S. national teams through the 2022 season.[259]

Canada

 
Montreal Impact hosting D.C. United (August 2012).

Coverage of MLS expanded into Canada in 2007 with the addition of Toronto FC. Currently, English-language national MLS broadcast rights in Canada are held by the TSN networks through a five-year deal first renewed in 2017. The networks primarily broadcast matches involving the league's Canadian franchises, in combination with separate "regional" rights deals giving TSN exclusive rights to all Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC matches.[260][261][262] A limited number of matches are also carried by CTV.[262]

TVA Sports holds exclusive French-language rights to MLS in Canada as of the 2017 season. As part of a separate "regional" rights deal, it also holds exclusive rights to all CF Montréal games.[262][263]

In 2018, online streaming service DAZN obtained Major League Soccer's digital out-of-market service MLS Live—with live and on-demand streaming of matches featuring U.S. teams (matches with Canadian teams are only available after a 48-hour delay to protect the league's main rightsholders TSN and TVA Sports).[264]

International

MLS also entered into a four-year contract with Sky Sports to broadcast two MLS matches per week in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2015 to 2019.[265] As part of the agreement, Sky Sports broadcast at least two MLS regular-season matches each week, as well as the MLS All-Star Game, every MLS Cup Playoff game, and the MLS Cup final. The matches appeared across Sky's family of networks. It also carried weekly MLS highlights across various platforms, including Sky Sports News and SkySports.com. Sky Sports also broadcast at least one match from MLS's "Decision Day" – the final day of the MLS regular season. Many of the matches on Decision Day every year are expected to determine the final spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs.[266]

DSport, owned by Discovery Communications, will televise league matches in India beginning in 2017.[267]

Apple TV

Starting in 2023, all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, as well as certain matches from MLS Next Pro and MLS Next, will be streamed worldwide on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. This agreement ended the previous regional sports network-based system.[268] The contract allows for some broadcasts on linear television. ESPN and Univision exited negotiations, apparently because MLS would not allow them to stream via their own platforms or use their own commentators.[269][270] Following their departures, Fox Sports joined Apple as MLS's broadcast partners in the U.S., with Bell Media's TSN and RDS doing so in Canada.[271]

Video games

Major League Soccer is a playable league in both the FIFA and the Football Manager series. The league made its video game debut in 1999 with FIFA 2000. In 2000, Konami released ESPN MLS GameNight, and two years later, they released its sequel, ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002. The league made its first appearance in the management series Football Manager 2005 in 2004.[272]

Player records

See also: Major League Soccer records and statistics and 2022 Major League Soccer season § Player statistics

Statistics below are for all-time leaders. Statistics are for regular season only. Bold indicates active MLS players.

As of October 9, 2022[273]

Player records (active)

Statistics below are for all-time leaders who are still playing. Statistics are for regular season only.

As of October 9, 2022[273]

MLS awards

At the conclusion of each season, the league presents several awards for outstanding achievements, mostly to players, but also to coaches, referees, and teams. The finalists in each category are determined by voting from MLS players, team employees, and the media.[274]

See also

References

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May 04, 2023
major, league, soccer, redirects, here, other, uses, disambiguation, professional, soccer, league, sanctioned, united, states, soccer, federation, which, represents, sport, highest, level, united, states, league, comprises, teams, canada, since, 2023, season, . MLS redirects here For other uses see MLS disambiguation Major League Soccer MLS is a men s professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation which represents the sport s highest level in the United States 2 3 The league comprises 29 teams 26 in the U S and 3 in Canada since the 2023 season 4 5 The league is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan Major League SoccerFoundedDecember 17 1993 29 years ago 1993 12 17 1 First season1996CountryUnited States 26 teams Other club s fromCanada 3 teams ConfederationCONCACAFConferencesEastern ConferenceWestern ConferenceNumber of teams29Level on pyramid1Domestic cup s U S Open CupCanadian ChampionshipInternational cup s CONCACAF Champions LeagueCampeones CupLeagues CupCurrent MLS CupLos Angeles FC 1st title 2022 Current Supporters ShieldLos Angeles FC 2nd shield 2022 Most MLS CupsLA Galaxy 5 titles Most Supporters ShieldsD C UnitedLA Galaxy 4 shields each Most appearancesNick Rimando 514 Top goalscorerChris Wondolowski 171 TV partnersMLS Season Pass Apple TV United States Fox SportsCanada TSN RDSInternational See listWebsitemlssoccer comCurrent 2023 Major League Soccer seasonMajor League Soccer is the most recent in a series of men s premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League NASL which existed from 1968 until 1984 6 MLS was founded in 1993 as part of the United States successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup 7 The inaugural season took place in 1996 with ten teams 8 MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years losing millions of dollars and folding two teams in 2002 9 Since then developments such as the proliferation of soccer specific stadiums around the league implementation of the Designated Player Rule allowing teams to sign star players such as David Beckham and national TV contracts have made MLS profitable 10 With an average attendance of over 20 000 per game MLS has the fourth highest average attendance of any major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada after the National Football League NFL Major League Baseball MLB and Canadian Football League CFL citation needed and was the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide by 2013 11 The MLS regular season typically starts in late February or early March and runs through mid October with each team playing 34 games 12 13 the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters Shield Eighteen teams compete in the postseason MLS Cup Playoffs in late October and November culminating in the league s championship game the MLS Cup 14 Instead of operating as an association of independently owned clubs MLS is a single entity in which each team is owned by the league and individually operated by the league s investors 15 The league has a fixed membership like most sports leagues in the United States and Canada which makes it one of the few soccer leagues that does not use a promotion and relegation process 16 LA Galaxy have the most MLS Cups with five They are also tied with D C United for most Supporters Shields with four each Los Angeles FC are the defending champions as they defeated Philadelphia Union 3 0 on penalties in MLS Cup 2022 on November 5 2022 to mark the end of the 2022 season Contents 1 Competition format 1 1 Other competitions 2 Teams 2 1 Former teams 2 2 Timeline 3 History 3 1 Establishment 3 2 Resurgence 3 3 Arrival of Designated Players 3 4 Expansion of the league 4 League championships 5 Organization 5 1 Ownership 5 2 League executives 5 3 Player acquisition and salaries 5 3 1 Designated Players and allocation money 5 4 Youth development 5 5 Stadiums 5 6 Profitability and revenues 5 7 Rules and officials 5 8 Branding 5 8 1 Team names 6 Media coverage 6 1 United States 6 2 Canada 6 3 International 6 4 Apple TV 6 5 Video games 7 Player records 7 1 Player records active 8 MLS awards 9 See also 10 References 11 External linksCompetition format EditSee also Supporters Shield MLS Cup and MLS Cup Playoffs Major League Soccer s regular season runs from late February or early March to October Teams are geographically divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences playing 34 games in an unbalanced schedule With 29 teams in 2023 each team plays two games home and away against every team in its conference and one game against all but four or five of the teams in the opposite conference The 2020 season was the first season in league history in which teams did not play against every other team in the league 17 At the end of the regular season the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters Shield and home field advantage throughout the playoffs 18 Teams break for the annual All Star Game midway through the season an exhibition game containing the league s best players The format of the All Star Game has changed several times since the league s inception 2020 was the first year in which the MLS All Stars were planned to play against an all star team from Mexico s Liga MX before the event s cancellation due to the COVID 19 pandemic 19 20 Unlike most major soccer leagues around the world but similar to other leagues in the Americas 21 the MLS regular season is followed by a postseason knockout tournament to determine the league champion 22 As of 2023 update eighteen teams participate in the MLS Cup Playoffs in October and November which concludes with the MLS Cup championship game in early December 23 Major League Soccer s spring to fall schedule results in scheduling conflicts with the FIFA calendar and with summertime international tournaments such as the World Cup and the Gold Cup 24 causing some players to miss league matches 25 While MLS has looked into changing to a fall to spring format there are no current plans to do so Were the league to change its schedule a winter break would be necessary to accommodate teams located in harsh winter climates 26 27 28 It would also have to compete with the popularity and media presence of the National Football League NFL National Basketball Association NBA and National Hockey League NHL which all run on fall to spring schedules 28 On February 21 2023 MLS announced a new playoff format which will see the addition of a pair of single elimination Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card matches ahead of an enhanced Round One which now includes a Best of 3 series 29 Other competitions Edit See also MLS performance in the CONCACAF Champions League Campeones Cup and Leagues Cup MLS teams also play in other international and domestic competitions Each season up to five MLS teams four from the U S and one from Canada play in the CONCACAF Champions League CCL against other clubs from the CONCACAF region Two U S based MLS teams qualify based on regular season results from the previous year the teams with the highest point total from each of the two conferences one of whom is the Supporter s Shield champion The third U S team to qualify is the reigning MLS Cup champion A fourth U S based MLS team can qualify by winning the U S Open Cup 30 If a team qualifies through multiple berths or if any of the three MLS berths are taken by a Canadian team the berth is reallocated to the highest placed U S based team in the previous season s overall table that has otherwise not qualified Montreal Toronto and Vancouver compete against other Canadian sides in the Canadian Championship for the one CONCACAF Champions League berth allocated to Canada 31 Seattle Sounders FC became the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions League under the competition s current branding in 2022 32 33 Since 2018 the reigning MLS Cup champion plays in the Campeones Cup a single game against the Campeon de Campeones from Liga MX hosted by the MLS team in September 34 The inaugural edition saw Tigres UANL defeat Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto in 2018 35 Another inter league competition with Liga MX the Leagues Cup was established in 2019 The 2020 edition of the tournament was originally planned to pair eight MLS clubs against eight Liga MX clubs in a single elimination tournament hosted in the United States reviving an inter league rivalry that previously took place in the now defunct North American Superliga before its cancelation 36 The 2023 edition will have all MLS and Liga MX teams participate 37 Teams EditSee also Expansion of Major League Soccer Major League Soccer defunct clubs List of Major League Soccer coaches and List of Major League Soccer stadiums Atlanta Austin Charlotte Chicago Cincinnati Colorado Columbus Dallas D C Houston LAFC LA Galaxy Miami Minnesota Montreal Nashville New England NYCFC NYRB Orlando Philadelphia Portland Salt Lake San Jose Seattle St Louis Kansas City Toronto Vancouver The 29 teams of Major League Soccer are divided between the Eastern and Western conferences MLS has regularly expanded since the 2005 season most recently with the addition of St Louis City SC for the 2023 season 38 The league features numerous rivalry cups that are contested by two or more teams usually geographic rivals 39 Each trophy is awarded to the team with the best record in matches during the regular season involving the participating teams The concept is comparable to rivalry trophies played for by American college football teams 40 Team Location Stadium Capacity Founded Joined Head coachEastern ConferenceAtlanta United FC Atlanta Georgia Mercedes Benz Stadium1 42 5002 2014 2017 Gonzalo PinedaCharlotte FC Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America Stadium1 38 0002 2019 2022 Christian LattanzioChicago Fire FC Chicago Illinois Soldier Field1 24 9952 1997 1998 Ezra HendricksonFC Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio TQL Stadium 26 000 2015 2019 Pat NoonanColumbus Crew Columbus Ohio Lower com Field 20 371 1994 1996 Wilfried NancyD C United Washington D C Audi Field 20 000 1994 1996 Wayne RooneyInter Miami CF Fort Lauderdale Florida DRV PNK Stadium 18 000 2018 2020 Phil NevilleCF Montreal Montreal Quebec Saputo Stadium 19 619 1992 2012 Hernan LosadaNashville SC Nashville Tennessee Geodis Park 30 000 2016 2020 Gary SmithNew England Revolution Foxborough Massachusetts Gillette Stadium1 20 0002 1995 1996 Bruce ArenaNew York City FC New York City New York Yankee Stadium1 30 3212 2013 2015 Nick CushingNew York Red Bulls Harrison New Jersey Red Bull Arena 25 000 1994 1996 Gerhard StruberOrlando City SC Orlando Florida Exploria Stadium 25 500 2010 2015 oscar ParejaPhiladelphia Union Chester Pennsylvania Subaru Park 18 500 2008 2010 Jim CurtinToronto FC Toronto Ontario BMO Field 28 351 2005 2007 Bob BradleyWestern ConferenceAustin FC Austin Texas Q2 Stadium 20 738 2018 2021 Josh WolffColorado Rapids Commerce City Colorado Dick s Sporting Goods Park 18 061 1995 1996 Robin FraserFC Dallas Frisco Texas Toyota Stadium 19 096 1995 1996 Nico EstevezHouston Dynamo FC Houston Texas Shell Energy Stadium 22 039 2005 2006 Ben OlsenSporting Kansas City Kansas City Kansas Children s Mercy Park 18 467 1995 1996 Peter VermesLA Galaxy Carson California Dignity Health Sports Park 27 000 1994 1996 Greg VanneyLos Angeles FC Los Angeles California BMO Stadium 22 000 2014 2018 Steve CherundoloMinnesota United FC Saint Paul Minnesota Allianz Field 19 400 2010 2017 Adrian HeathPortland Timbers Portland Oregon Providence Park 25 218 1975 2011 Giovanni SavareseReal Salt Lake Sandy Utah America First Field 20 213 2004 2005 Pablo MastroeniSan Jose Earthquakes San Jose California PayPal Park 18 000 1974 1996 Luchi GonzalezSeattle Sounders FC Seattle Washington Lumen Field1 37 7222 1973 2009 Brian SchmetzerSt Louis City SC St Louis Missouri CityPark 22 500 2019 2023 Bradley CarnellVancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver British Columbia BC Place1 22 1202 1973 2011 Vanni SartiniFormer teams Edit Team Location Stadium Capacity Final seasonTampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Florida Raymond James Stadium1 65 657 2001Miami Fusion Fort Lauderdale Florida Lockhart Stadium 17 417 2001Chivas USA Carson California StubHub Center 18 800 2014Notes 1 Shared facility not a soccer specific stadium 2 Standard reduced capacity for soccer can be increasedTimeline Edit League member Former member Future member Other leaguesHistory EditMain article History of Major League Soccer See also Soccer in Canada and Soccer in the United States Major League Soccer is the most recent of a series of men s premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada The predecessor of MLS was the North American Soccer League NASL which existed from 1968 until 1984 41 The United States did not have a truly national top flight league with FIFA sanctioning until the creation of the NASL The first league to have U S and Canadian professional clubs the NASL struggled until the mid 1970s when the New York Cosmos the league s most prominent team signed a number of the world s best players including Pele and Franz Beckenbauer 42 Pele s arrival attracted other well known international stars to the league including Johan Cruyff Gerd Muller Eusebio Bobby Moore and George Best Despite dramatic increases in attendance with some matches drawing over 70 000 fans such as Soccer Bowl 78 the highest attendance to date for any club soccer championship in the United States over expansion the economic recession of the early 1980s and disputes with the players union ultimately led to the collapse of the NASL following the 1984 season leaving the United States without a top level soccer league until MLS 43 44 Establishment Edit D C United trophy case 2007 four MLS Cup CONCACAF Champions League Interamerican Cup MLS Supporters Shield and U S Open Cup In 1988 in exchange for FIFA awarding the right to host the 1994 World Cup U S Soccer promised to establish a Division 1 professional soccer league 45 In 1993 U S Soccer selected Major League Professional Soccer the precursor to MLS as the exclusive Division 1 professional soccer league 45 Major League Soccer was officially formed in February 1995 as a limited liability company 45 Tab Ramos was the first player signed by MLS on January 3 1995 and was assigned to the New York New Jersey MetroStars 46 MLS began play in 1996 with ten teams The first game was held on April 6 1996 as the San Jose Clash defeated D C United before 31 000 fans at Spartan Stadium in San Jose in a game broadcast on ESPN 47 The league had generated some buzz by managing to lure some marquee players from the 1994 World Cup to play in MLS including U S stars such as Alexi Lalas Tony Meola and Eric Wynalda and foreign players such as Mexico s Jorge Campos and Colombia s Carlos Valderrama 48 D C United won the MLS Cup in three of the league s first four seasons 49 The league added its first two expansion teams in 1998 the Miami Fusion and the Chicago Fire the Chicago Fire won its first title in its inaugural season 50 After its first season MLS suffered from a decline in attendance 51 The league s low attendance was all the more apparent in light of the fact that eight of the original ten teams played in large American football stadiums 50 One aspect that had alienated fans was that MLS experimented with rules deviations in its early years in an attempt to Americanize the sport The league implemented the use of shootouts to resolve tie games MLS also used a countdown clock and halves ended when the clock reached 0 00 The league realized that the rule changes had alienated some traditional soccer fans while failing to draw new American sports fans and the shootout and countdown clock were eliminated after the 1999 season 52 The league s quality was cast into doubt when the U S men s national team which was made up largely of MLS players finished in last place at the 1998 World Cup 50 Major League Soccer lost an estimated 250 million during its first five years and more than 350 million between its founding and 2004 53 54 55 56 The league s financial problems led to Commissioner Doug Logan being replaced by Don Garber a former NFL executive in August 1999 57 Following decreased attendance and increased losses by late 2001 league officials planned to fold but were able to secure new financing from owners Lamar Hunt Philip Anschutz and the Kraft family to take on more teams 58 MLS announced in January 2002 that it had decided to contract the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion leaving the league with ten teams 59 Built in 1999 Historic Crew Stadium the home of the Columbus Crew until 2021 was the first soccer specific stadium in MLS Despite the financial problems though MLS did have some accomplishments that would set the stage for the league s resurgence Columbus Crew Stadium now known as Historic Crew Stadium was built in 1999 becoming MLS s first soccer specific stadium 60 This began a trend among MLS teams to construct their own venues instead of leasing American football stadiums where they would not be able to generate revenue from other events 61 62 In 2000 the league won an antitrust lawsuit Fraser v Major League Soccer that the players had filed in 1996 The court ruled that MLS s policy of centrally contracting players and limiting player salaries through a salary cap and other restrictions were a legal method for the league to maintain solvency and competitive parity since MLS was a single entity and therefore incapable of conspiring with itself 63 Resurgence Edit The 2002 FIFA World Cup in which the United States unexpectedly made the quarterfinals coincided with a resurgence in American soccer and MLS 39 MLS Cup 2002 drew 61 316 spectators to Gillette Stadium the largest attendance in an MLS Cup final until 2018 64 MLS limited teams to three substitutions per game in 2003 and adopted International Football Association Board IFAB rules in 2005 65 MLS underwent a transition in the years leading up to the 2006 World Cup After marketing itself on the talents of American players the league lost some of its homegrown stars to prominent European leagues For example Tim Howard was transferred to Manchester United for 4 million in one of the most lucrative contract deals in league history 66 67 Many more American players did make an impact in MLS In 2005 Jason Kreis became the first player to score 100 career MLS goals 68 The league s financial stabilization plan included teams moving out of large American football stadiums and into soccer specific stadiums 59 From 2003 to 2008 the league oversaw the construction of six additional soccer specific stadiums largely funded by owners such as Lamar Hunt and Phil Anschutz so that by the end of 2008 a majority of teams were now in soccer specific stadiums 50 It was also in this era that MLS expanded for the first time since 1998 Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA began play in 2005 with Chivas USA becoming the second club in Los Angeles 69 By 2006 the San Jose Earthquakes owners players and a few coaches moved to Texas to become the expansion Houston Dynamo after failing to build a stadium in San Jose The Dynamo became an expansion team leaving their history behind for a new San Jose ownership group that formed in 2007 70 Arrival of Designated Players Edit The 2010 season also brought the opening of the New York Red Bulls soccer specific stadium Red Bull Arena In 2007 the league expanded beyond the United States borders into Canada with the Toronto FC expansion team 71 Major League Soccer took steps to further raise the level of play by adopting the Designated Player Rule which helped bring international stars into the league 72 The 2007 season witnessed the MLS debut of David Beckham Beckham s signing had been seen as a coup for American soccer and was made possible by the Designated Player Rule Players such as Cuauhtemoc Blanco Chicago Fire and Juan Pablo Angel New York Red Bulls are some of the first Designated Players who made major contributions to their clubs 73 The departures of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore coupled with the return of former U S national team stars Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride highlighted the exchange of top prospects to Europe for experienced veterans to MLS 74 By 2008 San Jose had returned to the league under new ownership and in 2009 the expansion side Seattle Sounders FC began play in MLS 71 The Sounders set a new average attendance record for the league with 30 943 spectators per match and were the first expansion team to qualify for the playoffs since 1998 75 The 2010 season ushered in an expansion franchise in the Philadelphia Union and their new PPL Park stadium now known as Subaru Park 71 The 2010 season also brought the opening of the New York Red Bulls soccer specific stadium Red Bull Arena and the debut of French striker Thierry Henry 76 The 2011 season brought further expansion with the addition of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC the second Canadian MLS franchise and the Portland Timbers 77 Real Salt Lake reached the finals of the 2010 11 CONCACAF Champions League 78 During the 2011 season the Galaxy signed another international star in Republic of Ireland all time leading goalscorer Robbie Keane 79 MLS drew an average attendance of 17 872 in 2011 higher than the average attendances of the NBA and NHL 80 In 2012 the Montreal Impact became the league s 19th franchise and the third in Canada and made their home debut in front of a crowd of 58 912 81 while the New York Red Bulls added Australian all time leading goalscorer Tim Cahill Expansion of the league Edit Seattle Sounders FC 2009 Los Angeles Galaxy 2011 With an average attendance of over 20 000 per game MLS has the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U S after the National Football League NFL and Major League Baseball MLB citation needed and is the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide as of 2013 update 11 In 2013 MLS introduced New York City FC 82 as its 20th team and Orlando City Soccer Club 83 as its 21st team both of which would begin playing in 2015 In 2013 the league implemented its Core Players initiative allowing teams to retain key players using retention funds instead of losing the players to foreign leagues 84 Among the first high profile players re signed in 2013 using retention funds were U S national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler Beginning in summer of 2013 and continuing in the run up to the 2014 World Cup MLS began signing U S stars based abroad including Clint Dempsey Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley from Europe and DaMarcus Beasley from Mexico s Liga MX 85 By the 2014 season fifteen of the nineteen MLS head coaches had previously played in MLS 86 By 2013 the league s popularity had increased to the point where MLS was as popular as Major League Baseball among 12 to 17 year olds as reported by the 2013 Luker on Trends ESPN poll having jumped in popularity since the 2010 World Cup 87 88 In 2014 the league announced Atlanta United FC as the 22nd team to start playing in 2017 89 Even though New York City FC and Orlando City were not set to begin play until 2015 each team made headlines during the summer 2014 transfer window by announcing their first Designated Players Spain s leading scorer David Villa and Chelsea s leading scorer Frank Lampard to New York and Ballon d Or winner Kaka to Orlando 90 The 2014 World Cup featured 21 MLS players on World Cup rosters and a record 11 MLS players playing for foreign teams including players from traditional powerhouses Brazil Julio Cesar and Spain David Villa in the U S v Germany match the U S fielded a team with seven MLS starters 91 On September 18 2014 MLS unveiled their new logo as part of a branding initiative In addition to the new crest logo MLS teams display versions in their own colors on their jerseys 92 Chivas USA folded following the 2014 season while New York City FC and Orlando City SC joined the league in 2015 as the 19th and 20th teams 93 Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference in 2015 to make two 10 team conferences 93 94 In early 2015 the league announced that two teams Los Angeles FC and Minnesota United would join MLS in either 2017 or 2018 95 The 20th season of MLS saw the arrivals of several players who have starred at the highest levels of European club soccer and in international soccer Giovanni dos Santos Kaka Andrea Pirlo Frank Lampard Steven Gerrard Didier Drogba David Villa and Sebastian Giovinco 96 MLS confirmed in August 2016 that Minnesota United would begin play in 2017 along with Atlanta United FC 97 In April 2016 the league s commissioner Don Garber reiterated the intention of the league to expand to 28 teams with the next round of expansion likely happening in 2020 98 99 In December 2016 he updated the expansion plans stating that the league will look to approve the 25th and 26th teams in 2017 and to start play in 2020 100 In January 2017 the league received bids from 12 ownership groups 101 In July 2017 it was reported that Major League Soccer had rejected an offer by MP amp Silva to acquire all television rights to the league following the conclusion of its current contracts with Fox ESPN and Univision where MP amp Silva insisted that the deal would be conditional on Major League Soccer adopting a promotion and relegation system The league stated that it rejected the offer due to the exclusive periods that the current rightsholders have to negotiate extensions to their contracts Additionally media noted that Major League Soccer has long opposed the adoption of promotion and relegation continuing to utilize the fixed franchise based model used in other U S sports leagues 16 102 Furthermore MP amp Silva founder Riccardo Silva also owned Miami FC of the NASL which stood to benefit from such a promotion and relegation system 102 In October 2017 Columbus Crew owner Anthony Precourt announced plans to move the franchise to Austin Texas by 2019 103 The announcement spawned a league wide backlash and legal action against the league by the Ohio state government 104 On August 15 2018 the Austin City Council voted to approve an agreement with Precourt to move Crew SC to Austin and on August 22 2018 the club s new name Austin FC was announced 105 After negotiations between Precourt and Jimmy Haslam owner of the Cleveland Browns were announced MLS made it clear that Austin would receive an expansion team only after a deal to sell Columbus to a local buyer had completed 106 The purchase of Crew SC by Haslam s group was finalized in late December 2018 107 and on January 15 2019 Austin FC was officially announced as a 2021 MLS entry 108 MLS announced on December 20 2017 that it would be awarding an expansion franchise to Nashville Tennessee to play in a yet to be built 27 000 seat soccer specific stadium Nashville Fairgrounds Stadium and would join MLS in 2020 109 The management of the Nashville franchise announced in February 2019 that the MLS side would assume the Nashville SC name then in use by the city s USL Championship team 110 FC Cincinnati s inaugural MLS home match drew a 32 250 sellout crowd On January 29 2018 MLS awarded Miami an expansion team led by David Beckham Inter Miami CF started MLS play on March 1 2020 and plan on opening the proposed 25 000 seat stadium sometime in the near future 111 An expansion team was awarded to Cincinnati Ohio on May 29 2018 to the ownership group of USL s FC Cincinnati The team which assumed the existing FC Cincinnati name started MLS play in 2019 and moved to the new 26 000 seat TQL Stadium in 2021 112 In 2013 New York City FC agreed to pay a record 100 million expansion fee for the right to join MLS in 2015 113 This record was surpassed by the ownership groups of FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC which each paid 150 million to join MLS FC Cincinnati in 2019 and Nashville SC in 2020 114 Despite being announced in January 2018 Inter Miami CF only paid a 25 million expansion fee due to a clause in part owner David Beckham s original playing contract signed in 2007 115 The same 150 million was paid as an effective entrance fee by a group that bought Columbus Crew in 2018 which led to that team s previous operator receiving rights to Austin FC which joined MLS in 2021 116 117 MLS has also announced the ownership groups of the 28th and 29th teams would each pay a 200 million entrance fee 113 The league planned to expand to 30 teams with the addition of Austin FC in 2021 108 Charlotte in 2022 118 and Sacramento and St Louis in 2023 however this was reduced to 29 after Sacramento Republic FC s bid was placed on indefinite hold 38 119 5 120 Commissioner Don Garber has suggested that another round of expansion could lead to 32 teams in MLS 121 The league suspended its 2020 season on March 12 2020 after two weeks due to the COVID 19 pandemic in the United States and other U S based sports leagues did the same 122 123 124 The 2020 season resumed in July with the MLS is Back Tournament a competition in which 24 out of the 26 teams competed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League In September 2020 the league announced the formation of MLS Next an academy league for MLS academy teams from the under 13 to under 19 level 125 In 2022 the league signed a 2 5 billion deal with Apple Inc that will make Apple TV the primary broadcaster for all MLS games The agreement will see both MLS and Leagues Cup games shared across the streaming service 126 League championships EditSee also List of American and Canadian soccer champions As of the 2023 season 31 different clubs have competed in the league with 15 having won at least one MLS Cup and 15 winning at least one Supporters Shield 127 The two trophies have been won by the same club in the same year on eight occasions two clubs have accomplished the feat twice 128 MLS Cup titles and Supporters Shield wins Team MLSCups Year s won Supporters Shields Year s won Totalcombined MLSseasonsLA Galaxy 5 2002 2005 2011 2012 2014 4 1998 2002 2010 2011 9 27D C United 4 1996 1997 1999 2004 4 1997 1999 2006 2007 8 27Columbus Crew 2 2008 2020 3 2004 2008 2009 5 27San Jose Earthquakes 2 2001 2003 2 2005 2012 4 25Sporting Kansas City 2 2000 2013 1 2000 3 27Seattle Sounders FC 2 2016 2019 1 2014 3 14Houston Dynamo FC 2 2006 2007 0 2 17Los Angeles FC 1 2022 2 2019 2022 3 5Chicago Fire FC 1 1998 1 2003 2 25Toronto FC 1 2017 1 2017 2 16Real Salt Lake 1 2009 0 1 18Colorado Rapids 1 2010 0 1 27Portland Timbers 1 2015 0 1 12Atlanta United FC 1 2018 0 1 6New York City FC 1 2021 0 1 8New York Red Bulls 0 3 2013 2015 2018 3 27Tampa Bay Mutiny 0 1 1996 1 6 Miami Fusion 0 1 2001 1 4 FC Dallas 0 1 2016 1 27Philadelphia Union 0 1 2020 1 13New England Revolution 0 1 2021 1 27 Franchise folded after completion of the 2001 seasonOrganization EditOwnership Edit See also Major League Soccer owners Major League Soccer operates under a single entity structure in which teams and player contracts are centrally owned by the league 3 129 130 Each team has an investor operator that is a shareholder in the league 131 In order to control costs MLS shares revenues and holds players contracts instead of players contracting with individual teams In Fraser v Major League Soccer a lawsuit filed in 1996 and decided in 2002 the league won a legal battle with its players in which the court ruled that MLS was a single entity that can lawfully centrally contract for player services 3 The court also ruled that even absent their collective bargaining agreement players could opt to play in other leagues if they were unsatisfied 3 Having multiple clubs operated by a single investor was a necessity in the league s first ten years 132 At one time Phil Anschutz s AEG operated six MLS franchises and Lamar Hunt s Hunt Sports operated three franchises In order to attract additional investors in 2002 the league announced changes to the operating agreement between the league and its teams to improve team revenues and increase the incentives to be an individual club operator 133 These changes included granting operators the rights to a certain number of players they develop through their club s academy system each year sharing the profits of Soccer United Marketing and being able to sell individual club jersey sponsorships 133 As MLS appeared to be on the brink of overall profitability in 2006 and developed significant expansion plans MLS announced that it wanted each club to have a distinct operator 134 The league has attracted new investors that have injected more money into the league 135 Examples include Red Bull s purchase of the MetroStars from AEG in 2006 for over 100 million 132 136 For the 2014 season the league assumed control of the former Chivas USA club which had suffered from mismanagement and poor financial results under its individual operator relationship 137 138 The league eventually dissolved the team 139 in favor of awarding rights to a second soccer club in the Los Angeles area to a new investor group on October 30 2014 140 The league now has 29 investor operators for its 29 current clubs with no member of any club s investor group having a stake in that of any other club Since December 2015 when AEG sold its remaining 50 interest in the Houston Dynamo the former multiple team operators AEG and Hunt Sports with the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas respectively now only control one franchise 141 142 League executives Edit Don Garber has been the commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999 serving as the league s chief executive The league s first commissioner was Doug Logan who served in the role from 1995 to 1999 143 144 Mark Abbott a former MLS business partner has served as the league s president and Deputy Commissioner since 2006 145 Player acquisition and salaries Edit David Beckham was the league s first Designated Player in 2007 The average salary for MLS players is 373 094 146 lower than the average salaries in England s second tier EFL Championship 420 000 in 2015 147 the Netherlands Eredivisie 445 000 148 or Mexico s Liga MX 418 000 in 2015 149 The league s minimum player salary increased in 2017 to 65 000 for most players and roster players 25 30 saw their minimum salary increased to 53 000 150 151 MLS salaries are limited by a salary cap which MLS has had in place since the league s inception in 1996 The purpose of the salary cap is to prevent the team s owners from unsustainable spending on player salaries and to prevent a competitive imbalance among teams 45 The salary cap survived a legal challenge by the players in the Fraser v Major League Soccer lawsuit The 2017 salary cap increased to 3 845 million per team 150 151 Each team is allowed up to 30 players on its first team roster 152 All 30 players are eligible for selection to each 18 player game day squad during the regular season and playoffs Teams may augment their squads by signing players from other leagues MLS has two transfer windows the primary pre season transfer window lasts three months from mid February until mid May and the secondary mid season transfer window runs one month from early July to early August 153 When an MLS club sells one of its players overseas the club and the league split the transfer revenues with the club retaining from 33 to 75 depending on the player s status and tenure 154 MLS teams have a limited number of international roster slots that they can use to sign non domestic players However MLS teams often obtain green cards for their non domestic players in order to qualify them for domestic status and thus free up international roster slots 155 In 2015 49 of MLS players were born outside of the U S and Canada with players from 58 countries represented 156 157 MLS has a set of pool goalkeepers who are signed to a contract with the league and are loaned to teams during emergencies in which they are missing a goalkeeper due to injuries or suspensions 158 The pool goalkeeper trains with an MLS club or an affiliated team when not assigned to a team some pool goalkeepers including Tim Melia have gone on to be signed to permanent contract with their assigned teams 159 In the past when rosters were smaller there were multiple goalkeepers signed to the pool however in recent years only one or two keepers are signed as team rosters are much larger 160 Designated Players and allocation money Edit MLS has also introduced various initiatives and rules intended to improve quality of players while still maintaining the salary cap Rules concerning Designated Players and allocation money allow for additional wage spending that is exempt from the salary cap These initiatives have brought about an increase in on field competition 161 unreliable source The designated player DP rule allows teams to sign a limited number of players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap in 2017 each DP player only counted as 480 625 the maximum non DP salary against the cap Instituted in 2007 England s David Beckham was the first signing under the DP rule 72 The DP rule has led to large income inequality in MLS with top DPs earning as much as 180 times more than a player earning the league minimum 162 In the 2013 season 21 of the league s wage spending went to just five players this stretched to 29 on the top 6 players in the 2014 season 163 164 unreliable source The league s Core Players initiative allows teams to re sign players using retention funds that do not count against the salary cap 84 Retention funds were implemented in 2013 as a mechanism for MLS to retain key players among the first high profile players re signed using retention funds were U S national team regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler 84 MLS teams can also obtain allocation money which is money that the team can use on player salaries that does not count against the cap and teams can earn allocation money in several ways such as from the transfer fees earned by selling players to teams in other leagues 165 MLS teams can also use Targeted Allocation Money often referred to as TAM an initiative announced in 2015 Teams can use TAM funds to attract high profile players by buying down contracts of players to below the Designated Player level 166 High profile players for which TAM funds were used include Hector Villalba Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Giorgio Chiellini Youth development Edit See also MLS Next Pro and Homegrown Player Rule Major League Soccer MLS has introduced various initiatives and rules intended to develop young players Rules concerning Generation Adidas players and home grown players provide incentives for clubs to develop and retain young players 161 MLS has required all of its teams to operate youth development programs since 2008 167 MLS roster rules allow teams to sign an unlimited number of players straight from their academies and bypassing the draft process 168 There is also supplementary salary budget made by MLS only for homegrown players that are registered using senior roster slots called homegrown player funds 169 One of the most prominent and lucrative examples of success in home grown development was Jozy Altidore who rose to prominence as a teenager in MLS before his record transfer fee 10 million move to Villarreal in Spain in 2008 170 The various MLS teams development academies play matches in a U S Soccer developmental league against youth academies from other leagues such as the North American Soccer League NASL which had been a Division II league prior to 2018 and USL Pro originally a Division III league but now the Division II USL Championship 171 The league operates a Generation Adidas program which is a joint venture between MLS and U S Soccer that encourages young American players to enter MLS 172 The Generation Adidas program has been in place since 1997 and has introduced players such as Landon Donovan Clint Dempsey Tim Howard and Michael Bradley into MLS Players under the Home Grown Player rule are signed to Generation Adidas contracts 153 all players on Generation Adidas contracts are off budget players and their salaries do not count against the cap MLS has operated reserve leagues which give playing time to players who were not starters for their MLS teams during two different periods The MLS Reserve League was formed in 2005 and operated through 2014 with the exception of the 2009 amp 2010 seasons 173 MLS began integrating its Reserve League with the league then known as USL Pro in 2013 174 and after the 2014 season folded the Reserve League with MLS then requiring all teams to either affiliate with a USL team or field their own reserve side in that league However this requirement was never strictly enforced and MLS eventually relaunched its reserve league in 2022 under the banner of MLS Next Pro In the inaugural 2022 season 19 of the league s then current clubs plus future club St Louis City SC fielded reserve sides in Next Pro In the 2023 season the only MLS teams that will not field Next Pro sides are CF Montreal and D C United 175 176 Following the folding of the Development Academy 177 MLS announced its own development league in 2020 citation needed It includes all of the MLS team academies as well as 95 clubs across the country many of which were a part of the Development Academy citation needed Stadiums Edit The Columbus Crew s first stadium was MLS first soccer specific stadium See also Soccer specific stadium and List of Major League Soccer stadiums Since 1999 the league has overseen the construction of twelve stadiums specifically designed for soccer The development of soccer specific stadiums owned by the teams has generated a better gameday experience for the fans 178 The soccer specific stadiums have yielded positive financial results as teams were no longer required to pay to rent out facilities and gained control over revenue streams such as concessions parking naming rights and the ability to host non MLS events 138 178 Several teams have doubled their season tickets following the team s move into a soccer specific stadium 179 The establishment of soccer specific stadiums is considered the key to the league and the ability of teams to turn a profit 180 In 2006 Tim Leiweke then CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group described the proliferation of soccer specific stadiums as the turning point for MLS 180 Columbus Crew owner Lamar Hunt started this trend in 1999 by constructing Columbus Crew Stadium now known as Historic Crew Stadium as MLS s first soccer specific stadium 60 The Los Angeles Galaxy followed four years later with the opening of the Home Depot Center now Dignity Health Sports Park in 2003 181 FC Dallas opened Pizza Hut Park now Toyota Stadium in 2005 and the Chicago Fire began playing their home games in Toyota Park now SeatGeek Stadium in 2006 The 2007 season brought the opening of Dick s Sporting Goods Park for the Colorado Rapids and BMO Field for Toronto FC 182 Near the end of the 2008 season Rio Tinto Stadium now known as America First Field became the home of Real Salt Lake which meant that for the first time in MLS history a majority of MLS s teams 8 out of 14 played in soccer specific stadiums 183 Red Bull Arena the new home of the New York Red Bulls opened for the start of the 2010 season 184 and the Philadelphia Union opened PPL Park now Subaru Park in June 2010 midway through their inaugural season 185 The following season in 2011 the Portland Timbers made their MLS debut in a newly renovated Jeld Wen Field now renamed Providence Park which was originally a multi purpose venue but turned into a soccer specific facility 186 Also in 2011 Sporting Kansas City moved to new Livestrong Sporting Park now Children s Mercy Park 187 The Houston Dynamo relocated to their new home at BBVA Compass Stadium now PNC Stadium in 2012 184 In the same year the Montreal Impact joined the league in an expanded Stade Saputo which reopened in June 2012 when renovations pushed the seating capacity to over 20 000 The Impact has used Olympic Stadium for early season matches and for games that require a larger capacity 188 The San Jose Earthquakes who had played at Buck Shaw Stadium from 2008 until 2014 opened their new Avaya Stadium now PayPal Park before the 2015 season 189 Orlando City SC intended to begin constructing its soccer specific stadium now known as Exploria Stadium in 2014 to be completed in 2015 190 Delays caused by changes to the stadium plans pushed back the new venue s opening first to late 2016 and finally to the start of the 2017 season 191 Orlando City played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium now Camping World Stadium while awaiting the construction of their new venue through the 2016 season Exploria Stadium hosted its first MLS match on March 5 2017 against New York City FC as Orlando City Stadium Lumen Field home of Seattle Sounders FC The development of additional MLS stadiums has continued to progress D C United had played their home games at former NFL and Major League Baseball venue RFK Stadium In 2013 D C United announced the signing of a public private partnership term sheet to build a new soccer stadium in Washington D C and a final deal was reached in late 2014 In late February 2017 D C United finally broke ground on their new stadium Audi Field 192 After 21 years of playing at RFK Stadium DC United played their first game at Audi field in July 2018 Two teams have announced their desire to build a soccer specific stadium although these teams have not finalized the stadium site and received all necessary government approvals New York City FC play home games at Yankee Stadium a Major League Baseball venue although they intend to move into a soccer specific stadium in the future The New England Revolution play home games at Gillette Stadium which is an NFL Stadium also owned by the Revolution s owner Robert Kraft The team are currently in discussion with the City of Boston regarding a potential soccer specific stadium in South Boston 193 Several remaining clubs play in stadiums not originally built for MLS and have not announced plans to move The Seattle Sounders FC play at Lumen Field a dual purpose facility used for both American football and soccer The Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined the league with Portland in 2011 and temporarily held matches at Empire Field before moving into the refurbished BC Place in October 2011 194 a retractable roof stadium that hosts Canadian football as well as soccer 195 Of the three teams that made their MLS debuts in 2017 and 2018 one opened a soccer specific stadium in 2019 a second is playing in a shared football stadium and the last opened a soccer specific stadium for its inaugural 2018 season Minnesota United FC which debuted in 2017 built Allianz Field in St Paul which hosted its inaugural game against New York City FC on April 13 2019 196 197 Until that time the team played in Minneapolis at TCF Bank Stadium now Huntington Bank Stadium home to University of Minnesota football 198 Atlanta United FC began play in 2017 at a college football facility Georgia Tech s Bobby Dodd Stadium before moving into its permanent home at the retractable roof Mercedes Benz Stadium which it shares with the NFL s Atlanta Falcons the two teams share a common owner and the stadium is equipped with screens to cordon off the upper tiers for most matches 199 Los Angeles FC which began play in 2018 opened Banc of California Stadium now BMO Stadium on the former site of the Los Angeles Sports Arena in April of its inaugural season 200 FC Cincinnati made its MLS debut in 2019 at Nippert Stadium the football home of the University of Cincinnati The stadium had been home to FCC s USL Championship predecessor for all of its three seasons of play The club moved within Cincinnati to the new TQL Stadium in 2021 201 Inter Miami began play in 2020 at Inter Miami CF Stadium now known as DRV PNK Stadium at the former site of Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale before opening Miami Freedom Park in the future 202 Nashville SC played the 2020 and 2021 seasons at an NFL facility the Tennessee Titans Nissan Stadium before opening Geodis Park in 2022 203 Austin FC opened Q2 Stadium for its first season in 2021 108 St Louis City SC opened CityPark in November 2022 a few months before the club s first season in 2023 204 Profitability and revenues Edit Average franchise valuations Year Value2008 37 million2013 103 million2015 157 million2016 185 million2017 223 million2018 240 million2019 313 million2021 550 million2022 582 millionSee also Major League Soccer defunct clubs and List of professional sports leagues by revenue Major League Soccer began to demonstrate positive signs of long term profitability as early as 2004 with the single entity ownership structure salary cap and the media and marketing umbrella Soccer United Marketing SUM all contributing towards MLS s financial security 54 As soccer specific stadiums are built ownership expands and television coverage increases MLS has seen its revenues increase while controlling costs 9 Television coverage and revenue have increased since the league s early years In 2006 MLS reached an 8 year TV deal with ESPN spanning the 2007 2014 seasons and marked the first time that MLS earned rights fees reported to be worth 7 8 million annually 205 In September 2012 the league extended its distribution agreement with London based Media rights agency MP amp Silva until 2014 in a deal worth 10 million annually Total league TV revenues are over 40 million annually 206 207 In 2011 MLS earned 150 million when it sold a 25 stake in SUM 9 Jersey sponsorships Team Sponsor Annual valueAtlanta United FC AmFam game main Piedmont Hospital game sleeve Undisclosed 208 Austin FC Yeti game main Netspend game sleeve St David s Healthcare prematch Undisclosed 209 Charlotte FC Ally game main Centene game sleeve Undisclosed 210 Colorado Rapids UCHealth game main Undisclosed 211 Columbus Crew Nationwide game main Tipico game sleeve Ohio Health prematch 3 million 212 D C United XDC Network game main EagleBank game sleeve Undisclosed 213 FC Cincinnati Mercy Health game main Kroger game sleeve Undisclosed 214 FC Dallas Children s Health game main UT Southwestern game main AdvoCare game sleeve Undisclosed 215 Houston Dynamo FC MD Anderson game main Kroger game sleeve FuboTV prematch Undisclosed 216 Inter Miami CF XBTO game main Xmanna game sleeve AutoNation prematch Undisclosed 217 LA Galaxy Herbalife game main Honey game sleeve 4 4 million 218 Los Angeles FC Flex game main Ford game sleeve Rockstar prematch Undisclosed 219 Minnesota United FC Target game main Allianz game sleeve Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota prematch Undisclosed 220 CF Montreal Bank of Montreal game main Saputo game sleeve US 4 million 221 Nashville SC Renasant game main Hyundai game sleeve Vanderbilt Health prematch Undisclosed 222 New England Revolution UnitedHealthcare game main Santander game sleeve Socios com prematch Undisclosed 223 New York City FC Etihad Airways game main Dude Wipes game sleeve NewYork Presbyterian Hospital prematch Undisclosed 224 New York Red Bulls Red Bull game main Provident Bank game sleeve Owns clubOrlando City SC Orlando Health game main Exploria game sleeve Undisclosed 225 Philadelphia Union Bimbo Bakeries USA game main Subaru game sleeve 3 million 226 Portland Timbers Alaska Airlines game main TikTok game sleeve Dutch Brothers Coffee prematch Undisclosed 227 Real Salt Lake LifeVantage game main KeyBank game sleeve 3 million 228 San Jose Earthquakes Intermedia Cloud Communications game main Sutter Health prematch Undisclosed 229 Seattle Sounders FC Providence game main Emerald Queen Casino game sleeve CHI Franciscan prematch Undisclosed 230 Sporting Kansas City Compass Minerals game main Children s Mercy game sleeve Undisclosed 231 St Louis City SC Purina game main BJC HealthCare game sleeve Undisclosed 232 Toronto FC Bank of Montreal game main and sleeve GE Appliances game sleeve C 4 million 233 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Telus game main GE Appliances game sleeve Undisclosed 234 In early 2005 MLS signed a 10 year 150 million sponsorship deal with Adidas for its jerseys and other equipment 54 In 2007 MLS teams started selling ad space on the front of jerseys to go along with the league wide sponsorship partners who had already been advertising on the back of club jerseys following the practice of international sport specifically soccer MLS established a floor of 500 000 per shirt sponsorship with the league receiving a flat fee of 200 000 per deal 235 As of July 2014 sixteen teams had signed sponsorship deals to have company logos placed on the front of their jerseys and another team is directly owned by its shirt sponsor and the league average from jersey sponsors was about 2 4 million 236 All MLS teams have had jersey sponsors since February 2016 citation needed Sleeve sponsorship was introduced to MLS in the 2020 season with the teams able to sell a 2 by 2 inch 51 by 51 mm section on the right arm where the league logo patch is normally positioned 237 The Los Angeles Galaxy made a profit in 2003 in their first season at The Home Depot Center 53 and FC Dallas turned a profit after moving into Pizza Hut Park in 2005 238 For each season between 2006 and 2009 two to three MLS clubs generally clubs with a soccer specific stadium were reported as profitable by the league 238 239 240 By 2012 the league had shown a marked improvement in its financial health In November 2013 Forbes published a report that revealed that ten of the league s nineteen teams earned an operating profit in 2012 while two broke even and seven had a loss Forbes estimated that the league s collective annual revenues were 494 million and that the league s collective annual profit was 34 million Forbes valued the league s franchises to be worth 103 million on average almost three times as much as the 37 million average valuation in 2008 The Seattle Sounders FC franchise was named the most valuable at 175 million a 483 gain over the 30 million league entrance fee it paid in 2009 138 The trend in increased team values has continued with MLS teams seeing a strong 52 increase in franchise values from 2012 to 2014 In August 2015 Forbes updated its MLS franchise values with the most profitable team measuring 245 million and the least 105 million The average value jumped from 103 to 157 million 10 As of 2018 Forbes estimates Atlanta United FC are the most valuable MLS team worth 330 million while the Colorado Rapids are the lowest value at 155 million 241 These valuations do not include the value of stadiums or training facilities owned by the respective clubs MLS teams typically use commercial flights to transport players and staff between matches with only four charter flights allowed under league rules 242 Rules and officials Edit MLS follows the rules and standards of the International Football Association Board IFAB Since 2005 the playoff extra time structure follows IFAB standards two full 15 minute periods followed by a penalty shootout if necessary U S Soccer hired the first full time professional referees in league history in 2007 as part of the league s Game First initiatives 243 Major League Soccer has been implementing fines and suspensions since the 2011 season for simulation diving through its Disciplinary Committee which reviews plays after the match The first player fined under the new rule was Charlie Davies fined 1 000 for intentionally deceiving match officials 244 MLS uses the list of banned substances published by the World Anti Doping Agency 245 Branding Edit The current MLS logo debuted in 2014 ahead of the league s 20th season replacing an earlier logo that featured a stylized boot and ball The current logo is a simple crest with a diagonal stripe the MLS wordmark and three stars that represent community club and country The logo was designed to be remixed in different color schemes that match teams when used on merchandise and jerseys 246 The first MLS anthem was unveiled in 2007 and was composed by Audiobrain The current league anthem debuted in 2020 and was composed by film score composer Hans Zimmer It will be used during league broadcasts and as a prelude to kickoff at stadiums 247 Team names Edit For more information on MLS team names see the individual team entries In the early years of MLS teams were typically given official nicknames in the style of other U S sports leagues e g Columbus Crew Los Angeles Galaxy New England Revolution Several club names in MLS originated with previous professional soccer clubs such as the 1970s era NASL team names San Jose Earthquakes Seattle Sounders Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps 248 D C United and Miami Fusion FC were the only two MLS teams to adopt European naming conventions during the 1990s 249 In recent years European style names have become increasingly common in MLS with expansion teams such as Real Salt Lake Toronto FC New York City FC Atlanta United FC Minnesota United FC and FC Cincinnati along with rebrandings such as FC Dallas formerly the Dallas Burn Sporting Kansas City formerly the Kansas City Wizards 250 and CF Montreal formerly the Montreal Impact Austrian beverage company Red Bull GmbH owns and sponsors the New York Red Bulls as well as other sports teams outside the U S 136 Media coverage EditMain article Major League Soccer on television See also List of current Major League Soccer broadcasters United States Edit From 2015 to 2022 MLS matches were broadcast nationally by ESPN networks and Fox Sports in English and Univision networks in Spanish under an eight year contract Each broadcaster had a window for national regular season matches with UniMas airing a game on Friday nights in Spanish and additional matches on Univision Deportes Network and ESPN and Fox Sports 1 airing games on Sunday evenings in English ESPN FS1 and Univision shared coverage of the playoffs while ABC and Fox alternated broadcasting the MLS Cup final in English In total at least 125 matches were aired per season across all three networks The three contracts have an average estimated value of 90 million per season five times larger than the average 18 million value of the previous contracts with ESPN Univision and NBC Sports 251 252 253 Matches not televised nationally were broadcast regionally often by regional sports networks like Bally Sports NBC Sports Regional Networks Spectrum Sports and Root Sports and sometimes by terrestrial stations like KTXA WGN and KMYU 80 Regionally televised matches were available outside their local markets on ESPN which replaced MLS Live from 2018 until 2022 254 From 2012 to 2014 MLS matches were broadcast by NBC Sports with 40 matches per year primarily on NBCSN and select matches broadcast on the NBC network 255 The move from Fox Soccer to the more widely distributed NBCSN caused viewership numbers to double for the 2012 season 256 Soccer United Marketing partnered with Google and Bedrocket Media Ventures in 2012 to launch KickTV a premium YouTube channel with original soccer programming 257 KickTV was sold to Copa90 in 2015 to form its American branch 258 In 2020 Soccer United Marketing signed a multi year agreement with Bleacher Report to produce content and highlights for MLS and the U S national teams through the 2022 season 259 Canada Edit Montreal Impact hosting D C United August 2012 Coverage of MLS expanded into Canada in 2007 with the addition of Toronto FC Currently English language national MLS broadcast rights in Canada are held by the TSN networks through a five year deal first renewed in 2017 The networks primarily broadcast matches involving the league s Canadian franchises in combination with separate regional rights deals giving TSN exclusive rights to all Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC matches 260 261 262 A limited number of matches are also carried by CTV 262 TVA Sports holds exclusive French language rights to MLS in Canada as of the 2017 season As part of a separate regional rights deal it also holds exclusive rights to all CF Montreal games 262 263 In 2018 online streaming service DAZN obtained Major League Soccer s digital out of market service MLS Live with live and on demand streaming of matches featuring U S teams matches with Canadian teams are only available after a 48 hour delay to protect the league s main rightsholders TSN and TVA Sports 264 International Edit MLS also entered into a four year contract with Sky Sports to broadcast two MLS matches per week in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2015 to 2019 265 As part of the agreement Sky Sports broadcast at least two MLS regular season matches each week as well as the MLS All Star Game every MLS Cup Playoff game and the MLS Cup final The matches appeared across Sky s family of networks It also carried weekly MLS highlights across various platforms including Sky Sports News and SkySports com Sky Sports also broadcast at least one match from MLS s Decision Day the final day of the MLS regular season Many of the matches on Decision Day every year are expected to determine the final spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs 266 DSport owned by Discovery Communications will televise league matches in India beginning in 2017 267 Apple TV Edit Starting in 2023 all MLS and Leagues Cup matches as well as certain matches from MLS Next Pro and MLS Next will be streamed worldwide on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV This agreement ended the previous regional sports network based system 268 The contract allows for some broadcasts on linear television ESPN and Univision exited negotiations apparently because MLS would not allow them to stream via their own platforms or use their own commentators 269 270 Following their departures Fox Sports joined Apple as MLS s broadcast partners in the U S with Bell Media s TSN and RDS doing so in Canada 271 Video games Edit Major League Soccer is a playable league in both the FIFA and the Football Manager series The league made its video game debut in 1999 with FIFA 2000 In 2000 Konami released ESPN MLS GameNight and two years later they released its sequel ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002 The league made its first appearance in the management series Football Manager 2005 in 2004 272 Player records EditSee also Major League Soccer records and statistics and 2022 Major League Soccer season Player statistics Statistics below are for all time leaders Statistics are for regular season only Bold indicates active MLS players As of October 9 2022 273 Main article List of Major League Soccer players with 100 or more goals Goals Rank Player Years Goals1 Chris Wondolowski 2005 2021 1712 Landon Donovan 2001 20142016 1453 Kei Kamara 2006 20132015 20202022 present 1394 Jeff Cunningham 1998 2011 1345 Jaime Moreno 1996 2010 1336 Bradley Wright Phillips 2013 2021 1177 Ante Razov 1996 20002001 2009 1148 Jason Kreis 1996 2007 1089 Dwayne De Rosario 2001 2014 10410 Taylor Twellman 2002 2010 101 Assists Rank Player Years Assists1 Landon Donovan 2001 20142016 1362 Steve Ralston 1996 2010 1353 Brad Davis 2002 2016 1234 Carlos Valderrama 1996 2002 1145 Preki 1996 2005 1126 Jaime Moreno 1996 2010 1027 Marco Etcheverry 1996 2003 1018 Sacha Kljestan 2006 20102015 2022 999 Cobi Jones 1996 2007 91 Diego Valeri 2013 2021 Shutouts clean sheets Rank Player Years Shutouts1 Nick Rimando 2000 2019 1542 Kevin Hartman 1997 2013 1123 Stefan Frei 2009 present 914 Sean Johnson 2010 present 905 Joe Cannon 1999 2013 866 Jon Busch 2002 2015 837 Bill Hamid 2009 present 808 Zach Thornton 1996 2011 769 Matt Reis 1998 2013 7510 Luis Robles 2012 2020 74 Games played Rank Player Years Games1 Nick Rimando 2000 2019 5142 Kyle Beckerman 2000 2020 4983 Dax McCarty 2006 present 4394 Jeff Larentowicz 2005 2020 4375 Kevin Hartman 1997 2013 4166 Chris Wondolowski 2005 2021 4137 Drew Moor 2005 2022 4118 Chad Marshall 2004 2019 4099 Brad Davis 2002 2016 39210 Kei Kamara 2006 20132015 20202022 present 391 Player records active Edit Statistics below are for all time leaders who are still playing Statistics are for regular season only As of October 9 2022 273 Goals Rank Player Goals1 Kei Kamara 1392 Josef Martinez 983 Gyasi Zardes 974 C J Sapong 885 Dom Dwyer 85 Assists Rank Player Assists1 Graham Zusi 732 Nicolas Lodeiro 703 Dax McCarty 684 Diego Fagundez 655 Luciano Acosta 64 Shutouts Rank Player Shutouts1 Stefan Frei 912 Sean Johnson 903 Bill Hamid 804 Brad Guzan 675 Andre Blake 65 Games played Rank Player Games1 Dax McCarty 4392 Kei Kamara 3913 Sean Johnson 3554 Darlington Nagbe 3525 Stefan Frei 346MLS awards EditAt the conclusion of each season the league presents several awards for outstanding achievements mostly to players but also to coaches referees and teams The finalists in each category are determined by voting from MLS players team employees and the media 274 MLS Best XI Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award MLS Defender of the Year Award MLS Fair Play Award individual MLS Fair Play Award team MLS Goal of the Year Award MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award MLS Golden Boot MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award Landon Donovan MVP Award MLS Newcomer of the Year Award MLS Referee of the Year Award MLS Young Player of the Year Award MLS Save of the Year AwardSee also Edit Association football portal Sports portal United States portal Canada portalMLS SuperDraft List of Major League Soccer seasons List of American and Canadian soccer champions Major League Soccer attendance MLS Players Association United States soccer league systemReferences Edit Borg Simon December 17 2010 MLS celebrates 17th anniversary of formal debut MLSSoccer com Retrieved November 20 2022 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint url status link About Major League Soccer USSoccer com Retrieved January 16 2021 a b c d Fraser v Major League Soccer 01 F 3d 1296 1st Cir 2002 St Louis City unveil new renderings of state of the art stadium ahead of 2023 MLS debut Chicago Tribune Associated Press Retrieved August 20 2019 a b MLS announces plans to expand to 30 teams MLSSoccer com April 18 2019 Retrieved April 18 2019 By The Numbers North American 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