Major League Soccer today announced details of the league is calling the ‘2027 MLS Sprint Season’, the MLS season that will launch the league’s transition into its new summer-to-spring calendar, as the league aligns its schedule with the world’s top soccer leagues.
The fast-paced, high-stakes campaign will kick off in February and culminate in the 2027 MLS Cup Playoffs and 2027 MLS Cup in May. Not only will the Sprint Season crown an MLS Cup champion, but it will also have international competition implications, determining qualification for the 2028 Concacaf Champions Cup and 2028 Leagues Cup.
The Sprint Season will see each MLS team play 14 regular season games from February to April. Regular season matches will consist of intra-conference play with teams facing each of their 14 conference opponents once - seven matches at home and seven matches away.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams in each of the two conferences will qualify for the Audi 2027 MLS Cup Playoffs. In each conference, the postseason will be played in a single-elimination bracket format to determine a conference champion. The Eastern Conference Champion and Western Conference Champion will meet in 2027 MLS Cup.
The 2027 Sprint Season schedule, including each team’s home and away matchups, will be announced in the coming months.
2027 MLS Sprint Season – By the Numbers
- All teams will play 14 regular-season games.
- Each team will play its 14 conference opponents one time
- All teams will play seven home games and seven away games in the regular season.
- The top eight teams from the Eastern Conference and the top eight teams from the Western Conference will qualify for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
- One team will be crowned MLS Cup champion.
- Five Concacaf Champions Cup berths will be determined by 2027 MLS Sprint Season results.
- 18 teams will qualify for Leagues Cup, nine from each conference.
The free stuff tells you what happened. A paid subscription tells you why it happened, what it means for FC Dallas, and what’s coming next—before anyone else catches up.
