A soccer ball with the MLS logo and Commissioner Don Garber's signature sits on the pitch as the Vancouver Whitecaps practice, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

By The Canadian Press

Major League Soccer announces plans for transitional 2027 ‘sprint season’

Mar 19, 2026 | 12:00 PM

NEW YORK — Major League Soccer has unveiled plans for the truncated season that will transition the league to a permanent summer-spring schedule, starting in July 2027.

The “sprint season” will see each of the league’s 30 teams play 14 regular-season games between February and April 2027, with seven matches at home and seven away.

Each club will face its 14 conference opponents once and, at the end of the regular season, the top eight teams in each conference will qualify for playoffs. A single-elimination bracket will determine the Eastern and Western Conference champions who’ll then meet in the MLS Cup.

Results of the “sprint season” will determine which five teams will get berths in the 2028 CONCACAF Champions Cup, and which 18 will qualify for the 2028 Leagues Cup.

MLS will then move to a permanent summer-spring schedule with the 2027-28 regular season beginning in July 2027 and running through May 2028.

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Commissioner Don Garber has said the move will better align MLS with top European leagues and match up better with the FIFA calendar.

“It gives us a wide variety of opportunities that will expand our ability to be on this path to be one of the top and leading leagues in the world,” he said in November when the league’s board of governors approved the move.

The new schedule will include a winter break from mid-December through to the beginning or middle of February, with no games being played in January. There’ll be another break in part of June and July when many international competitions are played.

Concerns have been raised about what switching the schedule could mean for the league’s northernmost teams, including Toronto FC and CF Montreal, who both play their home games at outdoor stadiums.

This year, the MLS regular season began Feb. 28 and will run through Nov. 7, with each team playing 34 games.

The league will pause from May 25 through July 15 for the FIFA World Cup, and again for an international window in November before playoffs begin. A date for the MLS Cup has not yet been announced.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2026.

The Canadian Press