Major League Soccer is the premier professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. As of 2023, it consists of 29 teams: 26 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The league has played since 1996. Each year, it plays a league which determines entry into the playoffs. The league is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. In 2000 and 2001, there was also a Central Conference. The team with the overall best regular-season record is awarded the Supporters' Shield, one of three major domestic trophies in North American soccer (the others being the national championships—the U.S. Open Cup or the Canadian Championship—and the primary trophy: the MLS Cup league championship). In 2010 and 2011, the league played as a double round robin, with each team playing each other team one home and away—creating a balanced schedule. With an unsuitable number of teams beginning in 2012, the league has moved to an unbalanced schedule weighted towards a team's respective conference.
The postseason consists of an 18-team, five-round knockout. The top seven teams in each conference enter in the overall round of 16, while the teams in each conference placed eighth and ninth partake in a playoff for a spot in that round. The MLS Cup is a single match final with the winner becoming league champion of the year. Seven times a team has won the league double: winning both the MLS Cup and the Supporters' Shield in the same season. In 2017, Toronto FC became the first team to win a domestic treble. The MLS Golden Boot is awarded each year to the player with the most goals in the regular season, and the best overall player is awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award.
List of seasons
The following is a list of all MLS seasons. It contains the number of teams, the number of regular-season games played per team, the champion—winner of the MLS Cup, the winners of the regular-season Eastern Conference, the Western Conference, and for 2000 and 2001, the defunct Central Division, the winner of the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP), the top scorer(s), and the regular-season average attendance.
Season |
Teams |
Games |
Champion |
Eastern |
Western |
Central |
MVP |
Top scorer(s) (goals) |
Att. |
Ref.
|
1996 |
10 |
32 |
D.C. United |
Tampa Bay Mutiny† |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
— |
Carlos Valderrama |
Roy Lassiter (27)* |
17,406 |
[1]
|
1997 |
10 |
32 |
D.C. United* |
D.C. United† |
Kansas City Wizards |
— |
Preki |
Jaime Moreno (16) |
14,619 |
[2]
|
1998 |
12 |
32 |
Chicago Fire |
D.C. United |
Los Angeles Galaxy† |
— |
Marco Etcheverry |
Stern John (26) |
14,312 |
[3]
|
1999 |
12 |
32 |
D.C. United* |
D.C. United† |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
— |
Jason Kreis |
Stern John Jason Kreis Roy Lassiter (18) |
14,282 |
[4]
|
2000 |
12 |
32 |
Kansas City Wizards* |
MetroStars |
Kansas City Wizards† |
Chicago Fire |
Tony Meola |
Mamadou Diallo (26) |
13,756 |
[5]
|
2001 |
12 |
26–27 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
Miami Fusion† |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
Chicago Fire |
Alex Pineda Chacón |
Alex Pineda Chacón (19) |
14,961 |
[6]
|
2002 |
10 |
28 |
Los Angeles Galaxy* |
New England Revolution |
Los Angeles Galaxy† |
— |
Carlos Ruiz |
Carlos Ruiz (24) |
15,822 |
[7]
|
2003 |
10 |
30 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
Chicago Fire† |
San Jose Earthquakes |
— |
Preki |
Carlos Ruiz Taylor Twellman (15) |
14,898 |
[8]
|
2004 |
10 |
30 |
D.C. United |
Columbus Crew† |
Kansas City Wizards |
— |
Amado Guevara |
Brian Ching Eddie Johnson (12) |
15,559 |
[9]
|
2005 |
12 |
32 |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
New England Revolution |
San Jose Earthquakes† |
— |
Taylor Twellman |
Taylor Twellman (17) |
15,108 |
[10]
|
2006 |
12 |
32 |
Houston Dynamo |
D.C. United† |
FC Dallas |
— |
Christian Gómez |
Jeff Cunningham (16) |
15,504 |
[11]
|
2007 |
13 |
30 |
Houston Dynamo |
D.C. United† |
Chivas USA |
— |
Luciano Emílio |
Luciano Emílio (20) |
16,770 |
[12]
|
2008 |
14 |
30 |
Columbus Crew* |
Columbus Crew† |
Houston Dynamo |
— |
Guillermo Barros Schelotto |
Landon Donovan (20) |
16,460 |
[13]
|
2009 |
15 |
30 |
Real Salt Lake |
Columbus Crew† |
LA Galaxy |
— |
Landon Donovan |
Jeff Cunningham (17) |
16,037 |
[14]
|
2010 |
16 |
30 |
Colorado Rapids |
New York Red Bulls |
LA Galaxy† |
— |
David Ferreira |
Chris Wondolowski (18) |
16,675 |
[15]
|
2011 |
18 |
34 |
LA Galaxy* |
Sporting Kansas City |
LA Galaxy† |
— |
Dwayne De Rosario |
Dwayne De Rosario Chris Wondolowski (16) |
17,872 |
[16]
|
2012 |
19 |
34 |
LA Galaxy |
Sporting Kansas City |
San Jose Earthquakes† |
— |
Chris Wondolowski |
Chris Wondolowski (27)* |
18,807 |
[17]
|
2013 |
19 |
34 |
Sporting Kansas City |
New York Red Bulls† |
Portland Timbers |
— |
Mike Magee |
Camilo Sanvezzo (22) |
18,608 |
[18]
|
2014 |
19 |
34 |
LA Galaxy |
D.C. United |
Seattle Sounders FC† |
— |
Robbie Keane[19] |
Bradley Wright-Phillips (27)*[20] |
19,148 |
[21]
|
2015 |
20 |
34 |
Portland Timbers |
New York Red Bulls† |
FC Dallas |
— |
Sebastian Giovinco |
Sebastian Giovinco Kei Kamara (22) |
21,574 |
[22]
|
2016 |
20 |
34 |
Seattle Sounders FC |
New York Red Bulls |
FC Dallas† |
— |
David Villa |
Bradley Wright-Phillips (24) |
21,692 |
[23]
|
2017 |
22 |
34 |
Toronto FC‡ |
Toronto FC† |
Portland Timbers |
— |
Diego Valeri |
Nemanja Nikolić (24) |
22,112 |
[24]
|
2018 |
23 |
34 |
Atlanta United FC |
New York Red Bulls† |
Sporting Kansas City |
— |
Josef Martínez |
Josef Martínez (31)* |
21,875 |
[25]
|
2019 |
24 |
34 |
Seattle Sounders FC |
New York City FC |
Los Angeles FC† |
— |
Carlos Vela |
Carlos Vela (34)* |
21,265 |
[26]
|
2020 |
26 |
18–23 |
Columbus Crew SC |
Philadelphia Union† |
Sporting Kansas City |
— |
Alejandro Pozuelo |
Diego Rossi (14) |
14,913 |
[27]
|
2021 |
27 |
34 |
New York City FC |
New England Revolution† |
Colorado Rapids |
— |
Carles Gil |
Taty Castellanos Ola Kamara (19) |
15,350 |
[28]
|
2022 |
28 |
34 |
Los Angeles FC* |
Philadelphia Union |
Los Angeles FC† |
— |
Hany Mukhtar |
Hany Mukhtar (23) |
21,033 |
[29]
|
2023 |
29 |
34 |
Columbus Crew |
FC Cincinnati† |
St. Louis City SC |
— |
Luciano Acosta |
Denis Bouanga (20) |
22,111 |
|