MLS: MLS Cup Playoffs-Round One-Charlotte FC at Orlando City
Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Major League Soccer is considering flipping its schedule to a fall-to-spring format as soon as the conclusion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to a report this week from The Athletic.

Nelson Rodriguez, the league’s vice president of sporting product and competition, told the Athletic such discussions are preliminary.

“We have been engaged, really, since January, and it’s been very extensive and exhaustive and deliberate,” he said. “It’s still too early. We’re still asking questions. We’re still collecting and analyzing some data. We’re still formulating models.”

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The league currently begins its season in late February, with the playoffs starting in the middle of October and concluding with the MLS Cup final in early December. That allows MLS to mostly avoid staging matches in cold weather that could depress attendance. And that’s important because historically, attendance has driven a larger proportion of MLS revenue than it does in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, where TV contracts are heftier.

But a fall-to-spring schedule would mirror elite European leagues, enabling teams to better conduct transfer business on the global market and avoid conflicts with the international match calendar.

Currently MLS plays through most summer international tournaments and across most spring and fall international windows, which can force teams to play league games without their best players. League Commissioner Don Garber has already said MLS would not stage games during the 2026 World Cup that will be hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

MLS: MLS Cup Playoffs-Round One-Atlanta United FC at Inter Miami CF
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Playing the MLS postseason in April and/or May would also allow the league more visibility for its most important games. Currently those matches are staged at the same time as the NFL and NCAA regular seasons.

If MLS did make the change, the schedule could still look slightly different from the English Premier league and other top competitions in Europe that are popular with American fans.

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The MLS schedule would likely include a winter break of several weeks between mid-December and the end of January. It would also potentially avoid scheduling home games in the coldest markets — like Montreal, Toronto, Minnesota and New England — in the weeks immediately before or after that break.

Another maneuver that could make playing through the winter easier is staging the Leagues Cup — an annual tournament contested by every MLS team and every team in Mexico’s Liga MX — to January and/or February in warm-weather American markets.

That is under consideration, according to the report. The two-year-old competition has previously been contested from late-July to late-August.

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