Major League Soccer flipping calendar, with season to run July through May

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

Major League Soccer is changing its schedule to start in summer and end in spring, starting in 2027.

The move, approved Thursday by the league’s board of governors, means the MLS season will kick off in mid-July and run through April with playoffs and the championship game being played in May.

This season, games began in February and playoffs started in mid-October. The MLS Cup final is set to be played on Dec. 6.

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, and another break in part of June and July when many international competitions are played.

“Today our owners made a decision that I think is one of the most important in our league’s history,” commissioner Don Garber said at a press conference.

“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.”

The 2026 season will still be played on the current winter-winter schedule, but MLS will then hold a “transition season” from February to May 2027.

That season will include a 14-game regular season, playoffs and an MLS Cup, and the results will determine which clubs qualify for the Canadian Championship, the U.S. Open Cup, Leagues Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

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.

While the start and end of the season will change, the league expects 91 per cent of games will still be played in the same window, including cold-weather months, Garber said.

He added that every time the league makes a major change, some clubs are more affected than others, and that will be true for the schedule shift.

“Our northern teams will be impacted far more than certainly our southern teams were,” he said. “But our southern teams were very impacted by playing games in Texas and in Florida, parts of the United States that were super hot during the summer window. Overall, our owners are very committed to being one of the top leagues in the world.”

Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who plays his club football for Minnesota United, seemed optimistic about the schedule change.

“A lot of people talking about playing through the winter but if you’re hosting the MLS Cup, no one’s complaining when it’s at home, right?” he said after earning a clean sheet in Canada’s 0-0 draw with Ecuador on Thursday. “So, of course, there’s going to be a few more colder dates, but I think as a whole being able to play your best games, in terms of the playoffs, in warmer weather is going to be a positive.”

“A lot of people talk about the winter but there’s going to be a winter break as well.”

The league plans to look at climate when building the new schedule, addressing not only which clubs might be more prone to wintry weather, but also which could have sweltering heat in the summer.

TFC issued a statement Thursday saying it looks forward to working with MLS to make sure the change works for everyone involved.

“To be sure, the calendar change discussion also raised challenges related to the weather for a number of the league’s most northern-based teams, but we are confident in the efforts that have been made, and will remain a priority for the entire league, to address it,” the club said.

“It was our view that ΓǪ the benefits to the future league product outweighed the potential challenges.”

Vancouver Whitecaps chief executive officer and sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement that the move is a “milestone moment in the history of our league.”

“We view this as an overwhelmingly positive step for the growth of the sport across our continent, bringing us more in line with the major leagues around the world,” he said.

CF Montreal president and CEO Gabriel Gervais is set to speak with reporters about the changes on Friday.

Garber declined to comment on how votes for the calendar switch broke down, but said there was “overwhelming” support for the move -- even more than he expected.

“As the league continues to evolve, we have to move collectively down a path where we are managing a shared and collective vision and the agreements that are associated with that,” the commissioner said.

The switch will also better matchup with the FIFA calendar, and help avoid clubs losing their top players to national teams at pivotal points of the season.

The league is currently on an international break, pausing playoff games for international play.

The Whitecaps advanced to the second round of the post-season on Nov. 1, but won’t face Los Angeles FC in the Western Conference semifinal until Nov. 22 because of the break.

The schedule change means MLS clubs who bring in talent during the summer transfer window used by most European leagues will have more players available to choose from, and when they pick up those athletes, they’ll be available for more of the season, said Nelson Rodriguez, the league’s vice president in charge of sporting and competition.

When clubs think about selling a player during that window, they won’t have to consider whether it will impact their potential MLS Cup run, either, he added.

“We think aligning with the massive global window that occurs during our summer will help improve the quality of play in MLS,” Rodriguez said.

“This will make us a more vibrant league and improve our player quality overall.”

Garber said further changes are also in the works ahead of the 2027 season, including a shift in the regular-season format.

Reports have emerged that MLS is considering moving from having Western and Eastern Conference standings to a single-table format.

The commissioner declined to comment on the details Thursday, saying that the league wants to get the format right.

“These are changes and evolutions that will transform the league,” Garber said. “Changing your competition format is something that leagues rarely do. So we’ll continue to work through the process and do it the right way, get the right amount of input, do the right amount of research.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press