2027 MLS Sprint Season: Key info, what to know

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Major League Soccer

·19 mars 2026

2027 MLS Sprint Season: Key info, what to know

By MLSsoccer staff

Major League Soccer has announced details of the 2027 MLS Sprint Season, which will launch the league's transition into the new summer-to-spring calendar and schedule alignment with the world’s top soccer leagues.

Vidéos OneFootball

Key info

The fast-paced, high-stakes campaign will begin in February and culminate in the Audi 2027 MLS Cup Playoffs and 2027 MLS Cup presented by Audi 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.

After 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 presented by Audi.

Introducing the 2027 MLS Sprint Season

By the numbers

All teams will play 14 regular-season games.
Each team will play its 14 conference opponents once.
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 2027 Sprint Season schedule, including each team’s home and away matchups, will be announced in the coming months.

New MLS competition calendar

Beginning in the summer of 2027, MLS will adopt a summer-to-spring season format, aligning MLS with the world’s top leagues and marking one of the most significant developments in the league’s history.

The 2027-28 MLS regular season will kick off in July 2027 and conclude with the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and MLS Cup presented by Audi in May 2028.

Like many other major international leagues, MLS will observe a midwinter break from mid-December through early February, with no league matches scheduled in January.