It’s Time To Replace The MLS Cup Playoffs With A 2nd League Phase

Last week, Major League Soccer announced a long-anticipated but yet still seismic shift: that the league would be re-aligning its schedule starting in 2027 to a model more similar to most top European leagues, beginning league play in late July, taking a break from mid-December to mid-February, and then concluding MLS Cup play in late May.

The switch will help MLS front offices by aligning the year’s most active transfer window globally – the summer – with the start of the new season. It will help coaches and players by allowing for far fewer conflicts with the international match calendar, particularly summer tournaments like the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championships, Copa America and Concacaf Gold Cup.

But with the playoffs set to begin in May, according to the league’s own communications, if the format remains similar to anything seen in the league’s first 30 seasons, there is one major tradeoff: Fans in colder markets will no longer be guaranteed home matches in May, June or the first part of July, which can often provide the most pleasant weather for fans attending games in person.

That warm weather window without soccer doesn’t have to be that long, though, and all it would take is a re-imagining of what the MLS postseason looks like to create a structure that sees all 30 teams play meaningful matches after the regular season ends.

The simplest way to do this would be to swap most of the knockout style MLS Cup Playoffs for a short second league phase that splits the 30-team table into two portions, similar to formats in the top flights of Belgium and Scotland, among others.

Those teams qualifying above the split would continue their quest for the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy. Those beneath the split would compete for something else less prestigious but still meaningful. Right now, the most obvious incentive might be one of the 18 MLS berths into the most recent Leagues Cup format.

Here’s how an MLS 2nd phase could be organized in 2028 to decide the MLS Cup winner and 18 Leagues Cup entrants while also guaranteeing every club two additional home dates in the final weekend of April or later.

Proposed 2028 MLS Postseason Format

Decision Day – Saturday, April 22, 2028

• All 30 MLS teams play their 34th and final regular season matches. The five division winners qualify directly for the MLS Cup 2nd Phase, and the next 10 finishers in the single table will qualify for the MLS Cup 2nd Phase Play-In Matches.

MLS Cup 2nd Phase Play-In Matches – Wednesday, April 26

• The top 10 finishers in the single table that didn’t earn a division championship are paired into single-game playoffs, hosted by the higher seed, with the five winners joining the five division champions in the MLS Cup 2nd Phase. The five losers parachute into the 20-team Leagues Cup Qualifying 2nd Phase.

MLS Cup 2nd Phase – April 29 to May 10

• The five division winners and the five play-in match winners play a four-match Swiss league schedule (two home, two away), with three points awarded for a win and one for a draw. Points do not carry over from the regular season. The top four finishers on points qualify for the MLS Cup Championship Phase.

Leagues Cup Qualifying 2nd Phase – April 29 to May 10

• The 20 teams that don’t reach the MLS Cup 2nd Phase play a four-match Swiss league schedule (two home, two away), with three points awarded for a win and one for a draw. Points do not carry over from the regular season. The top eight finishers join the 10 MLS Cup 2nd Phase teams as qualifiers for next version of the Leagues Cup, to be contested against the 18 teams from Liga MX.

MLS Cup Championship Phase

• MLS Cup Semifinals – May 13: The top four finishers from the MLS Cup 2nd Phase are paired into two single-game semifinal matches. Seeding and hosting are determined by regular season order of finish.
• MLS Cup Final – May 20: The winners of the two MLS Cup Semifinals meet in a single-game final. Hosting rights are determined by regular season order of finish.