MLS 2025

Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The first season was played in 1996, and the league is presently in its 30th season. MLS now has 30 clubs.

Atlanta United FC, Austin FC, CF Montréal, Charlotte FC, Chicago Fire FC, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, FC Cincinnati, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo FC, Inter Miami CF, Nashville SC, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Diego FC, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City, St. Louis City SC, Toronto FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC are among the 30 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams for the 2025 season. For the 2025 season, San Diego FC became the 30th team to join the league.

1. MLS Format

League Format:

The 30 teams in the league are split into 15 teams in each of the Eastern and Western conferences. Each club plays 34 games during the regular season, which spans from February 22 to October 18.

Playoff Format:

Since 2023, 18 teams—the top nine from each conference—have participated in the MLS Cup playoffs. Before being seeded against the conference's top team, the eighth and ninth-place clubs in each conference play one wild-card match; if the game is drawn, there is only a penalty shootout left. Each conference's top seven teams automatically move on to the first round. Higher seeds compete against lower seeds in the first round's best-of-three format.

In this stage, matches that are tied are immediately decided by a penalty shootout because there is no overall score. Single-elimination competitions, including the MLS Cup, conference semifinals, and conference finals, are followed by extra time and, if still tied, a penalty shootout. In every round, the team with the best regular-season record hosts the match, except the round one best-of-three series, in which the team with the lowest regular-season record hosts the second of three possible matches.

2. MLS Rules

Roster:

The active roster of a Major League Soccer team can consist of up to 30 players. Any one of the 30 players can be selected for the game-day squad during the regular season and playoffs.

Each MLS club may use additional funding for player compensation beyond the Salary Budget, such as the cost of designated players outside the Salary Budget, the cost of U22 Initiative Slots outside the Salary Budget, funds from a league-wide allocation pool (General Allocation Money), discretionary amounts of Targeted Allocation Money, and funds spent on the Supplemental Roster (roster slots 21–31).

Designated Player:

The club is financially responsible for the amount of remuneration that exceeds each player's salary budget charge, but the designated player rule permits teams to acquire up to three players whose combined compensation and acquisition costs surpass the Maximum Salary Budget Charge.

Designated Players can be either new players who have been signed to MLS through the Discovery Process or players who have already been re-signed by a team. The roster construction type each team selects at the start of the season will determine how many designated player slots are available to them.

The Maximum Salary Budget Charge ($743,750) will apply to a designated player in 2025 who is at least 24 years old during the League Year, unless the player joins his team after the Secondary Transfer Window opens, in which case his budget charge will be $371,875.

3. MLS 2024 Winners

The final game took place at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, on December 7, 2024. It was contested by the LA Galaxy, the Western Conference champion, and the New York Red Bulls, the Eastern Conference champion. With two goals in the first half, the LA Galaxy prevailed 2–1 and secured a record-extending sixth MLS Cup victory. The player of the match with the highest value was Gastón Brugman.