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Major League Soccer owners voted Thursday to shift the league's season to a summer-to-spring calendar in 2027, bringing it more in line with its international counterparts.

The move aims to put MLS in a more competitive position for player transfers, while also freeing up players for national team duty during the summer, when many major international tournaments take place.

This season the league started play in late February, with a break for the Club World Cup over the summer. The MLS Cup championship game is set for Dec. 6.

The vote came at the Board of Governors meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. Under the new calendar, league play will begin in mid- to late July 2027, with the final day of the regular season in April 2028. The playoffs and championship will take place in May.

The league would go on an extended break during the winter, with just a few games played in early December and no games in January before resuming in early to mid-February.

The league is working with the Major League Soccer Players Association to finalize the transition.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber told reporters on a conference call Thursday afternoon that the move was “one of the most important decisions in our league’s history.”

“This is an opportunity for us to eliminate the competition that we've had for our playoffs as they exist today in a very crowded time of the year. It allows us to be aligned with the international transfer windows, which we think is incredibly important. 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,” Garber said.

While there were concerns about weather challenges during the winter months, teams like Minnesota United and the Chicago Fire already face cold and sometimes snowy conditions. In a March 2024 match, Real Salt Lake and LAFC played in blizzard conditions in Sandy, Utah.

But with a warming climate, matches in the summer months have become problematic, too. Soaring temperatures were a concern at some of the Club World Cup matches this past July and August.

“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,” Toronto FC said in a statement released following the MLS announcement. “It was our view that with more than 90 percent of the proposed MLS schedule staying consistent with its current format, the benefits to the future league product outweighed the potential challenges.”

The current schedule was based on not only the geography of the United States, but also the tastes of the American sports fan, avoiding the crowded months when NFL plays its biggest games, and the NBA and NHL are in full swing.

In the changeover to the new calendar, MLS will stage an abbreviated or “sprint” season at the beginning of 2027, running from February to May. Each team will play 14 regular season matches, with a playoffs and MLS Cup. The results will determine qualification for the U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The league was also considering a new playoff format, as well as a division structure, but those proposals were still under consideration.

The league previously considered a European schedule in 2013. There were earlier rumors that the owners might approve a shift following the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. MLS plans to break for the tournament.

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Major League Soccer’s owners have voted to shift the league’s season to a summer to spring calendar in 2027, bringing it more in line with its international counterparts. 

MLS owners vote to shift soccer season to a summer-to-spring calendar in 2027

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