How Drastic Playoff Changes Could Impact MLS Compared to Other Major Leagues

Major League Soccer may be changing how it crowns its annual MLS Cup champion as the league begins its switch to a new fall-to-spring calendar aligned with top European competitions.

While the new schedule will match those of the world’s best leagues, MLS won't ditch its playoff system to align with Europe’s processes. Instead, the pathway to the title will shift, per The Guardian, which reports up to 20 teams could make the MLS Cup playoffs each season, beginning in the 2027–28 campaign.

According to the report, the system would replace the current two-conference setup with five six-team divisions and add re-seeding and double elimination, while increasing the percentage of teams that make the postseason to upwards of 66%.

When approached by Sports Illustrated, MLS declined to confirm the reports, but said the league is “continuing to evaluate potential adjustments to its postseason format as part of a broader review of the league’s shift to a new competition calendar, beginning with the 2027–28 season,” before adding, “This process remains ongoing and no determinations have been made at this time.”

Here, Sports Illustrated dives into what the new system could mean.

How Would the Bracket Work?

The reported new format for the MLS Cup playoffs would see the top 20 teams in the regular season qualify.

The regular season, however, would ditch the conference system in favor of five geographically based divisions. Still, those divisions would not have any qualifying implications, other than serving as the base for creating the unbalanced schedule due to the league’s massive travel implications.

Eight of those 20 qualified teams would take part in a play-in round, with four advancing to the round of 16. Teams ranked first through eighth would have a double-elimination round, which could further incentivize regular-season success, despite allowing more teams in the mix and, in effect, devaluing the regular season.

In totality, teams 13–20 in the combined table would open the playoffs in a play-in round, and the four winners would meet teams 9–12 in a secondary round. The top eight would then play in Round One amongst each other, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals and the loser advancing to the double-elimination of round two. Every round would be re-seeded so that the highest surviving seed always draws the lowest and gains home advantage.

While no update was given on the format of each round, it is expected that each would be a single-game elimination, ditching the best-of-three series format and not reverting to a two-leg competition.

How Does it Compare to Other Leagues?

Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks holds the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy during a ceremony at City Hall. — Only the NBA welcomes 20 teams to the postseason. | Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

The format would be largely foreign to North American sports, creating a potentially confusing challenge for U.S. sports fans unfamiliar with double-elimination. However, it is strikingly similar to the format used in Australian rules football, which has had a double-chance bracket in the Australian Football League. At the same time, it uses a similar format to many curling competitions.

Yet, despite drawing comparisons to the AFL, the percentage of playoff-qualifying teams is far greater than nearly every other of the world’s major sports leagues. In the AFL, just eight of 18 teams (44%) qualify for the postseason.

Among major men’s professional leagues in North America, the NHL welcomes 50% of teams to the postseason, the NFL has 44% qualify and the MLB features 53%. The NBA, however, is based on a 16-team bracket, but allows up to 20 teams to play beyond the regular season in play-in rounds, matching MLS’s reported 66%, albeit without double-elimination.

When Will the MLS Cup Be Awarded?

MLS Cup playoffs — The MLS Cup will be awarded twice in less than six months in 2026 and 2027. | Omar Vega/Getty Images

There will be at least one more MLS Cup awarded in the league’s current format, which sees the top nine teams in each 15-team conference qualify for the playoffs. The 2026 MLS Cup final is set to be played on Dec. 18, 2026, the latest date for the league’s crowning game in its 31-year history.

The 2027 MLS Cup, however, will be awarded after a yet-to-be-determined playoff system in spring 2027, following the conclusion of a 14-game MLS sprint season, as the league recalibrates for the full calendar shift.

According to the report, the 2028 MLS Cup, crowning the champion of the 2027–28 season, would be the first under the divisional and expanded double-elimination format, set for May 21, 2028.

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