Major League Soccer flipping calendar, with season to run July through May

By Canadian Press on November 13, 2025.

Major League Soccer is changing its schedule to start in summer and end in spring starting in 2027.

MLS says in a release that the move, approved Thursday by the league’s board of governors, is one of the most significant developments in the league’s history.

The change means the MLS season will kick off in mid-July and run through April with playoffs and the championship game being played in May.

This season, games began in February and playoffs started in mid-October. The MLS Cup final is set to be played on Dec. 6.

The new schedule will include a winter break from mid-December through to the beginning or middle of February, with no games being played in January, and another break in part of June and July when many international competitions are played.

MLS commissioner Don Garber addressed the looming changes while speaking with reporters in Vancouver last week, and said they’re in keeping with the league’s ambitions to be among the top globally.

“If our goal is to be one of the top leagues in the world, we can’t be the only league that doesn’t have the same calendar for transfer purposes, for prioritizing our most important games,” he said. “And we have work still to do, but our goal is to do what we can to try to adapt to the international calendar.”

Concerns have been raised about what switching the schedule could mean for the league’s northern most teams, including Toronto FC and CF Montreal, who both play their home games at outdoor stadiums.

Little will change for those clubs, Garber said.

“The impact on the cold-weather teams is minimal because we’re already playing games in December and we’re already starting in February,” he said.

The league plans to look at climate when building the new schedule, addressing not only which clubs might be more prone to wintry weather, but also which could have sweltering heat in the summer.

The switch means MLS clubs who bring in talent during the summer transfer window used by most European leagues will have those players for more of the season.

It will also better matchup with the FIFA calendar, and help avoid clubs losing their top players to national teams at pivotal points of the season.

The league is currently on an international break, pausing playoff games for international play.

The Vancouver Whitecaps advanced to the second round of the post-season on Nov. 1, but won’t face Los Angeles FC in the Western Conference semifinal until Nov. 22 because of the break.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press