Welcome to MLS 101!

MLS 101 is going to be a weekly explanation of a certain aspect of MLS. We will be giving an in-depth explanation but attempt to make it easily understandable.

This week, the first edition, will focus on the history of MLS and how the league is set up.

History

Major League Soccer, or MLS for short, is the United States and Canada’s top tier of competitive soccer. MLS is a fairly new league when comparing it to other sports. Beginning in 1996 establishing the league was one of the conditions of the United States hosting the 1994 World Cup. The league only had 10 teams at the time and has since expanded to 20.

MLS began with a few notable players in its ranks including the likes of Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, and Carlos Valderrama, but failed to draw fans in the second season after the novelty wore off. Early on, MLS made the mistake of trying to “Americanize” the game to increase viewership such as adding a penalty shootout at the end of each tie to decide a winner. These rule changes led to an even further decrease in fans and the new rules were eradicated by the 1999 season.

In 2002, MLS saw a drastic rise in attendance after the U.S. Men’s National Team made the quarterfinals of the World Cup in South Korea/Japan. It was and still is the pinnacle achievement for U.S. Soccer. After the USMNT’s remarkable run an explosion of new fans into the American soccer landscape occurred. If not for that tournament, who knows what the future of the league would’ve held.

One of the key factors in the growth of MLS was a rule change in 2007, the Designated Player Rule. David Beckham was the first Designated Player (will be explained in coming weeks) to come to the MLS, specifically the LA Galaxy. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star coming to MLS saw a huge growth in attendance and paved the way for more stars to make their way to America including the likes of Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, Kaka, and Andrea Pirlo.

Two expansion teams were added before the 2015 season raising the total to 20. Four more, including our Atlanta United, will be added by 2020.

League Format

MLS is split into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. Each conference consists of 10 teams but will increase as more expansion teams start playing. Teams play 34 games each, beginning in March and running through October. 24 games are played against teams in the same conference with the remaining 10 against the other conference.

There are two separate league trophies a team can win, the Supporters Shield and the MLS Cup.

The Supporters Shield is awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the season. As with most other leagues teams get 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss. If the season were to end today, FC Dallas would win the supporters shield. FC Dallas are tied on points, number of wins, and goal difference but the third tie breaker is Goals For which puts them ahead of DC United.

The MLS Cup is awarded to the winner of a 12 team playoff system. The top 6 teams based on points from each conference start playoffs in November and run into December. The playoffs are inner-conference with a brand new seeding system that replicates the current NFL playoff system. The 3rd seed hosts the 6th seed and the 4th seed hosts the 5th seed in a one-game elimination playoff in each conference.The Conference semifinals and finals are on a two-leg aggregate format. This means the two teams will play each other twice, once home and away. The winner is whoever has the most total goals over the two games. If the teams score the same amount of goals over the two legs, away goals becomes the first tiebreaker. If the teams are tied on goals and away goals after two legs, the second leg will go into extra time and penalty kicks if necessary. I’ll give you an example to make it easier.

Orlando City are playing Atlanta United in the Eastern Conference final. The first leg has Orlando at home. Orlando wins the first leg 2-1. The second leg is back in Atlanta and Atlanta win 1-0. This puts the aggregate score at 2-2 as they both scored 2 goals. Atlanta United would be the winner though as they scored an away goal and that is the first tiebreaker.

Other Competitions

Another trophy MLS clubs can compete for is the CONCACAF Champions League which involves 24 teams across North and Central America. The MLS Cup winner, the MLS Supporters Shield winner, the U.S. Open Cup winner, and the runner up in the Supporters Shield are all entered into the CONCACAF Champions League. The tournament is split into two parts, the group stage and the knockout stage. The group stage consists of 8 groups 3 teams each and the winner of each group advances to the knockout round. The remaining teams compete in a two leg format including the final.

The final tournament MLS teams can compete in is, one of the oldest soccer tournaments in the world, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The competition includes MLS, NASL, USL, and amateur teams who face off in a knockout format until a winner is found. The winner is awarded a bid in the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League.

If you have any questions or anything was unclear Tweet us, Facebook us, or leave us a comment below.

Look for the next edition of MLS 101 same time next week where we will explain player acquisition, Designated players, trading, and the Draft.