Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer

Founded	1996
Country	United States and Canada
Level on pyramid	1
Most championships	Cups: LA Galaxy (5) Shields: D.C. United, LA Galaxy (4 each)
Website	Official Site

Major League Soccer (MLS) is an American soccer league that started in 1996. As of the current 2024 season, 29 teams play in the league. One other team plans to join in 2025. The commissioner of the league (the person in charge) is Don Garber.

MLS, founded in the United States, is a fully professional league with 29 teams, three of which are based in Canada. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF or U.S. Soccer), which runs soccer in that country, considers MLS to be the country's top men's league. The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), which runs soccer in Canada, considers the Canadian Premier League as its top men's league, but MLS has much greater Canadian media coverage and is seen as having a higher level of play. Referees are approved by U.S. Soccer and the CSA. In turn, both national governing bodies are members of FIFA, which governs all play between national teams and sets the rules for the sport along with the national governing bodies of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

MLS was formed in 1993 as a professional league, with play starting with 10 teams in 1996. The MLS regular season starts in late February and ends in November, with each team playing 34 games. The regular season is followed by a 14-team playoff tournament to decide the league champion.

Teams

Current

Team	City	Stadium	Founded	Joined	Conference	Head Coach
Atlanta United FC	Atlanta, Georgia	Mercedes-Benz Stadium	2014	2017	Eastern Conference	Rob Valentino (interim)
Austin FC	Austin, Texas	Q2 Stadium	2019	2021	Western Conference	Nico Estévez
C.F. Montréal	Montreal, Quebec	Saputo Stadium	2010	2012	Eastern Conference	Laurent Courtois
Charlotte FC	Charlotte, North Carolina	Bank of America Stadium	2019	2022	Eastern Conference	Dean Smith
Chicago Fire FC	Chicago, Illinois	Soldier Field	1997	1998	Eastern Conference	Gregg Berhalter
Colorado Rapids	Commerce City, Colorado	Dick's Sporting Goods Park	1995	1996	Western Conference	Chris Armas
Columbus Crew	Columbus, Ohio	Lower.com Field	1994	1996	Eastern Coference	Wilfried Nancy
D.C. United	Washington, D.C.	Audi Field	1994	1996	Eastern Conference	Troy Lesesne
FC Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	TQL Stadium	2018	2019	Eastern Conference	Pat Noonan
F.C. Dallas	Frisco, Texas	Toyota Stadium	1995	1996	Western Conference	Eric Quill
Houston Dynamo	Houston, Texas	Shell Energy Stadium	2005	2006	Western Conference	Ben Olsen
Inter Miami CF	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Chase Stadium	2018	2020	Eastern Conference	Javier Mascherano
Los Angeles FC	Los Angeles, California	BMO Stadium	2014	2018	Western Conference	Steve Cherundolo
Los Angeles Galaxy	Carson, California	Dignity Health Sports Park	1994	1996	Western Conference	Greg Vanney
Minnesota United FC	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Allianz Field	2015	2017	Western Conference	Eric Ramsey
Nashville SC	Nashville, Tennessee	Geodis Park	2017	2020	Eastern Conference	B. J. Callaghan
New England Revolution	Foxborough, Massachusetts	Gillette Stadium	1994	1996	Eastern Conference	Caleb Porter
New York City F.C.	New York City, New York	Yankee Stadium	2013	2015	Eastern Conference	Vacant
New York Red Bulls	Harrison, New Jersey	Red Bull Arena	1994	1996	Eastern Conference	Sandro Schwarz
Orlando City SC	Orlando, Florida	Inter&Co Stadium	2013	2015	Eastern Conference	Óscar Pareja
Philadelphia Union	Chester, Pennsylvania	Subaru Park	2008	2010	Eastern Conference	Vacant
Portland Timbers	Portland, Oregon	Providence Park	2009	2011	Western Conference	Phil Neville
Real Salt Lake	Sandy, Utah	America First Field	2004	2005	Western Conference	Pablo Mastroeni
St. Louis City SC	St. Louis, Missouri	CityPark	2019	2023	Western Conference	Olof Mellberg
San Jose Earthquakes	San Jose, California	PayPal Park	1994	1996	Western Conference	Bruce Arena
Seattle Sounders F.C.	Seattle, Washington	Lumen Field	2007	2009	Western Conference	Brian Schmetzer
Sporting Kansas City	Kansas City, Kansas	Children's Mercy Park	1995	1996	Western Conference	Peter Vermes
Toronto F.C.	Toronto, Ontario	BMO Field	2005	2007	Eastern Conference	Vacant
Vancouver Whitecaps	Vancouver, British Columbia	BC Place	2009	2011	Western Conference	Vacant

Former teams

Team	City	Last Stadium	Founded	Joined	Left MLS	Dissolved	Conference
Tampa Bay Mutiny	Tampa, Florida	Raymond James Stadium	1994	1996	2001	2002	Central Conference
Miami Fusion	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Lockhart Stadium	1997	1998	2001	2002	Eastern Conference
Chivas USA	Carson, California	StubHub Center	2004	2005	2014	2014	Western Conference

Future teams

Team	City	Stadium	Founded	Planned to join	Manager	Notes
San Diego FC	San Diego, California	Snapdragon Stadium	2023	2025	Mikey Varas

MLS Cup winners

Season	Champions	Runner-up
1996	D.C. United	Los Angeles Galaxy
1997	D.C. United	Colorado Rapids
1998	Chicago Fire	DC United
1999	D.C. United	Los Angeles Galaxy
2000	Kansas City Wizards	Chicago Fire
2001	San Jose Earthquakes	Los Angeles Galaxy
2002	Los Angeles Galaxy	New England Revolution
2003	San Jose Earthquakes	Chicago Fire
2004	D.C. United	Kansas City Wizards
2005	Los Angeles Galaxy	New England Revolution
2006	Houston Dynamo	New England Revolution
2007	Houston Dynamo	New England Revolution
2008	Columbus Crew	New York Red Bulls
2009	Real Salt Lake	Los Angeles Galaxy
2010	Colorado Rapids	FC Dallas
2011	Los Angeles Galaxy	Houston Dynamo
2012	Los Angeles Galaxy	Houston Dynamo
2013	Sporting Kansas City	Real Salt Lake
2014	Los Angeles Galaxy	New England Revolution
2015	Portland Timbers	Columbus Crew SC
2016	Seattle Sounders FC	Toronto FC
2017	Toronto FC	Seattle Sounders FC
2018	Atlanta United FC	Portland Timbers
2019	Seattle Sounders FC	Toronto FC
2020	Columbus Crew SC	Seattle Sounders FC
2021	New York City FC	Portland Timbers
2022	Los Angeles FC	Philadelphia Union
2023	Columbus Crew	Los Angeles FC

Related pages

• USL Championship

References

• Best Players in Major league Soccer (MLS) in 2012. hub, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.
• Major League Soccer. Archived 2017-05-24 at the Wayback Machine Princeton, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.
• An Overview of American Soccer History. Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Dave Litterer, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.
• Soccer Politics / The Politics of Football. Duke University, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.