Major League Soccer has unveiled the schedule for its abbreviated 2027 Sprint Season, a 14-game competition running from February through May that will bridge the league’s transition to a new summer-to-spring calendar.
The unusual season, announced Thursday, will begin February 19 and conclude with MLS Cup over Memorial Day weekend. Each of the league’s 30 clubs will play just seven home matches and seven away matches before the postseason.
For fans planning to attend games, the compressed schedule offers a different set of opportunities than a traditional MLS season, including a handful of regional rivalry matches that are within driving distance for supporters of both clubs.
The Sprint Season will also mark the final chapter of MLS’s longstanding calendar-year format. Beginning in July 2027, the league will adopt a schedule that runs through the following May, bringing it more closely in line with many of the world’s leading soccer leagues.
What is the MLS Sprint Season?
The Sprint Season is a one-time transitional competition designed to accommodate MLS’s calendar change without requiring clubs to play an overlapping full season.
Instead of the usual 34-game regular season, every club will face each of its 14 conference opponents once, with seven games at home and seven on the road. There will be no interconference regular-season games.
The season begins Friday, February 19, with Inter Miami hosting FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium at 8pm ET. Thirteen additional games will be played over the remainder of opening weekend.
The regular season concludes Saturday, May 8, with all Eastern Conference games beginning at 5pm ET and Western Conference games at 8pm ET.
The top eight teams in each conference will advance to a single-elimination postseason, culminating with MLS Cup over Memorial Day weekend. The complete playoff schedule has not yet been announced.
A shorter schedule, but still mostly weekend games
Although the regular season lasts less than three months, MLS has maintained its predominantly weekend-oriented schedule.
Most matches will be played on Saturdays, with some Sunday fixtures and occasional Wednesday games. Clubs generally have two or three midweek matches during the Sprint Season.
For example, New England will play 12 Saturday games and two Wednesday games, while St. Louis CITY SC has 11 Saturday games and three Wednesday games.
The shortened calendar also creates some unusual home scheduling patterns.
Real Salt Lake will begin the season with four consecutive road games because of renovations at America First Field. Its first home game will not take place until March 20, followed by five home matches in a six-game stretch through April 17.
The Colorado Rapids, meanwhile, have scheduled all seven home games for 7 p.m. Mountain Time or earlier, including two 2 p.m. kickoffs during the colder opening weeks.
Regional rivalries offer opportunities for traveling fans
Several of the Sprint Season’s regional matchups provide opportunities for supporters to attend games without requiring extensive travel.
Among the notable dates:
- February 21 — San Diego FC at LAFC: The Southern California clubs meet at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on opening weekend.
- February 27 — CF Montréal at Toronto FC: The Canadian Classique brings Montréal supporters to Toronto.
- March 20 — Seattle Sounders at Vancouver Whitecaps: A Cascadia Cup matchup brings Seattle supporters north of the border.
- April 3 — St. Louis CITY SC at Sporting Kansas City: A regional rivalry separated by approximately four hours of driving.
- April 10 — LAFC at LA Galaxy: El Tráfico takes place at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
- April 17 — Inter Miami at Orlando City: The Florida rivals meet at Inter&Co Stadium, roughly a three-to-four-hour drive from South Florida.
- April 24 — Columbus Crew at FC Cincinnati: The Hell is Real derby brings the Ohio rivals together in Cincinnati.
- May 8 — Red Bull New York at New York City FC: The Hudson River Derby concludes the regular season.
Because every club faces its conference rivals only once, each of these matchups will be played at a single venue during the Sprint Season, rather than the traditional home-and-away arrangement.
What happens after the Sprint Season?
Once the MLS Cup champion is crowned in May, the league will prepare for its first full season under the new calendar, beginning in July 2027.
The 2027–28 season will restore the traditional 34-game regular-season format, but the timing of the competition will change significantly.
Instead of playing primarily from February through the fall, MLS will begin its season in July, pause for a winter break and conclude with the playoffs and MLS Cup in May.
Regular-season play will pause in mid-December, with no games scheduled in January and a limited number of matches in February.
For fans, that means MLS will continue offering summer soccer, but its championship will move from late in the calendar year to the spring. The winter break will also limit games during the coldest months in northern markets.
The change is intended to align MLS more closely with the international soccer calendar, reducing conflicts with national-team competitions and simplifying the movement of players between leagues.
The Sprint Season will serve as the bridge between those two schedules, giving fans one final abbreviated spring competition before MLS begins its new annual cycle in July.
The complete 2027 Sprint Season schedule is available at MLSSoccer.com. And for team or metro schedules, be sure to check out our Ultimate Sports Calendar.
