Major League Soccer is considering a sweeping redesign of its postseason structure, according to multiple league and club sources cited by the Guardian. The proposed changes would take effect in 2028, coinciding with the league's broader transition to a fall-to-spring calendar, and could expand the playoff field to as many as 20 teams while introducing a double-elimination stage never before seen in American professional sports.
According to a schedule reviewed by the Guardian, the revamped playoffs would begin in late April and run for approximately three weeks, culminating with MLS Cup on Sunday, May 21, 2028. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the league's internal planning.
The playoff overhaul is tied to a larger restructuring of the regular season, which would see MLS abandon its long-standing Eastern and Western Conference setup in favor of five divisions. Rather than allocating playoff berths by division, the league would rank all clubs in a single combined table at season's end, with the top 20 teams qualifying for the postseason.
Under the proposed system, the teams ranked 13th through 20th would contest a play-in round, with four of those eight advancing to complete a 16-team bracket. The top eight teams in the overall standings would then enter a double-elimination phase, an innovative wrinkle designed to reward strong regular-season performances. A victory in that opening round would send a team straight to the quarter-finals, while a loss would not eliminate them outright, offering a second chance to advance.
Sources indicated that teams would be re-seeded following each round of the playoffs, a mechanism intended to preserve competitive and hosting advantages for higher-placed clubs throughout the tournament. MLS declined to comment when approached about the potential changes.
The format bears a striking resemblance to the "double-chance" system employed for decades by the Australian Football League, the top tier of Australian rules football. According to one source, MLS has held discussions with the AFL regarding its postseason approach, suggesting the American league drew direct inspiration from its Australian counterpart.
MLS has revised its playoff structure repeatedly throughout its history. In its early years, eight of the league's 10 teams made the postseason, competing in a best-of-three format for conference semi-finals and finals. Adjustments followed in 2000, and further changes accompanied league expansion and conference realignment, including a shift to two-legged ties in 2003. The league simplified its approach in 2019 by moving to a single-elimination format throughout the playoffs.
When MLS launched its media rights partnership with Apple TV in 2023, the league sought to boost the volume of postseason matches available for broadcast. That led to the current hybrid system, combining best-of-three series with single-elimination rounds and a play-in match between the eighth- and ninth-place finishers in each conference. That format has drawn criticism from fans, players and coaches alike. At the time, league officials had also weighed a