MLS to move to European football calendar from July 2027

Major League Soccer will abandon its traditional February-to-December schedule and adopt a European-style calendar from 2027, with the first full season beginning in July and ending in May 2028.

The change will mark the first time in the competition’s history that an MLS season runs across two calendar years. Since the league began in 1996, its seasons have been played within a single year.

Under the new structure, the 2027-28 season will start in July 2027 and conclude in May 2028, according to the league’s official website. The switch is intended to bring the United States competition closer to the international football market and the schedules used by Europe’s major leagues.

Players and coaching staff will have a summer break during June after the season ends. The new calendar will also introduce separate summer and winter transfer windows, aligning MLS more closely with the main transfer periods in Europe.

The revised schedule is expected to provide a more familiar structure for players including Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Robert Lewandowski, who have spent much of their careers in European football.

Short 2027 season to bridge the change

To prevent a lengthy gap between the end of the 2026 season and the start of the new calendar, MLS will stage a transitional competition from February to May 2027.

That tournament will begin on 19 February 2027 and finish on 8 May, with all 30 teams taking part. The clubs will be divided into two groups, and each team will play 14 matches – seven at home and seven away.

The leading eight teams in each group will progress to the knockout stage. Those play-offs will be held during May, with the exact dates of the matches to be confirmed later.

The final is scheduled for the weekend of Memorial Day, on 31 May 2027. It will bring the transitional season to an end before the first full MLS campaign based on the European calendar begins in July.

The decision represents a major change to MLS’s traditional identity and the way its competition is organised. It also reflects the league’s intention to strengthen its links with the global football system through both match scheduling and transfer-market dates.