Change is coming next year to Major League Soccer and that all starts with the sprint season to take place next Spring. The 2027 sprint season will run from late February to early May, with the MLS Cup Playoffs taking place in May and ending on Memorial Day Weekend. Each club in the league will play the other 14 clubs in their conference once over the course of 15 matchdays, meaning every club in the league will have a single bye during the shortened season.
Allianz Field will see Seattle Sounders FC, LAFC, San Diego FC, Portland Timbers FC, St. Louis CITY SC, Austin FC, and FC Dallas visit as the Loons home opponents for the season. Minnesota will visit Sporting Kansas City, San Jose Earthquakes, Colorado Rapids, LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and Houston Dynamo FC. This guarantees one home and one away match against a Los Angeles club and a single trip to the Pacific Northwest, and Texas.
Over the course of the shortened season the Loons will play no more than two matches in a row at home or on the road. Additionally only one of their three Wednesday night matches will take place at home. That will come on 7 April against the Portland Timbers. Minnesota's decision day match will be against FC Dallas, which the club also announced is fan appreciation night.
The 2027 playoffs will also be a massive change from what we have seen in the past few seasons. Only eight teams per conference, rather than nine, will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs. And rather than the first round being best of three the entire playoffs will be played as single elimination. There is no guarantee however the sixteen club, single elimination format will stick around for 2027-28. Rumours about the playoff format under the new calendar suggest it could be a similar format to the AFL Finals Series in Australia.
Stay on the lookout in the next few days as we drop a 2027 travel guide for each of the Loons seven away matches next spring.
