The abbreviated season will run February to May as MLS transitions to a European-style calendar, cutting the regular season nearly in half.
MLS released schedules for all 30 clubs on Thursday for its 2027 "sprint season," a drastically shortened campaign designed to bridge the league's move to a fall-to-spring calendar that mirrors Europe's top leagues.
Instead of the usual 34-game slate running February through November, each club will play just 14 regular-season matches, seven home and seven away, wrapping up by May. League-wide, that drops the total from 510 matches to 210, meaning 300 fewer games than a typical season.
The sprint season will feed into a 16-team single-elimination playoff to crown a champion. Commissioner Don Garber had announced the broader calendar shift back in November 2025, calling it one of the most important decisions in league history as MLS aligns itself with the global soccer calendar.
The condensed format is meant to ease the disruption of that transition rather than serve as a permanent fixture, giving clubs and fans a short, high-stakes campaign before the league settles into its new rhythm.