# List of Major League Soccer seasons

Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top-flight professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada. As of 2024, the league has 29 teams—26 in the United States and 3 in Canada—that are divided into the Eastern and Western conferences. The league schedule runs from spring to fall within a single calendar year unlike European leagues, which use a fall-to-spring schedule. The champion is determined by the MLS Cup and its playoffs, a postseason knockout tournament for the top teams in the regular season similar to those for other North American sports leagues. A separate trophy, the Supporters' Shield, is awarded by a fan-run organization to the team with the best record in the regular season. MLS has an average attendance of over 23,000 spectators at regular season matches and reached over 11 million total in 2024—among the highest for soccer leagues globally.
The United States was awarded the right to host the 1994 World Cup after it agreed to a FIFA mandate to create a new professional soccer league; the last league of its kind had been the North American Soccer League, which ceased operations in 1985. MLS was established in 1993 and debuted with 10 teams in the 1996 season, primarily played at large American football venues. The league added its first expansion teams in 1998 and the first soccer-specific stadium opened the following year in Columbus, Ohio. MLS had financial issues by the end of the decade as attendance and television ratings declined from their peak in the inaugural season; two teams were folded prior to the 2002 season and the league faced a potential bankruptcy. It began expanding again in 2005 and more teams built their own soccer-specific stadiums; the league reached 16 teams in 2010 and grew further to 20 teams in 2015 and 26 teams in 2020. As of 2024, 22 of the league's 29 teams play in soccer-specific stadiums that range in capacity from 18,000 to 30,000 seats, while others use larger shared venues.
MLS teams each play 34 matches during the regular season, which runs from February to October, primarily between opponents in the same conference. The league adopted an unbalanced schedule with heavier emphasis on intra-conference matches in 2012 due to the growing number of teams and the impact of travel for players. The top nine teams from each conference qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs, a five-round tournament which culminates in the MLS Cup final in early December. Teams also play in other annual competitions during the season that are organized by MLS or other entities. These include the U.S. Open Cup and Canadian Championship, the respective domestic cup championships of the United States and Canada; the Leagues Cup, which features all MLS teams and Liga MX teams from Mexico; and the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the regional championship for clubs in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
The LA Galaxy are the most successful team in the league's history with six MLS Cup titles and four Supporters' Shields; D.C. United has four MLS Cup titles and four Supporters' Shields. The league's all-time points record was set in the 2024 season by Inter Miami CF, who had 74 points and a winning percentage of 0.765. MLS has several annual awards to recognize individual players and coaches for their accomplishments, including the Landon Donovan MVP Award for the best player in a season and the Golden Boot for the top goalscorer during the regular season. The current single-season scoring record was set by Carlos Vela, who scored 34 goals during the 2019 regular season for Los Angeles FC. MLS teams have a salary cap with exceptions for marquee players under the Designated Player Rule, which was introduced in 2007 and is used to sign international stars and young talents. Teams also have academies to develop young players and reserve squads in MLS Next Pro, the developmental league run by MLS.

## Seasons

Major League Soccer seasons :
| Season | Teams | MLS Cup playoffs | MLS Cup playoffs | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Most valuable player | Golden Boot | Ref. |
| Season | Teams | Champion | Runners-up | Supporters' Shield | Record | Pts. | MP | Avg. attendance | Most valuable player | Golden Boot | Ref. |
| 1996 | 10 | D.C. United | Los Angeles Galaxy | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 20–12 | 58 | 32 | 17,406 | Carlos Valderrama | Roy Lassiter (27) | |
| 1997 | 10 | D.C. United (2nd title) | Colorado Rapids | D.C. United | 21–11 | 55 | 32 | 14,603 | Preki | Jaime Moreno (16) | |
| 1998 | 12 | Chicago Fire | D.C. United | Los Angeles Galaxy | 24–8 | 68 | 32 | 14,312 | Marco Etcheverry | Stern John (26) | |
| 1999 | 12 | D.C. United (3rd title) | Los Angeles Galaxy | D.C. United (2nd title) | 23–9 | 57 | 32 | 14,282 | Jason Kreis | Jason Kreis (18) | |
| 2000 | 12 | Kansas City Wizards | Chicago Fire | Kansas City Wizards | 16–7–9 | 57 | 32 | 13,756 | Tony Meola | Mamadou Diallo (26) | |
| 2001 | 12 | San Jose Earthquakes | Los Angeles Galaxy | Miami Fusion | 16–5–5 | 53 | 26–27 | 14,961 | Álex Pineda Chacón | Álex Pineda Chacón (19) | |
| 2002 | 10 | Los Angeles Galaxy | New England Revolution | Los Angeles Galaxy (2nd title) | 16–9–3 | 51 | 28 | 15,821 | Carlos Ruiz | Carlos Ruiz (24) | |
| 2003 | 10 | San Jose Earthquakes (2nd title) | Chicago Fire | Chicago Fire | 15–7–8 | 53 | 30 | 14,898 | Preki (2nd title) | Carlos Ruiz (15) | |
| 2004 | 10 | D.C. United (4th title) | Kansas City Wizards | Columbus Crew | 12–5–13 | 49 | 30 | 15,559 | Amado Guevara | Brian Ching (12) | |
| 2005 | 12 | Los Angeles Galaxy (2nd title) | New England Revolution | San Jose Earthquakes | 18–4–10 | 64 | 32 | 15,108 | Taylor Twellman | Taylor Twellman (17) | |
| 2006 | 12 | Houston Dynamo | New England Revolution | D.C. United (3rd title) | 15–7–10 | 55 | 32 | 15,504 | Christian Gómez | Jeff Cunningham (18) | |
| 2007 | 13 | Houston Dynamo (2nd title) | New England Revolution | D.C. United (4th title) | 16–7–7 | 55 | 30 | 16,770 | Luciano Emílio | Luciano Emílio (20) | |
| 2008 | 14 | Columbus Crew | New York Red Bulls | Columbus Crew (2nd title) | 17–7–6 | 57 | 30 | 16,460 | Guillermo Barros Schelotto | Landon Donovan (20) | |
| 2009 | 15 | Real Salt Lake | LA Galaxy | Columbus Crew (3rd title) | 13–7–10 | 49 | 30 | 16,040 | Landon Donovan | Jeff Cunningham (17) | |
| 2010 | 16 | Colorado Rapids | FC Dallas | LA Galaxy (3rd title) | 18–7–5 | 59 | 30 | 16,675 | David Ferreira | Chris Wondolowski (18) | |
| 2011 | 18 | LA Galaxy (3rd title) | Houston Dynamo | LA Galaxy (4th title) | 19–5–10 | 67 | 34 | 17,872 | Dwayne De Rosario | Dwayne De Rosario (16) | |
| 2012 | 19 | LA Galaxy (4th title) | Houston Dynamo | San Jose Earthquakes (2nd title) | 19–6–9 | 66 | 34 | 18,807 | Chris Wondolowski | Chris Wondolowski (27) | |
| 2013 | 19 | Sporting Kansas City (2nd title) | Real Salt Lake | New York Red Bulls | 17–9–8 | 59 | 34 | 18,594 | Mike Magee | Camilo Sanvezzo (22) | |
| 2014 | 19 | LA Galaxy (5th title) | New England Revolution | Seattle Sounders FC | 20–10–4 | 64 | 34 | 19,147 | Robbie Keane | Bradley Wright-Phillips (27) | |
| 2015 | 20 | Portland Timbers | Columbus Crew SC | New York Red Bulls (2nd title) | 18–10–6 | 60 | 34 | 21,558 | Sebastian Giovinco | Sebastian Giovinco (22) | |
| 2016 | 20 | Seattle Sounders FC | Toronto FC | FC Dallas | 17–8–9 | 60 | 34 | 21,692 | David Villa | Bradley Wright-Phillips (24) | |
| 2017 | 22 | Toronto FC | Seattle Sounders FC | Toronto FC | 20–5–9 | 69 | 34 | 22,106 | Diego Valeri | Nemanja Nikolić (24) | |
| 2018 | 23 | Atlanta United FC | Portland Timbers | New York Red Bulls (3rd title) | 22–7–5 | 71 | 34 | 21,873 | Josef Martínez | Josef Martínez (31) | |
| 2019 | 24 | Seattle Sounders FC (2nd title) | Toronto FC | Los Angeles FC | 21–4–9 | 72 | 34 | 21,330 | Carlos Vela | Carlos Vela (34) | |
| 2020 | 26 | Columbus Crew SC (2nd title) | Seattle Sounders FC | Philadelphia Union | 14–4–5 | 47 | 18–23 | — | Alejandro Pozuelo | Diego Rossi (14) | |
| 2021 | 27 | New York City FC | Portland Timbers | New England Revolution | 22–5–7 | 73 | 34 | 16,699 | Carles Gil | Valentín Castellanos (19) | |
| 2022 | 28 | Los Angeles FC | Philadelphia Union | Los Angeles FC (2nd title) | 21–9–4 | 67 | 34 | 21,033 | Hany Mukhtar | Hany Mukhtar (23) | |
| 2023 | 29 | Columbus Crew (3rd title) | Los Angeles FC | FC Cincinnati | 20–5–9 | 69 | 34 | 22,111 | Luciano Acosta | Denis Bouanga (20) | |
| 2024 | 29 | LA Galaxy (6th title) | New York Red Bulls | Inter Miami CF | 22–8–4 | 74 | 34 | 23,234 | Lionel Messi | Christian Benteke (23) | |