Two-thirds of MLS teams could make the playoffs. Let that sit for a second. If The Guardian's report holds up, the league is heading toward a 20-team postseason format with double-elimination rounds and a complete burial of the conference system — all set to kick in with the 2027-28 season.
MLS declined to confirm the specifics when approached by Sports Illustrated, but the league's statement wasn't exactly a denial either: the league is "continuing to evaluate potential adjustments to its postseason format as part of a broader review of the league's shift to a new competition calendar." Translation — it's being worked on, just not signed off yet.
How the bracket would actually work
The reported structure replaces the current two-conference, 15-team-per-conference setup with five geographically based six-team divisions. Those divisions would shape the schedule — not the playoff picture. The combined regular-season table would determine who qualifies.
Here's the layered format as reported:
- Teams ranked 13–20 enter a play-in round; four advance
- Those four meet teams ranked 9–12 in a secondary round
- Teams ranked 1–8 go straight to Round One, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals and the loser dropping into a double-elimination Round Two
- Every round gets re-seeded, so the top surviving seed always plays the lowest and gets home advantage
Individual rounds are expected to be single-game eliminations — no best-of-three, no two-leg ties. Fast, decisive, and brutal for anyone who slips up.
The double-elimination element is where things get interesting from a betting standpoint. A top-eight team that loses their first game isn't done — they get another shot. That changes how you value regular-season form going into the postseason. A team that peaks late but finishes in the top eight could legitimately run the table through the losers' bracket.
Does 66% qualification actually mean anything?
For comparison: the NHL qualifies 50% of its teams, the NFL 44%, MLB 53%. The NBA technically matches MLS's 66% threshold when play-in rounds are included, but without double-elimination. The AFL — the closest structural comparison — only takes 44% of teams through.
So MLS would be operating in genuinely uncharted territory for major professional sports. Whether that's an innovation or an admission that the regular season doesn't mean enough is a fair question. When two-thirds of your league makes the playoffs, finishing 6th and finishing 18th start to feel like very different outcomes — but they're both in.
What keeps this from being a total devaluation of the regular season is the double-elimination buffer for the top eight. There's a real reward for finishing high — not just seeding, but a safety net. That's a smarter design than it first appears.
The timeline: the 2026 MLS Cup final is set for December 18, 2026, the latest in league history. A transitional 14-game sprint season follows, with the 2027 MLS Cup awarded in spring 2027 under an as-yet-undetermined format. The new divisional, double-elimination system — if confirmed — would debut for the 2028 MLS Cup, scheduled for May 21, 2028.
The league has time to get this right. Whether they do is a different question entirely.
