Welcome to part one of this series looking at all the rules and regulations of Major League Soccer (MLS). I intend to break all the nuances of MLS down into bitesized guides for anyone considering a save in the US. Hopefully by breaking everything down for readers it will be easier to find a solution or advice to a particular issue they have encountered without having to scroll through one big all encompassing MLS post.
The posts will be broken down as follows and once there are all published you can click the links below to be taken to that guide.
MLS League Format and Competitions
General Allocation Money (GAM) and Targeted Allocation Money (TAM)
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) like most American sports is split into conferences. In this case there is an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference. In the 2021 season there are 14 sides in the Eastern Conference and 13 sides in the Western Conference. This will change in the 2022 season when Charlotte FC join the Eastern Conference and Nashville move over to the Western Conference giving each conference an even 14 sides.
Charlotte FC will enter MLS in 2022 to even the conferences.
The league system at this stage is fairly familiar to European on lookers. The season runs from March to October and each team plays each other twice within their own conference for a total of 26/24 games. Now things change a bit, MLS is played over 34 games. So to get to 34 games each team plays a selection of sides from the other conference once, and some sides within your own conference three times. This unbalanced schedule is alien to many traditional FM players but is again fairly common in US sports.
The sole aim of these 34 regular season games is to qualify for the playoffs. Winning your conference means nothing if you lose in the first round of the playoffs. The top seven teams from each conference qualify for their conference playoffs, the top ranked side in each conference is given a bye to the conference semi-finals while the remaining six playoff in the conference quarter finals. These games are all one off matches with the higher ranked team in the regular season given home advantage.
The teams playoff until we are left with the MLS Cup final, the winners are crowned champions of MLS and receive entry to the CONCACF Champions League the following year.
MLS Supporters Shield
The Supporters Shield is merely the ranking of all MLS sides, from both conferences, using their season’s record. Different MLS sides give this Shield more importance than others, it is worth keeping track of even if you are well ahead within your own conference as the winners of the Supporters Shield are given an entry to the CONCACF Champions League the following year, regardless of what happens in the playoffs.
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
More commonly known as the US Open Cup it is the oldest soccer competition in the US having first been played in 1914. Rather like the FA Cup in England it is open to amateur and semi professional clubs in the US Soccer pyramid and MLS sides enter in the 4th Round. All games are one offs, with extra time and penalties if required to provide a winner. Once again the US Open Cup champions will be given entry to the CONCACAF Champions League the following year.
CONCACAF Champions League
MLS is given four qualifying places for the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football Champions League (CONCACAF Champions League). They are awarded to the MLS Cup champions, the Supporters Shield champions, the US Open Cup champions, and the winners of the conference not already awarded through the Supporters Shield.
Sixteen clubs qualify in total at the start of the 2021 season. Four from USA, Four from Mexico, One from Canada, One from the Caribbean and six from the CONCACAF League, which MLS is not involved in.
The CONCACAF Champions League harks back to days of old in Europe in that it is a straight two legged knock out competition. No money making group stages with little jeopardy here. One bad performance could see you eliminated. However there are plans for expansion to the Champions League in 2024 so enjoy it while it lasts.
In recent times the CONCACAF champions league has been dominated by Mexican sides with no MLS winner since the LA Galaxy in 2000. MLS entrants to the CONCACAF champions league in 2021 are; Columbus Crew; Philadelphia Union; Portland Timbers; and Atlanta United.
That’s it for this first guide, I’ve deliberately kept it concise. The next guide will look at the squad registration rules that so many people seem to have difficulty with when playing MLS. Don’t forget Grasshopper and I are streaming our MLS FM Adventure over on https://www.twitch.tv/fm_grasshopper every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 8pm to 10pm, so come check that out, or not.
Over and Out!