Major League Soccer 2023 season preview: New playoff format, Apple deal among top storylines
- LAFC, Philadelphia Union return as top MLS Cup title contenders.
- Portland Timbers’ Evander, New York Red Bulls’ Dante Vanzeir among key incoming players.
- Apple immerses itself into sports streaming with 10-year partnership with MLS.
As Major League Soccer kicks off its 28th season, what should fans expect?
How about some chaos?
Take into consideration:
- The league has had nine different MLS Cup winners in the last 10 years.
- Throw in the monkey wrench that is a new playoff format which is, well, whack.
- Did we mention that the season will be put on hold for a month in order to play a tournament against teams from Mexico?
That all should add even more unpredictability to a league that can be quite capricious.
Top candidates and betting odds for league’s best players
NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT:MLS unveils postseason format for 2023. It’s unorthodox and complicated.
Here are the key storylines to follow during the 2023 MLS season:
Who are some top 2023 MLS Cup contenders?
â–ºLos Angeles FC: LAFC won its first MLS Cup and second Supporters’ Shield in a breakout 2022 campaign. In 2023, LAFC can collect even more hardware with a six-pack of trophies on the line (MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAFÂ Champions League, Leagues Cup, Campeones Cup).
â–ºPhiladelphia Union: The Union were painfully defeated in an epic MLS Cup by LAFCÂ but returns a loaded squad primed for another run at a title.
►Austin FC: Austin made a massive leap in just its second season, reaching the Western Conference final. Sebastián Driussi is on the short list of 2023 MVP candidates.
â–ºLos Angeles Galaxy: The Riqui Puig-to-Chicharito connection could make the Galaxy one of the league’s most formidable goal-scoring machines.
►FC Cincinnati: After spending the first three seasons of its exist at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table, this club took the next step under coach Pat Noonan and reached the playoffs in 2022. In 2023, FC Cincinnati will aim to take the next step and become a legitimate contender.
â–ºNew York Red Bulls: Sporting the second-longest active playoff streak in U.S. major pro sports leagues (13, behind the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 16 in the NHL) but without an MLS Cup win to show for it, RBNY went out and spent some money this offseason. New designated player Dante Vanzeir will be counted on to push this team beyond just another playoff team and into the legit title contender stratosphere.
â–ºSeattle Sounders: After becoming the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions League, the Sounders went on to miss the playoffs for the first time in team history. Is a Seattle revenge tour in the offing for 2023?
Apple is diving into the deep end when it comes to sports streaming. The company, through its Apple TV service, enters the first season of a 10-year partnership with MLS. Live broadcasts and replays of every match – regular season, playoffs and the new Leagues Cup – will all be available via MLS Season Pass.
The biggest bonuses of this move for soccer football fans:
- No blackouts.Â
- An “NFL RedZone”-like whip-around show called “MLS 360.”
- A more streamlined schedule, with most games kicking off at 7:30 p.m. local time on Saturdays.
Fox Sports will air 34 games on linear TV in 2023. Those games also will be available on MLS Season Pass.
What are some key early season MLS games to watch (or stream)?
►Feb. 25 – Philadelphia Union vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. ET (Apple TV): An MLS Cup favorite hosts a hopeful title contender at Subaru Park. Each team will be attempting to claim an early season statement win.
â–ºFeb. 25 – Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Los Angeles FC at the Rose Bowl, 9:30 p.m. ET (Apple TV): El Tráfico takes one of the league’s best rivalries to the iconic Pasadena landmark that served as the home stadium for the Galaxy from 1996 to 2002. The Galaxy hold the all-time El Tráfico edge at 7-5-5, but LAFC has won when it’s mattered most with two playoff victories over their rivals, including in last season’s Western Conference semifinals.
â–ºMarch 4 – St. Louis City SC vs. Charlotte FC, 8:30 p.m. ET (Apple TV): The league’s latest expansion team plays its first home game at CITYPARK, the 22,500-seat stadium in downtown St. Louis. The opponent will be looking for a fast start to the season after just missing the playoffs in 2022.
which has deep roots in the sport of soccer, finally has a top-flight team, as St. Louis City SC becomes the 29th team in Major League Soccer. St. Louis City SC also hits a historical milestone as the first female majority-owned team in MLS.
From a competitive standpoint, St. Louis City SC landed in the Western Conference, with Nashville SC shifting back to the East, giving the two conferences an uneven number of teams (15 in the East, 14 in the West). While the league intends to expand to at least 30 teams, there is no further expansion planned at the moment.
Head coach Bradley Carnell (who spent much of his professional playing career in Germany) and sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel (you might know him from Bundesliga broadcasts on ESPN+) made some key additions from (you guessed it) Germany, including former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki, midfielder Eduard Löwen from Hertha Berlin, forward João Klauss from Hoffenheim and center back Joakim Nilsson from Arminia Bielefeld.Â
St. Louis fans will be hoping for a wunderbar Fußball season in 2023.
What is the 2023 MLS playoff format?
Can MLS just settle on a consistent playoff format? That answer is a resounding “NO!” Just four days before kickoff of the 2023 season, the league announced a new format for the postseason. It’s unorthodox and convoluted.
It’s features a wild-card game between the eighth- and ninth-place finishers for each conference spread over two days (#MLSSuperWildCardDays?) to determine which squad gets to play a best-of-three series against their respective conference’s first-place finisher.
This will be the postseason schedule:
- Wild-card games: Oct. 25-26
- Round 1:Â Oct. 28-Nov. 12
- Conference semifinals and finals:Â Nov. 25-Dec. 3
- MLS Cup: Dec. 9
That whole Round 1 features best-of-three series, with no extra time and penalty kicks if 90 minutes cannot determine a  winner. That is the case for the wild-card games, too. However, the following rounds will be single-elimination showdowns from the conference semifinals through MLS Cup.
This is a dramatic shift from the simple, 14-team, single-elimination tournament the league had for just three seasons (2019, 2021-22). It also gives MLS a 16-team playoff field, matching the number of teams that make the playoffs in the 30-team NBA and 32-team NHL, with all three leagues outpacing the NFL (14) and MLB (12).
What is the tournament between Liga MX and MLS?
The budding bromance between Liga MX and MLS hits a crescendo with this summer’s Leagues Cup. The tournament will feature every Liga MX and MLS team (47 total) in a World Cup-style competition that will take place July 21 to Aug. 19. Both MLS and Liga MX are pausing their league competitions for Leagues Cup. The winner will earn automatic qualification for the CONCACAF Champions League.
LAFC (2022 MLS Cup champion) and Pachuca (the 2022 Clausura or 2022 Apertura champion with the most combined points) automatically qualify for the Round of 32.
What are preseason betting odds for 2023 MLS Cup winner?
According to Tipico Sportsbook, Los Angeles FC (+450) is the early favorite to win MLS Cup in 2023, followed by the Philadelphia Union (+650), New York City FC (+750), Los Angeles Galaxy (+1200), CF Montréal and Austin FC (+1200), and Nashville SC and New York Red Bulls (+1500).