Major League Soccer said on 10 April 2025 that any switch to the international calendar would not come before the 2027 season, as its Board of Governors approved further study of the move.
The board, meeting in Chicago, authorised a second phase of exploration into the change and a continued review of the league’s regular-season and playoff formats. MLS seasons had traditionally started in February and finished with MLS Cup in December, while the international calendar usually ran from July or August to May or June.
What the league said
“This next phase will include additional consultation with key stakeholders and the development of a comprehensive transition plan,” MLS said in a statement. The league pointed out that its 30 clubs were spread across the United States and Canada, with many time zones and climates to consider.
Earlier talks had looked at a switch straight after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, KSL.com reported. The board’s decision pushed any change back by at least a year.
Commissioner Don Garber told Sports Business Journal that the league had work to do to find out whether it could move to the international calendar and was not there yet. He said no decision had been made, and that he was not sure the league had all the support it needed.
Garber said he was not concerned about missing the momentum of the World Cup, and that the change, if it happened, would be one of the biggest decisions in MLS history.
Weather and transfer windows
Cold weather was one of the obstacles. Two Real Salt Lake players had to come off at half-time of a match in Minnesota on 29 March 2025 because of the conditions, KSL.com reported.
Supporters of the switch pointed to the transfer market. FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said at the league’s media day in January that the winter window, which did not line up with the European calendar, made recruitment harder.
Garber’s comments in December
In his State of the League address on 6 December 2024, Garber said MLS had looked at changing its schedule in 2004 and 2005, and again in 2014 and 2015.
“I do think that we are considering more than ever before this opportunity to change, but it’s not something that we’re ready to talk about right now,” he said. He said the summer schedule was getting more crowded, with June now taken by most of the international tournaments.
