Minnesota United is back in the playoffs! I wish I could say that not a lot has changed since last time, but sure enough, the league went and changed literally everything. This is the first time your Loons will participate in this new format, so I decided I’d put together a quick Know Your League to help paint the picture of MLS playoff history.
Side note: do you think I should change Know Your League (KYL) to Know Your League Explainers (KYLE)? That second abbreviation has a better ring to me for some reason. I’ll put a poll in the chat; let’s just get back to the task at hand.
Brief History
Since the league first started in 1996, Major League Soccer has grown considerably, forcing us to burn through playoff formats like matches. When there were just 10 teams in the league, the top four teams from each conference qualified for the postseason, meaning just two teams were left out (sorry, New England and Colorado; you’ll always be the first two out). The Conference Semifinals and Finals were both best-of-three series, while MLS Cup has always been a single game. Some things never change.
This format lasted for several years, though the means of qualification had to change as the league expanded and changed. It tended to be some combination of conference or division winners, though, plus the next best clubs in the league, regardless of conference. In 2003, the format itself shifted, as the conference semifinals became an aggregate best-of-two series, while the remainder of the playoffs became single-game affairs.
In 2011, we tried our hand at Wild Card entrants, adding a play-in round for the fourth and fifth seeds from each conference. The rest of the format was the same though: a best-of-two aggregate matchup in the conference semis, then single elimination. From 2012 to 2014, the best-of-three series returned to the conference semis and finals, making for more matches and no confusion whatsoever.
Is this all making sense? I’m losing track, admittedly. Stop me if you get lost, too.
A full knockout round replaced the play-in in 2015, with the top two teams in each conference getting a bye and facing the winners of the single elimination knockout round in a best-of-three series. We kept this format through 2018, shifting to four rounds of full-blown single elimination in 2019. 2020 had unique rules due to the pandemic, but 2021 saw the return of this pre-COVID format.
Sparknotes: there were never more than four rounds, the top seeds have gotten byes ever since the league got big enough to reward them, and the list of participating clubs has grown in-step with league growth. We’ve done best-of-one, two, or three, depending on how we feel that season, and what started as a Wild Card round turned into a knockout round. Easy to follow, always, and very clear to new fans. That said, here’s the new format that got rolled out in 2023!
As It Stands
When your Loons line up for the 2024 postseason, they’ll have to set out—on foot—across the country for their matchup, which could be either a best-of-two or a best-of-three series, depending on how long it takes for them to walk there and whether or not the eagles are willing to ferry them to Mordor. Wait, that’s not MLS… is that Lord of the Rings? Sorry. Here’s the ACTUAL playoff format.
In 2024, the eighth and ninth-place teams face off in the new Wild Card round, a single-elimination play-in match to determine who will play against the number one seed in each conference. The top seven teams in each conference automatically qualify for the First Round, a best-of-three series spread across three weeks. Then, the Conference Semifinals switch BACK to single elimination, which remains the same for the Conference Finals and MLS Cup itself.
This year’s playoffs will go from October 19 to December 7, meaning that for the teams that play their cards right, they’ll be playing for most of the remainder of the calendar year. Naturally, there’s another international window in mid-November, so be prepared for another break in action right at the height of the league’s excitement.
Your Loons could finish anywhere from fifth to eighth. That means you’re going to need to know the format pretty well, so make sure you’ve got this thing DOWN. Who knows how long this knowledge will be useful to you, though? They might change the format again right after I figure out what’s actually happening.
