Global InformationList of MLS Cup finals information
The MLS Cup is the annual championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top-level men's soccer league for the United States and Canada. The match marks the conclusion of the MLS Cup Playoffs, a five-round knockout competition contested by the top nine teams from each of the league's two conferences.[1][2] The playoffs tournament is organized by the league at the end of the regular season in a format which is similar to other professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, but unlike most soccer leagues.[3] The league also awards the Supporters' Shield to teams that have the most points during the regular season. Both the MLS Cup champion and Supporters' Shield winner qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, contested by the champions of CONCACAF leagues in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.[4] The MLS Cup champion also qualifies for the Campeones Cup, a friendly held since 2018 against the winners of the Mexican Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX.[5]
First contested in 1996, the MLS Cup was originally hosted by a predetermined neutral site selected by the league before the regular season.[6] Since the 2012 edition, the match has been hosted by the remaining team with the highest regular season standing.[6] The final, originally contested in October, was moved to November and later December as the length of the regular season and playoffs were extended by the league.[7] The playoffs originally allowed for lower-ranked seeds, known as wild cards, to be placed into different sides of the bracket regardless of their actual conference. As a result, several MLS Cups have featured two teams from the same conference.[8]
The Columbus Crew are the reigning cup-holders, having defeated Los Angeles FC in the 2023 final for their third title.[9] The LA Galaxy hold the record for most MLS Cup titles, having won five times in nine appearances.[10] The championship has been won by the same team in two or more consecutive years on three occasions, and the match has featured consecutive sets of finalists on three occasions.[11] Four finals have featured two teams participating as finalists for the first time.[12] Nine teams have also won "the double", claiming the MLS Cup and either the Supporters' Shield, the U.S. Open Cup, or the Canadian Championship during the same season; only Toronto FC has won a treble, having achieved it in 2017.[13][14] Landon Donovan has played in seven MLS Cup finals and totaled 726 minutes—both competition records.[15]
The highest recorded attendance for the MLS Cup was set in the 2018 final, with 73,019 spectators at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.[16] From 1996 to 2008, the English broadcast of the MLS Cup was carried in the United States on terrestrial network ABC; it was moved to sister channel ESPN for the following seven editions.[17] From 2015 to 2022, ESPN and Fox held rights to alternating editions of the cup;[18] the 2019 cup, originally slated to be broadcast on ESPN, was moved to ABC.[17] The Spanish language rights for the MLS Cup in the U.S. were awarded to Univision in 2007 and the match was aired on their various networks until 2023.[19][20] The U.S. linear television rights beginning in 2023 are held by Fox in English and Fox Deportes in Spanish; the MLS Cup final will air on those channels as well as Apple TV+'s MLS Season Pass streaming service worldwide.[21] In Canada, the MLS Cup has been broadcast in English by TSN since 2011 and in French by TVA Sports since 2017.[22] The largest television audience for an MLS Cup broadcast was the 2016 final, which drew 3.5 million viewers in the United States and Canada.[23][24]
- ^ Tannenwald, Jonathan (February 21, 2023). "MLS changes its playoff format again, now guaranteeing home games for more teams". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "2023 MLS Competition Guidelines". Major League Soccer. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ Ruthven, Graham (November 5, 2015). "Could MLS-style play-offs work in Europe's top leagues?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
- ^ Goff, Steven (December 5, 2015). "MLS playoff format is an outlier in world soccer — and that's a good thing". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
- ^ Myers, Jacob (September 27, 2021). "A chance for a trophy and a consequential MLS game, Columbus Crew enter biggest week of season". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ a b Dreier, Frederick (November 29, 2012). "Wild-card L.A. Galaxy favored in home-field MLS Cup". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ "MLS reveals 2012 schedule, including MLS Cup in December". MLSsoccer.com. January 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Rodriguez, Alicia (October 21, 2015). "Audi MLS Cup Playoffs: Tracing the evolution of the postseason format since 1996". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Mac Kay, Brianna (December 9, 2023). "Columbus Crew top LAFC to win franchise's third MLS Cup". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ Powers, John (December 8, 2014). "Galaxy defeat Revolution for record fifth MLS title". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Milles, Todd (November 30, 2017). "Sounders stamp MLS Cup rematch ticket with Toronto". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Baxter, Kevin (November 5, 2022). "LAFC defeats Philadelphia on penalty kicks to win MLS Cup title in thriller". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
- ^ Rodriguez, Alicia (December 9, 2017). "Toronto FC win first domestic treble in MLS history". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Rodriguez, Alicia (November 5, 2022). "LAFC win MLS Cup, Supporters' Shield double". Angels on Parade. SB Nation. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
- ^ "LA Galaxy legend Landon Donovan wins MLS record sixth MLS Cup title". MLSsoccer.com. December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
- ^ Reineking, Jim (December 8, 2018). "Atlanta United wins MLS Cup in just its second season". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Reedy, Joe (August 28, 2019). "MLS Cup returning to ABC for first time since 2008". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ Tannenwald, Jonathan (May 11, 2014). "MLS, U.S. Soccer officially announce new TV deal with ESPN, Fox, Univision". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ Stewart, Larry (February 7, 2007). "National TV to focus on Beckham and Galaxy". Los Angeles Times. p. D3. Retrieved November 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kennedy, Paul (December 10, 2013). "MLS Cup viewers on UniMas surpass those on ESPN". Soccer America. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
- ^ "MLS on linear TV: FOX Sports, TelevisaUnivision, TSN & RDS reach multi-year deals". MLSsoccer.com. December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ "Major League Soccer announces five-year deals with TSN, TVA Sports". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. January 10, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
- ^ Stejskal, Sam (December 13, 2016). "MLS Cup 2016 sets record for most-watched title game in league history". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
- ^ Tannenwald, Jonathan (November 8, 2022). "Philadelphia helped MLS Cup draw its biggest U.S. TV audience in 25 years". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 8, 2022.