MLS Playoffs finally announced, will include best-of-three round

In a case of something that wasn’t broke, didn’t need fixing but was changed anyway, Major League Soccer finally announced the playoff format for the 2023 MLS Playoffs on Tuesday.

Insert the Mad Men “Not great, Bob” meme here.

The new format will somewhat resemble Major League Baseball with a one-game wild card game in each conference, followed by a best-of-three series in what is being called Round One. The traditional single elimination conference semifinals and finals will follow and MLS Cup will also be single elimination so it could definitely be worse.

The Wild Card matches will be played October 25-26, followed by Round One Oct. 28-Nov. 12. The Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals will be played between Nov. 25-Dec. 3. MLS Cup will be played on Dec. 9.

The new format will increase the number of games from 12 last year to as many as 24. All games will be available on MLS Season Pass and select games and the MLS Cup final will be broadcast on FOX Sports in the U.S. and TSN and RDS in Canada.

The new format came, according to a press release from MLS, out of a review of the playoff format “beginning in 2021 to deliver an enhanced playoff format that would provide fans with more games of consequence and better reward regular season results while maintaining the best elements from the single-elimination format.”

The full format is below: 

Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Format

Qualification:
Seeds 1-7 in each conference will automatically qualify to the Round One Best-of 3-series.
Seeds 8-9 in each conference will qualify for the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card matches.

Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card Matches (2 games)

• Two single-game elimination matches hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of a Wild Card game is tied at the end of regulation, no extra time will be played, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• The winner of each Wild Card match will advance to the Round One Best-of-3 series to face the conference No. 1 seed.

Eastern Conference Wild Card Match

• No. 8 vs. No. 9

Western Conference Wild Card Match

• No. 8 vs. No. 9

Round One Best-of-3 Series (16-24 games)

• Every Round One game will have a winner; no ties, no aggregate score.
• The matches will be hosted in a home-away-home format:
  • Match 1: higher seed hosts
  • Match 2: lower seed hosts
  • Match 3: higher seed hosts
• If a match is tied at the end of regulation, no extra time will be played, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• The first team to win two matches will advance.
• Four teams from each conference will advance to the Conference Semifinals.

Eastern Conference Round One Best-of-3 Series

• No. 1 vs. No. 8 or 9
• No. 2 vs. No. 7
• No. 3 vs. No. 6
• No. 4 vs. No. 5

Western Conference Round One Best-of-3 Series

• No. 1 vs. No. 8 or 9
• No. 2 vs. No. 7
• No. 3 vs. No. 6
• No. 4 vs. No. 5

Conference Semifinals (4 games)

• Single-game elimination matches, hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of a Conference Semifinal game is tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is still tied at the end of the two extra time periods, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• Conference Semifinal winners will advance to the Conference Final.

Eastern Conference Semifinals

• Winner of No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 series vs. winner of No. 4 vs. No. 5 series
• Winner of No. 3 vs. No. 6 series vs. winner of No. 2 vs. No. 7 series

Western Conference Semifinals

• Winner of No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 series vs. winner of No. 4 vs. No. 5 series
• Winner of No. 3 vs. No. 6 series vs. winner of No. 2 vs. No. 7 series

Conference Final (2 games)

• Single-elimination match hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of a Conference Final game is tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is still tied at the end of the two extra time periods, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.
• The winner of each Conference Final match will advance to MLS Cup presented by Audi.

Eastern Conference Final

• Highest advancing seed vs. Lowest advancing seed

Western Conference Final

• Highest advancing seed vs. Lowest advancing seed

MLS Cup presented by Audi (1 game)

• A single match hosted by the higher seed.
• If the score of the game is tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is still tied at the end of the two extra time periods, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to d