 | |
| Season | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Dates |
|
| MLS Cup | Columbus Crew (3rd title) |
| Supporters' Shield | FC Cincinnati (1st shield) |
| Champions Cup (United States) | |
| Champions Cup (Canada) | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
| Matches played | 493 |
| Goals scored | 1,359 (2.76 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Denis Bouanga (20 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Stefan Frei (14 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Columbus 6–1 Atlanta (March 25) Vancouver 5–0 Montréal (April 1) |
| Biggest away win | Salt Lake 0–4 St. Louis (March 25) |
| Highest scoring | 9 goals: St. Louis 6–3 Austin (August 20) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches: Cincinnati |
| Longest unbeaten run | 10 matches:
|
| Longest winless run | 11 matches: |
| Longest losing run | 8 matches: Toronto |
| Highest attendance | 82,110 LAG 2–1 LAFC (July 4)[1] |
| Lowest attendance | 7,417 NYCFC 3–0 TOR (September 24) |
| Total attendance | 10,900,804[2] |
| Average attendance | 22,111[2] |
← 2022 2024 → | |
The 2023 Major League Soccer season was the 28th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada, and the 45th season overall of a national first-division league in the United States. The league expanded to 29 clubs following the addition of St. Louis City SC to the Western Conference, with Nashville SC moving back to the Eastern Conference.
The regular season began on February 25 and concluded on October 21; it was followed by the playoffs which commenced on October 25. The regular schedule was released on December 20, 2022.[3] The regular season was paused from July 20 to August 19 for the month-long Leagues Cup, during which time MLS teams played Liga MX opponents.[4]
In June 2022, Apple Inc. and MLS announced a ten-year partnership for the broadcast and streaming rights to all MLS and Leagues Cup games, as well as select MLS Next and MLS Next Pro games, on the MLS Season Pass service within the Apple TV app.[5] Fox Sports retained linear MLS TV rights, while for the first time in league history, ESPN no longer aired matches. Univision opted to only air Leagues Cup games, thus also not broadcasting MLS regular season contests after a combined nineteen years.[6]
For the first time since its founding, MLS qualification berths for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup were not exclusively allocated to American clubs, allowing expatriated Canadian clubs an opportunity to qualify for the tournament without necessarily winning the Canadian Championship.[7][8][9]
Los Angeles FC were the reigning MLS Cup champions and were the Supporters' Shield holders; Philadelphia Union were the reigning Eastern Conference champions. In their fifth season in the league, FC Cincinnati won the Supporters' Shield for the first time.[10] The Columbus Crew won MLS Cup 2023 by defeating Los Angeles FC 2–1 at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.[11]
- ^ Sigal, Jonathan (July 4, 2023). "MLS history! El Tráfico at Rose Bowl sets single-game attendance record". Major League Aoccer. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
- ^ a b Kennedy, Paul (October 22, 2023). "MLS breaks attendance record". Soccer America. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
- ^ "2023 MLS Regular Season schedule announced". MLSsoccer.com. December 20, 2022. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ "Leagues Cup 2023 dates and structure announced". Major League Soccer. October 6, 2022. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
- ^ Noor Haq, Sana (June 15, 2022). "MLS and Apple announce 10-year streaming deal". CNN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
- ^ "Univision out of MLS regular-season and playoff TV broadcasts amid new Apple deal". December 12, 2022. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ "Concacaf announces expanded Champions League starting in 2024". Major League Soccer. September 21, 2021. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ "How clubs can qualify for the expanded 2024 Concacaf Champions League". Major League Soccer. June 1, 2022. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
- ^ "Concacaf announces qualification criteria for Confederation's expanded Champions League starting in 2024". CONCACAF. June 1, 2022. Archived from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
- ^ "FC Cincinnati clinches MLS Supporters' Shield". ESPN.com. October 1, 2023. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ Mac Kay, Brianna (December 9, 2023). "Columbus Crew top LAFC to win franchise's third MLS Cup". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.