Report: MLS Discussing 'World Cup-Style' Playoff Format Featuring Up to 30 Games

Major League Soccer is considering a massive playoff format change for the 2023 season, per Sam Stejskal and Pablo Maurer of The Athletic.

The league is considering expanding its playoff structure from 13 to 30 games, with The Athletic duo providing the reasoning:

"Sources said that the league is considering expanding its playoff format in part so it can increase its overall inventory of postseason matches in the first year of its new media rights agreement with Apple. The league and Apple announced a 10-year, $2.5 billion broadcast deal in June which will see the tech giant show every single MLS regular season and playoff match on its Apple TV streaming service starting in 2023."

With the shift to 30 games, therein lies the possibility of a "World Cup-style playoff tournament" to account for the postseason matchup increase.

The specifics and logistics of that tournament are not known, but one source "hypothesized" that it could consist of 16 teams advancing to a playoff with four groups (two East, two West). The top two seeds in each group would then advance to an eight-team round robin, followed by the MLS Cup.

The current MLS playoff format consists of seven teams from each conference advancing to a 14-team tournament. It is a single-elimination competition in which the top two teams in the East and West get byes.

There is also the possibility of the current format expanding from single- to double-leg, making for a 25-game playoff.

The format will be discussed at MLS' Nov. 15 board of governors meeting. Nothing has been approved as of yet.