2018 MLS expansion draft
The 2018 MLS Expansion Draft was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team FC Cincinnati that was held on December 11, 2018. Lists of protected rosters and draft-eligible players were released by MLS on December 10, 2018.
Format
The rules for the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft as laid out by Major League Soccer.- The five teams that had players selected by Los Angeles FC during the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft were exempt from the 2018 Expansion Draft: Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City, San Jose Earthquakes, Columbus Crew SC, and Toronto FC.
- Existing teams were allowed to protect 11 players from their Senior, Supplemental, and Reserve Roster. Generation Adidas players and Homegrown Players on supplemental rosters were automatically protected and exempt from the expansion draft, though players who graduated from the Generation Adidas program to the senior roster at the end of the 2018 season were not exempt.
- If the player's contract expired at the end of 2018, he was considered part of the club's Senior Roster.
- Only one player might have been claimed from each club's non-protected roster; that team was not allowed to lose any further players.
- The expansion draft lasted five rounds, totaling five players to be drafted.