Eastern Conference (MLS)

The Eastern Conference is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Western Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with clubs east of the river in the Eastern Conference.
As of 2023, the Eastern Conference contains 15 teams. The conference has produced 17 Supporters' Shield champions and 12 MLS Cup winners in Major League Soccer's first 30 seasons. In 2000 and 2001, the conference was referred to as the Eastern Division when Major League Soccer briefly reorganized into three divisions.

Members

Timeline

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Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Eastern value:rgb # Use this color to denote a that a team was in the Eastern Conference.
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bar:1 color:Eastern from:2002 till:end text:Columbus Crew
bar:2 color:Eastern from:1996 till:end text:D.C. United
bar:3 color:Eastern from:1996 till:end text:New England Revolution
bar:4 color:Eastern from:1996 till:end text:New York Red Bulls
bar:5 color:Eastern from:1996 till:2000 text:Tampa Bay Mutiny
bar:5 color:Central from:2000 till:2002 width:8 text:
bar:6 color:Eastern from:1998 till:2002 text:Miami Fusion
bar:7 color:Western from:1998 till:2000 width:8 text:
bar:7 color:Central from:2000 till:2002 width:8 text:
bar:7 color:Eastern from:2002 till:end text:Chicago Fire
bar:8 color:Western from:1996 till:2005 width:8 text:
bar:8 color:Eastern from:2005 till:2015 text:Sporting Kansas City
bar:8 color:Western from:2015 till:end width:8 text:
bar:9 color:Eastern from:2007 till:end text:Toronto FC
bar:10 color:Eastern from:2010 till:end text:Philadelphia Union
bar:11 color:Western from:2006 till:2011 width:8 text:
bar:11 color:Eastern from:2011 till:2015 text:Houston Dynamo
bar:11 color:Western from:2015 till:end width:8 text:
bar:12 color:Eastern from:2012 till:end text:CF Montréal
bar:13 color:Eastern from:2015 till:end text:New York City FC
bar:14 color:Eastern from:2015 till:end text:Orlando City SC
bar:15 color:Eastern from:2017 till:end text:Atlanta United FC
bar:16 color:Eastern from:2019 till:end text:FC Cincinnati
bar:17 color:Eastern from:2020 till:end text:Inter Miami FC
bar:18 color:Eastern from:2020 till:2022 text:Nashville SC
bar:18 color:Western from:2022 till:2023 width:8 text:
bar:18 color:Eastern from:2023 till:end text:
bar:19 color:Eastern from:2022 till:end text:Charlotte FC
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Conference lineups by year

1996–97 (5 teams)

Changes from 1995: Creation of the Major League Soccer.

1998–99 (6 teams)

Changes from 1997: New York/New Jersey MetroStars simplified their name to New York MetroStars; the Miami Fusion were added in the 1998 expansion.

2000–01 (as Eastern Division) (4 teams)

Changes from 1999: The Eastern Conference changed its name to Eastern Division with the creation of the Central Division;
the Columbus Crew and the Tampa Bay Mutiny moved to the new division.

2002–04 (5 teams)

Changes from 2001: The Eastern Division changed back its name to Eastern Conference following the contraction of the Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, resulting in the disbanding of the Central Division; Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew moved in from the Central Division

2005 (6 teams)

Changes from 2004: Kansas City Wizards moved in from the Western Conference.

2006 (6 teams)

Changes from 2005: The New York MetroStars were bought by Red Bull and changed their name to New York Red Bulls.

2007–09 (7 teams)

Changes from 2006: Toronto FC was added in the 2007 expansion.

2010 (8 teams)

Changes from 2009: Philadelphia Union was added in the 2010 expansion.

2011 (9 teams)

Changes from 2010: The Kansas City Wizards changed their name to Sporting Kansas City; Houston Dynamo moved in from the Western Conference.

2012–14 (10 teams)

Changes from 2011: Montreal Impact was added in the 2012 expansion.

2015–16 (10 teams)

Changes from 2014: New [York City FC] and Orlando City SC were added as expansion franchises; Sporting Kansas City and Houston Dynamo moved out to the Western Conference; Columbus Crew adds "SC" to the official team name.

2017–18 (11 teams)

Changes from 2016: Atlanta United FC was added in the 2017 expansion.

2019 (12 teams)

Changes from 2018: FC Cincinnati was added in the 2019 expansion.

2020 (14 teams)

Changes from 2019: Inter Miami CF was added in the 2020 expansion, Nashville SC was added since the MLS is Back Tournament up to the end of the 2020 season; Chicago Fire SC was renamed Chicago Fire FC.

2021 (14 teams)

Changes from 2020: Nashville SC moved in from the Western Conference; the
Montreal Impact was renamed Club de Foot Montréal. Columbus Crew SC was briefly renamed to Columbus SC and then to Columbus Crew.

2022 (14 teams)

Changes from 2021: Charlotte FC was added as a then-unnamed expansion franchise in 2019, with its first season initially set for 2021 but delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nashville SC moved back to the Western Conference.

2023–26 (15 teams)

Changes from 2022: Nashville SC was moved back to the Eastern Conference as expansion side St. Louis City SC was added to the Western Conference.

Eastern Conference playoff champions by year

Note: The conference finals were a best-of-three series through 2001. Matches tied after regulation were decided by a shoot-out (association football)|shoot-out]. In 2002, a similar format was used except that draws were allowed and the team earning the most points advanced. From 2003 through 2011, the Finals were a single match. Matches tied after regulation moved to extra time, then a shoot-out if necessary. Beginning in 2012, the finals were a two-match aggregate series. The away goals rule for series that finished even on aggregate was first implemented in 2014. Extra time and shoot-outs are used if necessary, although away goals did not apply in extra time. In 2019, the playoffs returned to a single match format, hosted by the higher ranked team through the regular season.
^W – Western Conference team.

Eastern Conference regular season champions by year

No trophy is awarded for leading the conference standings at the end of the regular season, unless the regular season leader also wins the Supporters' Shield. The winner of the Conference play-offs is considered the Conference champion. Since 2013, the winner of each conference has qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Three clubs have topped the Eastern Conference standings at the end of the regular season, won the Supporters' Shield, the Eastern Conference and the MLS Cup; D.C. United, twice, Columbus Crew and Toronto FC. Toronto in 2017 also won the Canadian Championship, being the only MLS team to therefore take a clean sweep of all titles available to them.

	also won Supporters' Shield
Italic	also won Eastern Conference play off final
Bold	also won MLS Cup

^ – MLS did not have draws until the 2000 season.

† – Miami Fusion were declared winners of the Eastern Division in 2001 after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks forced the cancellation of the rest of the regular season. The MLS Cup playoffs began on September 20.

MLS East at the MLS All-Star Game

In 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004, the Major League Soccer All-Star Game was contested between an all-star team from the Eastern Conference and an all-star team from the Western Conference. In total, the MLS East all-star team has 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss against the west.

Year	Result	Score	Series
1996	Won	3–2	East 1–0–0
1997	Won	5–4	East 2–0–0
1999	Lost	4–6	East 2–1–0
2000	Won	9–4	East 3–1–0
2001	Tied	6–6	East 3–1–1
2004	Won	3–2	East 4–1–1