Timeline of Major League Soccer
The following is a timeline of organizational changes in Major League Soccer, a professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that began play in 1996 with 10 teams and currently has 30 teams. This article includes expansions, contractions, renamings of clubs and conference realignment.
Timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1996 till:2026
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
PlotArea = right:100 left:5 bottom:70 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:line value:pink
id:Full value:rgb legend:League_member
id:Former value:rgb legend:Former_member
id:Future value:rgb legend:Future_member
id:Other value:rgb legend:Other_leagues
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Colorado Rapids
bar:2 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Columbus Crew
bar:3 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:D.C. United
bar:4 color:Full from:1996 till:2005 text:Dallas Burn
bar:4 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:FC Dallas
bar:5 color:Full from:1996 till:2011 text:Kansas City Wiz / Wizards
bar:5 color:Full from:2011 till:end text:Sporting Kansas City
bar:6 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:Los Angeles Galaxy
bar:7 color:Full from:1996 till:end text:New England Revolution
bar:8 color:Full from:1996 till:2006 text:New York/New Jersey MetroStars; MetroStars
bar:8 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:New York Red Bulls
bar:9 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 text:San Jose Clash
bar:9 color:Full from:2000 till:2006 text:San Jose Earthquakes
bar:9 color:Full from:2008 till:end text:San Jose Earthquakes
bar:10 color:Former from:1996 till:2002 text:Tampa Bay Mutiny
bar:11 color:Full from:1998 till:end text:Chicago Fire
bar:12 color:Former from:1998 till:2002 text:Miami Fusion
bar:13 color:Former from:2005 till:2015 text:Chivas USA
bar:14 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Real Salt Lake
bar:15 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:Houston Dynamo
bar:16 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Toronto FC
bar:17 color:Other from:1996 till:2009 text:A / USISL / USL
bar:17 color:Full from:2009 till:end text:Seattle Sounders FC
bar:18 color:Full from:2010 till:end text:Philadelphia Union
bar:19 color:Other from:1996 till:2011 text:A / USISL / USL / D-2
bar:19 color:Full from:2011 till:end text:Vancouver Whitecaps FC
bar:20 color:Other from:2001 till:2005 text:A-League
bar:20 color:Other from:2005 till:2010 text:USL-1
bar:20 color:Other from:2009 till:2011 text:D-2
bar:20 color:Full from:2011 till:end text:Portland Timbers
bar:21 color:Other from:1996 till:1999 text:APSL A-L
bar:21 color:Other from:2000 till:2012 text:A-L
bar:21 color:Other from:2005 till:2009 text:USL-1
bar:21 color:Other from:2009 till:2011 text:D-2/ NASL
bar:21 color:Full from:2012 till:2021 text:Montreal Impact
bar:21 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:CF Montréal
bar:22 color:Other from:2011 till:2015 text:USL
bar:22 color:Full from:2015 till:end text:Orlando City SC
bar:23 color:Full from:2015 till:end text:New York City FC
bar:24 color:Other from:2010 till:2012 text:D-2
bar:24 color:Other from:2012 till:2017 text:NASL
bar:24 color:Full from:2017 till:end text:Minnesota United FC
bar:25 color:Full from:2017 till:end text:Atlanta United FC
bar:26 color:Full from:2018 till:end text:Los Angeles FC
bar:27 color:Other from:2016 till:2019 text:USL
bar:27 color:Full from:2019 till:end text:FC Cincinnati
bar:28 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:Inter Miami CF
bar:29 color:Other from:2018 till:2020 text: USL / USLC
bar:29 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:Nashville SC
bar:30 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:Austin FC
bar:31 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:Charlotte FC
bar:32 color:Full from:2023 till:end align:right anchor:till text:St. Louis City SC
bar:33 color:Full from:2025 till:end align:right anchor:till text:San Diego FC
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:1996
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:
1996–1999: Early years
1996 (10 teams)
The league operated its first inaugural season in 1996 with 10 teams and two conferences.| Eastern | Western |
| Columbus Crew | Colorado Rapids |
| D.C. United | Dallas Burn |
| New England Revolution | Kansas City Wiz |
| NY/NJ MetroStars | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | San Jose Clash |
1997 (10 teams)
The Kansas City Wiz rebranded to Kansas City Wizards in the following season.| Eastern | Western |
| Columbus Crew | Colorado Rapids |
| D.C. United | Dallas Burn |
| New England Revolution | Kansas City Wizards |
| NY/NJ MetroStars | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | San Jose Clash |
1998–1999: First expansion (12 teams)
The league expanded for the first time in 1998 with Miami Fusion and Chicago Fire. The New York/New Jersey MetroStars went by just MetroStars by the same season.2000–2001: Three divisions
2000–2001 (12 teams)
In 2000, the league realigned to three divisions, with a new division: the Central Division. The Eastern and Western Conferences were renamed to the Eastern and Western Divisions respectively. The San Jose Clash rebranded to San Jose Earthquakes.2002–2006: League contraction
2002–2004 (10 teams)
Prior to the 2002 MLS season, Miami Fusion of the Eastern Division and Tampa Bay Mutiny of the Central Division folded. The league returned to the two-conference format for the season with a similar alignment to the 1997 season, only with Chicago Fire moving to the Eastern Conference.2005 (12 teams)
Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake were both added to the Western Conference for the 2005 expansion. The Kansas City Wizards were subsequently moved to the Eastern Conference to even the conferences out. The Dallas Burn rebranded to FC Dallas.| Team's first season in MLS * |
| Team switched conferences ‡ |
| Team relocated after the season † |
2006 (12 teams)
The San Jose Earthquakes relocated to Houston to become the Houston Dynamo. The MetroStars rebranded as the New York Red Bulls.2007–2014: Expansion into Canada
2007 (13 teams)
Toronto FC was added to the Eastern Conference during 2007 expansion, adding a team in Canada for the first time.2008 (14 teams)
The San Jose Earthquakes returned to the Western Conference for the 2008 season after a 2-year hiatus.2009 (15 teams)
Seattle Sounders FC was added to the Western Conference for the 2009 season, succeeding USL First Division team of the same name.2010 (16 teams)
Philadelphia Union was added to the Eastern Conference for the 2010 season.2011 (18 teams)
The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC were both added to the Western Conference with both teams being successors of USL teams. Houston Dynamo subsequently switched to the Eastern Conference to make both conferences even. The Kansas City Wizards rebranded to Sporting Kansas City prior to the season.| Team's first season in MLS * |
| Team switched conferences ‡ |
2012–2014 (19 teams)
Montreal Impact was added to the Eastern Conference for the 2012 season, succeeding a USL First Division team of the same name.| Team's first season in MLS * |
| Team folded after the 2014 season † |
2015–2025: Rapid expansion
2015–2016 (20 teams)
New York City FC and Orlando City SC were both added to the Eastern Conference, the latter of which was a successor of a USL Pro team of the same name; subsequently the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City were relocated back to the Western Conference to make both conferences even. Chivas USA would fold prior to the 2015 season.| Team's first season in MLS * |
| Team switched conferences ‡ |
2017 (22 teams)
Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United FC were added to the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively; the latter of which was the successor to the NASL team of the same name.2018 (23 teams)
Los Angeles FC was added to the Western Conference for the 2018 season.2019 (24 teams)
FC Cincinnati was added to the Eastern Conference after spending 3 years in the USL.2020 (26 teams)
Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC were both added to the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively, for the 2020 season. However, after the MLS is Back Tournament, Nashville SC was moved to the Eastern Conference. The Chicago Fire SC rebranded to Chicago Fire FC.| Team's first season in MLS * |
| Team's first season in MLS, then switched conferences midseason *‡ |
2021 (27 teams)
Austin FC was added to the Western Conference for the 2021 season. The Montreal Impact rebranded to Club de Foot Montréal .2022 (28 teams)
Charlotte FC was added to the Eastern Conference for the 2022 season; Nashville SC subsequently relocated to the Western Conference to even the conferences.| Team's first season in MLS * |
| Team switched conferences ‡ |
2023–2024 (29 teams)
St. Louis City SC was added to the Western Conference for the 2023 season; Nashville SC relocated to the Eastern Conference for a second time.| Team's first season in MLS * |
| Team switched conferences ‡ |