The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in the United States. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States, and formerly Mexico and Canada. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The league draws talent from a global talent pool with players from Major League Soccer (MLS), Liga MX, and many national teams. With a new management team, the league has grown in popularity and commercially. Former USMNT and MLS star Landon Donovan played in the MASL, as do multiple international players.

History The league was organized as the "Professional Arena Soccer League" on May 18, 2008, as an offshoot of the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier), the largest amateur league in the United States. The league was originally nicknamed "PASL-Pro" to distinguish it from PASL-Premier. The first league game was played on October 25, 2008, in front of a crowd of 3,239 at Stockton Arena, in Stockton, California, with the California Cougars defeating the Colorado Lightning 10–5. In 2011, it was announced the professional league would officially be referred to as simply PASL, while the amateur league would still be referred to as the PASL-Premier.

On March 17, 2014, one day after the 2013–2014 Major Indoor Soccer League Championship finale, United Soccer Leagues President Tim Holt announced "a number" of teams would not be returning to MISL the following year. In April 2014 it was officially announced that six teams (Baltimore Blast, Milwaukee Wave, Missouri Comets, Rochester Lancers, St. Louis Ambush, and Syracuse Silver Knights) joined PASL for the 2014–2015 season.

The league announced a change in its name from the Professional Arena Soccer League to the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) on May 18, 2014. This represents a merging of the MISL and PASL names. MASL fielded 23 teams for the 2014–15 season.

Split and re-merger into the MASL In February 2016, the current owner of the Baltimore Blast, Ed Hale, announced his intentions to leave the MASL and form a new league, the Indoor Professional League. Hale was later announced as the chairman of the league, and Sam Fantauzzo, former owner of the Rochester Lancers, was announced as the first commissioner of the league. The St. Louis Ambush, Baltimore Blast, and Harrisburg Heat announced plans to join, along with the expansion Florida Tropics SC. In July 2016, the MASL was reformed as a new not-for-profit entity [501(c)6], a new entity separate from the previous MASL, LLC.

In August 2016, the new MASL announced that the Blast, Heat, and Ambush would return to the MASL while the Tropics would join the MASL as an expansion team. This effectively ended the IPL split with the MASL.

In a repeat of the 2015-16 Newman Cup the Baltimore Blast would go on to once again defeat Soles de Sonora 2–1.

Launch of MASL 2 In October 2017 it was officially announced the Major Arena Soccer League 2 (MASL 2) would launch in December 2017. MASL 2 serves as the developmental league for the MASL. The initial lineup of this league consisted of former MASL clubs Chicago Mustangs, Waza Flo, the reserve teams for the Ontario Fury, San Diego Sockers, former PASL clubs, and new expansion teams.

High-profile players In the 2018–19 season, the MASL saw an influx of players to the arena game with past MLS experience, headlined by the additions of Landon Donovan to the San Diego Sockers, Jermaine Jones to the Ontario Fury, and Dwayne De Rosario with the Mississauga MetroStars. The Empire Strykers signed Marco Fabián to the second-largest contract in league history in December 2023 in an attempt to lure more professional players to the league.

End of the 2019–20 season Like many sports leagues, the MASL ended its regular 2019–20 season early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, the league announced that it was looking at conducting its playoffs in a centralized location. However, this did not take place, and the remainder of the season was cancelled.

Formation of the Major Arena Soccer League 3 On July 20, 2020, the MASL launched a new semi-professional/amateur developmental league known as MASL 3 (Major Arena Soccer League 3) set to kick off in 2021. The anticipated conferences expected to play were to be in the North East, Mid-Atlantic, South East, Great Lakes, Central North, Central South, Heartland Conference, Mountain North, Mountain South, Southwest, Pacific North, and Pacific South regions. The Omaha Kings FC, Sunflower State FC, Grand Rapids Wanderers FC and Muskegon Risers SC were announced as the first members of the league. However, the Risers were dropped from M3 and replaced by the Springfield Demize and Wichita Wings 2. The league launched their new website on January 30, 2021.

Formation of the Major Arena Soccer League Women (2024) On September 3, 2024, the MASL launched a new women's league known as MASL W (Major Arena Soccer League Women) set to kick off in 2024.

Teams

Current Teams

Team Location Arena Capacity Joined Coach MASL2 AffiliateBaltimore Blast Towson, Maryland TU Arena 3,580 2014 David Bascome FC Baltimore 1729Empire Strykers Ontario, California Toyota Arena 9,736 2013 Robert Palmer Harrisburg Heat Hershey, Pennsylvania Hersheypark Arena 7,225 2014 Hugo SilvaKansas City Comets Independence, Missouri Cable Dahmer Arena 5,800 2014 Stefan Stokic Minnesota BlizzardLehigh Valley Spirits Allentown, Pennsylvania PPL Center 8,500 2026 Giuliano Oliviero Milwaukee Wave Milwaukee, Wisconsin UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena 9,500 2014 Marcio Leite San Diego Sockers Oceanside, California Frontwave Arena 7,500 2009 Paul Salvagio St. Louis Ambush St. Charles, Missouri Family Arena 9,643 2014 Jeff Locker Tacoma Stars Kent, Washington accesso ShoWare Center 7,141 2010 Adam Becker Utica City FC Utica, New York Adirondack Bank Center 3,860 2014 Nate Bourdeau United Elite Krajisnik FC

Future Expansion On September 23, 2025, the league announced the it is expanding to the Sacramento/Rancho Cordova region in 2027. A new arena is planned for Rancho Cordova as a part of the deal. +Future teamsTeamLocationArenaCapacityJoiningMASL SacramentoRancho Cordova, CaliforniaDova Arena7,5002027

MASL Team Map

Champions +North American Finals championsSeasonChampionsScoreRunner-UpPlayoffs / Host2008–09Stockton Cougars13–5 1790 CincinnatiStockton, California 2009–10San Diego Sockers9–8La Raza de GuadalajaraSan Diego, California2010–11San Diego Sockers10–6La Raza de GuadalajaraCincinnati, Ohio

+Ron Newman Cup championsSeasonChampionsScore(s)Runner-UpPlayoffs / Host2011–12San Diego Sockers10–7Detroit Waza FloSan Diego, California2012–13San Diego Sockers8–6Detroit Waza FloSan Diego, California2013–14Chicago Mustangs14–5Hidalgo La FieraHoffman Estates, Illinois 2014–15Monterrey Flash6–4 (OT), 4–6, 4–3 (OT)Baltimore BlastMonterrey, N.L., México (2-game series with mini-game tiebreaker)2015–16Baltimore Blast7–4, 14–13 (OT)Soles de Sonora Hermosillo, Son., México (2-game series with mini-game tiebreaker)2016–17Baltimore Blast2–4, 9–8 (OT), 1–0Soles de Sonora Hermosillo, Son., México (2-game series with mini-game tiebreaker)2017–18Baltimore Blast4–3Monterrey FlashMonterrey, N.L., México2018–19Milwaukee Wave5–2Monterrey FlashMilwaukee, Wisconsin2019–20Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2021San Diego Sockers7–3, 5–6 (OT), 2–1Ontario FuryOntario, California (2-game series with mini-game tiebreaker)2021–22San Diego Sockers6–3, 4–3Florida Tropics SCSan Diego, California (2-game series with mini-game tiebreaker)2022–23Chihuahua Savage7–6, 10–6Baltimore BlastChihuahua, Chihuahua, México2023–24Chihuahua Savage4–3, 5–4Kansas City CometsChihuahua, Chihuahua, México2024–25Chihuahua Savage5–7, 10–6, 6–0San Diego SockersChihuahua, Chihuahua, México (2-game series with mini-game tiebreaker)2025–26San Diego Sockers5-4, 2-7, 10-3Milwaukee Wave2 games in Oceanside, California & 1 game in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Attendance +Attendance by season for the Major Arena Soccer LeagueSeasonGamesTotalAveragePlayoffsGamesTotalAverageReference2008–0958*76,8881,32620092009–1087†58,80167620102010–1184‡59,12870420112011–129663,003656201267,2111,2012012–13151146,19396820131119,0061,7272013–14159214,5521,34920141023,8892,3882014–15223546,7052,45120151988,5134,6582015–16198480,0192,42420162493,0043,8762016–17170474,8092,79320171961,1963,2212017–18176446,9132,53920181249,1984,1002018–19204462,6702,26820191241,7563,4802019–20179454,6702,5402020202117•19,5191,14820215•7,3111,4622021–22143¶264,4481,849202218¶24,2181,3452022–23168364,8222,172202320#33,3111,8512023–24156334,9872,147202416#15,2829552024–25144325,0482,2572025918,5042,0562025–2696276,4302,87920261440,637 3,335* Does not include 28 games where attendance was not reported. The PASL 2008–09 regular season consisted of 86 games total.† Does not include 8 games where attendance was not reported. The PASL 2009–10 regular season consisted of 95 games total.‡ Does not include 10 games where attendance was not reported. The PASL 2010–11 regular season consisted of 94 games total.• Due to COVID-19 only 17 out of 41 games this season where attendance was recorded. In the Ron Newman Cup Playoffs only 5 out 14 games recorded attendance.¶ Does not include 2 regular season games where attendance was not reported; the MASL 2021–22 regular season consisted of 141 games total. Does not include 5 playoff games where attendance was not reported; the 2022 Ron Newman Cup Playoffs consisted of 18 games total. # Does not include 2 playoff matches in which attendance was not reported.

Sponsorship The official game ball was made by Puma SE through the 2016–17 season. Starting in the 2017–18 season, Mitre became the official ball sponsor of both the MASL and M2.

Broadcast rights Select 2018–2019 MASL matches were broadcast on Eleven Sports Network in the United States. Some matches are also broadcast regionally throughout the United States. All matches since 2016–2017 season are archived on MASLtv, the MASL's YouTube Channel

For the 2022–23 Season, MASL announced broadcast partnerships with Amazon / Twitch, CanelaTV (Spanish) and AtmosphereTV.

At the start of the 2024–25 season MASL announced that they would partner with CBS Sports Golazo Network which premiered 40 games in their first full season.

Staff

Commissioner Keith Tozer

Office of the Commissioner Shep Messing – Chairman JP Dellacamera – President of Communications/Media Lindsay Mogle – Director of Communications/Team Services Jon Ramin – Vice-President of Operations Werner Roth – Advisor Dennis Fry – Chief Financial Officer Ken Stanley – Content Director Ryan Cigich - Head of MASL Officials Jesse Meehan - Operations Manager Pete Richmire – League Statistician Óscar Sánchez – Spanish Content Manager Phil Lavanco – Video Production Manager Jack Williams – Social Media Manager Christian Filimon - Director of Corporate Sponsorships

Executive committee Jeff Burum (Empire) – President Lane Smith (Tacoma) – Vice-President Shelly Clark (St. Louis) – Secretary Kevin Healey (Harrisburg) – Treasurer Phil Salvagio (San Diego) – Member-at-Large

Former/defunct teams