The 2017 Major League Soccer season was the 22nd season of Major League Soccer, top division of soccer in the United States and Canada. The regular season began on March 3, 2017 and concluded on October 22, 2017. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 25, 2017 and concluded with MLS Cup 2017 on December 9, 2017.
Two new clubs joined the league as expansion franchises: Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United FC. The two franchises were the 21st and 22nd teams in the league.
Seattle Sounders FC were the defending MLS Cup champions, while FC Dallas were the defending Supporters' Shield champions. Toronto FC became the first Canadian team to win the Cup and Shield. Toronto's win of the Canadian Championship in the same year earned them the first domestic treble by an MLS side.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Western Conference Team Stadium Capacity Colorado Rapids Dick's Sporting Goods Park 18,061 FC Dallas Toyota Stadium 20,500 Houston Dynamo BBVA Compass Stadium 22,039 LA Galaxy StubHub Center 27,000 Minnesota United FC TCF Bank Stadium 21,895 Portland Timbers Providence Park 21,144 Real Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 San Jose Earthquakes Avaya Stadium 18,000 Seattle Sounders FC CenturyLink Field 39,419 Sporting Kansas City Children's Mercy Park 18,467 Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place 22,120
Eastern Conference Team Stadium Capacity Atlanta United FC Mercedes-Benz Stadium 42,500 Chicago Fire Toyota Park 20,000 Columbus Crew SC Mapfre Stadium 19,968 D.C. United RFK Stadium 20,000 Montreal Impact Saputo Stadium 20,801 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 20,000 New York City FC Yankee Stadium 30,321 New York Red Bulls Red Bull Arena 25,000 Orlando City SC Orlando City Stadium 25,500 Philadelphia Union Talen Energy Stadium 18,500 Toronto FC BMO Field 30,000
Personnel and sponsorship
Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.
Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsorAtlanta United FC American Family InsuranceChicago Fire ValsparColorado Rapids (interim) TransamericaColumbus Crew SC AcuraD.C. United LeidosFC Dallas AdvoCareHouston Dynamo BHP BillitonLA Galaxy HerbalifeMinnesota United FC TargetMontreal Impact Bank of MontrealNew England Revolution (interim) UnitedHealthcareNew York City FC Etihad AirwaysNew York Red Bulls Red BullOrlando City SC Orlando HealthPhiladelphia Union Bimbo Bakeries USAPortland Timbers Alaska AirlinesReal Salt Lake Mike Petke LifeVantageSan Jose Earthquakes Sutter HealthSeattle Sounders FC XboxSporting Kansas City Ivy FundsToronto FC Bank of MontrealVancouver Whitecaps FC Bell Canada
Coaching changes TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming coachDate of appointmentHouston DynamoEnd of interim periodPre-season LA Galaxy Real Salt Lake Mutual consent (interim) (interim)End of interim period9th in West, 19th overall San Jose Earthquakes Fired5th in West, 12th overall LA Galaxy Fired9th in West, 19th overall Colorado Rapids Pablo MastroeniFired10th in West, 20th overallAugust 15, 2017 Jay HeapsFired8th in East, 16th overall Tom Soehn (interim)
Regular season
Format Current teams: Each team in the league (except for expansion teams Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United FC) played 17 home and 17 away games (for a total of 34 games) using the following format: 2 games (home and away) against 10 teams in its conference (20 games). 1 extra game against 3 of its conference rivals (3 games). 1 game against 11 teams in the other conference (11 games). Expansion teams: As expansion teams to the league in 2017, Atlanta United and Minnesota United played 17 home and 17 away games (for a total of 34 games) in a secondary format: 2 games (home and away) against 10 teams in its conference (20 games). 1 extra game against 2 of its conference rivals (2 games). 1 game against 10 teams in the other conference (10 games). 2 games (1 home and 1 away) against each other (2 games).
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup playoffs
Bracket
Knockout round
Conference semifinals
Conference finals
MLS Cup
Attendance
Average home attendances Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance. Team 1 Atlanta United FC 17819,40471,874 42,511 48,200 2 Seattle Sounders FC 17742,31451,796 40,182 43,666 3 Toronto FC 17470,00529,203 25,200 27,647 4 Orlando City SC 17425,47725,527 23,018 25,028 5 New York City FC 17379,45533,679 10,165* 22,321 6 LA Galaxy 17378,12825,667 17,404 22,243 7 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 17364,07325,083 17,368 21,416 8 New York Red Bulls 17359,97725,219 16,213 21,175 9 Portland Timbers 17359,44821,144 21,144 21,144 10 Minnesota United FC 17349,13835,043 17,491 20,538 11 Montreal Impact 17340,78334,373 16,005 20,046 12 San Jose Earthquakes 17337,87350,617 17,256 19,875 13 Sporting Kansas City 17332,12120,933 18,648 19,537 14 New England Revolution 17329,23333,767 10,487 19,367 15 Real Salt Lake 17319,28420,348 16,434 18,781 16 D.C. United 17304,36941,418 11,972 17,904 17 Houston Dynamo 17297,50722,115 14,148 17,500 18 Chicago Fire 17295,51121,891 11,244 17,383 19 Philadelphia Union 17285,79718,619 15,107 16,812 20 Columbus Crew SC 17262,46920,391 10,318 15,439 21 Colorado Rapids 17260,47617,648 13,102 15,322 22 FC Dallas 17257,07716,291 14,016 15,122 – Total 3748,269,91971,874 10,16522,112
game played at East Hartford
Highest attendances Regular season
Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Week Stadium1 Atlanta United FC 2–2 Toronto FC 71,874 33 Mercedes-Benz Stadium2 Atlanta United FC 3–3 Orlando City SC 70,425 28 Mercedes-Benz Stadium3 Atlanta United FC 1–2 New York Red Bulls 55,297 1 Bobby Dodd Stadium4 Seattle Sounders FC 1–1 Portland Timbers 51,796 25 CenturyLink Field5 San Jose Earthquakes 2–1 LA Galaxy 50,617 18 Stanford Stadium6 Seattle Sounders FC 4–0 FC Dallas 48,478 32 CenturyLink Field7 Seattle Sounders FC 1–0 Portland Timbers 47,362 13 CenturyLink Field8 Atlanta United FC 1–3 D.C. United 46,011 9 Bobby Dodd Stadium9 Atlanta United FC 4–0 Chicago Fire 45,922 3 Bobby Dodd Stadium10 Seattle Sounders FC 3–1 New York Red Bulls 45,600 3 CenturyLink Field
Player statistics
Goals RankPlayerClubGoals1 Nemanja NikolićChicago Fire242 David VillaNew York City FC223 Diego ValeriPortland Timbers214 Josef MartínezAtlanta United FC195 Ola KamaraColumbus Crew SC186 Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact17 Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red Bulls8 Sebastian GiovincoToronto FC16 C. J. SapongPhiladelphia Union10 Jozy AltidoreToronto FC15
Assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Sacha KljestanNew York Red Bulls172 Víctor VázquezToronto FC163 Lee NguyenNew England Revolution154 Miguel AlmirónAtlanta United FC14 Michael BarriosFC Dallas Federico HiguaínColumbus Crew SC7 Yamil AsadAtlanta United FC13 Albert RusnákReal Salt Lake9 Romain AlessandriniLA Galaxy12 Nicolás LodeiroSeattle Sounders FC Haris MedunjaninPhiladelphia Union
Shutouts RankPlayerClubShutouts1 Stefan FreiSeattle Sounders FC132Toronto FC10 Tim MeliaSporting Kansas City Luis RoblesNew York Red Bulls5 Andre Blake9 Jesse GonzálezFC Dallas Zack SteffenColumbus Crew SC8 Cody CropperNew England Revolution8 Brad GuzanAtlanta United FC Matt Lampson Nick RimandoReal Salt Lake
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Josef Martínez Atlanta United FC Minnesota United FC 6–1 March 12 Erick Torres Houston Dynamo New York Red Bulls 4–1 April 1 C. J. Sapong Philadelphia Union New York Red Bulls 3–0 May 6 Justin Meram Columbus Crew SC Montreal Impact 3–2 May 13 Gerso Sporting Kansas City Seattle Sounders FC 3–0 May 17 Miguel Almirón Atlanta United FC Houston Dynamo 4–1 May 20 Roland Lamah FC Dallas Real Salt Lake 6–2 June 3 David Accam Chicago Fire Orlando City SC 4–0 June 24 David Villa New York City FC New York Red Bulls 3–2 August 6 Kei Kamara Orlando City SC 4–0 September 2 Josef Martínez Atlanta United FC 7–0 September 13 Josef Martínez Atlanta United FC Orlando City SC 3–3 September 16 Patrick Mullins4 D.C. United San Jose Earthquakes 4–0 September 23 Justin Morrow Toronto FC New York Red Bulls 4–2 Chicago Fire Philadelphia Union 3–2 October 15
4 Scored 4 goals
Awards Player of the Month
MonthPlayerClubStatsRefMarch Josef MartínezAtlanta United FC5G April Joe BendikOrlando City SC2SO May Nemanja NikolićChicago Fire6G, 1A June David VillaNew York City FC3G July Daniel RoyerNew York Red Bulls6G, 1A August Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact7G, 1A September Josef MartínezAtlanta United FC9G
Player and Team of the week Bold denotes player of the week.