The 2020 Major League Soccer season was the 25th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The regular season began on February 29, 2020, and was originally planned to end on October 4. The MLS Cup Playoffs were planned to begin later that month and would end with MLS Cup 2020 on November 7.
On March 12, 2020, the season entered a lengthy suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, following the cancellation of several matches. On May 1, the league announced that players would be allowed to resume individual outdoor training at MLS facilities on May 6. The COVID-19 pandemic was the first interruption of regular season play since the 2001 MLS season, in which many late regular season games were canceled due to the September 11 attacks. On June 10, MLS announced that a bracket format dubbed the "MLS is Back Tournament" would begin July 8 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World, and end with the final on August 11. The tournament included 51 matches in 35 days and over 1,000 players and staff quarantined to a set of hotels at Walt Disney World; it was eventually won by the Portland Timbers, who as a result earned a berth in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League. The regular season later resumed a day after the tournament finished, and concluded on November 8. The playoffs began on November 20 with MLS Cup 2020 now being played on December 12.
The 2020 season saw the addition of two expansion clubs, Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC, which took Major League Soccer to 26 total teams. Nashville SC was initially placed in the Western Conference, for a 13–13 team balance, despite Nashville being to the east of the western most Eastern Conference team, Chicago Fire FC. However, after the MLS Is Back Tournament, COVID-19 difficulties led to MLS limiting teams to matches with teams in geographic proximity, and as a result Nashville was moved to the Eastern conference due to geography. This led to an imbalance, with 14 teams in the Eastern Conference and 12 in the Western Conference. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this season was planned to be the first MLS season in which each team did not play every other team at least once, but, due to the pandemic, the schedule was heavily modified and most teams only played other teams within a regional geographic bubble. During the regular season around September and toward the end of the season, COVID-19 cross-border restrictions imposed by the Canadian government forced the Canadian MLS teams to play home matches in the United States.
The Philadelphia Union won the Supporters' Shield on the final day of the regular season, the first major trophy in the club's history. Columbus Crew SC defeated defending champions Seattle Sounders FC in MLS Cup 2020 3–0 to win a second MLS Cup title, and their first since 2008. The league's teams incurred an estimated financial loss of $1 billion due to lost ticket sales and additional costs. The 2020 season was the longest in MLS season, stretching 287 days.
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 FC BBVA Stadium 22,039 LA Galaxy Dignity Health Sports Park 27,000 Los Angeles FC Banc of California Stadium 22,000 Minnesota United FC Allianz Field 19,400 Portland Timbers Providence Park 25,218 Real Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes Stadium 18,000 Seattle Sounders FC Lumen Field 37,722 Sporting Kansas City Children's Mercy Park 18,467 Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place / Providence Park 22,120 / 25,218
Eastern Conference Team Stadium Capacity Atlanta United FC Mercedes-Benz Stadium 71,000 Chicago Fire FC Soldier Field 24,955 FC Cincinnati TQL Stadium 26,000 Columbus Crew SC Mapfre Stadium 19,968 D.C. United Audi Field 20,000 Inter Miami CF Inter Miami CF Stadium 18,000 Montreal Impact Saputo Stadium / Olympic Stadium / Red Bull Arena 19,619 / 61,004 / 25,000 Nashville SC Nissan Stadium 60,000 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 20,000 New York City FC Yankee Stadium / Red Bull Arena 30,321 / 25,000 New York Red Bulls Red Bull Arena 25,000 Orlando City SC Exploria Stadium 25,500 Philadelphia Union Subaru Park 18,500 Toronto FC BMO Field / Pratt & Whitney Stadium 28,351 / 38,066
Two stadiums were renamed during the 2019–20 offseason: Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes, was renamed Earthquakes Stadium on January 11, 2020. The team was unable to find a new naming rights partner after original stadium sponsor Avaya filed for bankruptcy. Talen Energy Stadium, home to the Philadelphia Union, was renamed Subaru Park on February 18. The Union's 2010 naming rights contract with PPL, which was inherited in 2015 by the PPL spinoff Talen Energy, expired after the 2019 season, and Subaru of America, the U.S. subsidiary of Japanese automaker Subaru, was announced as the new partner also on February 18.
An additional stadium was renamed prior to the 2020 postseason: CenturyLink Field, home to Seattle Sounders FC, was renamed to Lumen Field on November 19. The telecommunications company had changed its name from CenturyLink to Lumen Technologies the prior September.
Expansion team Nashville SC began the season in the MLS Western Conference. As part of the announcement of the MLS is Back Tournament, MLS confirmed that for one season only, Nashville would transfer to the MLS Eastern Conference which thereby expanded to 14 teams for the season, with the Western Conference reduced to 12. Due to travel restrictions between US and Canada the three Canadian teams were relocated to temporary stadiums in the United States starting September 20.
Personnel and sponsorship
For the 2020 season, MLS allowed teams to sign sleeve sponsorship agreements for the left jersey sleeve; beginning with the MLS is Back Tournament, this was extended to both sleeves and club shorts in certain circumstances.
Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Sleeve and short sponsor Atlanta United FC (interim) American Family Insurance Piedmont Orthopedics, Truist, NAPA Chicago Fire FC Motorola Motorola, CIBC FC Cincinnati Mercy Health Cintas, First Financial Bank Colorado Rapids Transamerica WFG, Western Union Columbus Crew SC Nationwide Children's Hospital Scotts, OhioHealth D.C. United (interim) Leidos Caesars Entertainment, Gainbridge, Events DC, EagleBank FC Dallas AdvoCare AdvoCare Houston Dynamo FC MD Anderson Kroger, Coushatta Casino Resort Inter Miami CF — Baptist Health LA Galaxy (interim) Herbalife Herbalife, Dignity Health Los Angeles FC YouTube TV Target Minnesota United FC Target Bell Bank, Allianz Montreal Impact Bank of Montreal Saputo Nashville SC Renasant Bank Hyundai, Jackson New England Revolution UnitedHealth Gillette, Santander New York City FC Etihad Airways AT&T, Ford New York Red Bulls Red Bull Yanmar Orlando City SC Orlando Health Exploria Philadelphia Union Bimbo Bakeries USA Thomas', Subaru Portland Timbers Alaska Airlines KeyBank, AT&T Real Salt Lake LifeVantage KeyBank, Ford San Jose Earthquakes Intermedia Clover, Wells Fargo Seattle Sounders FC Zulily WaFd Bank Sporting Kansas City Ivy Funds Compass Minerals Toronto FC Bank of Montreal GE Appliances, Bank of Montreal Vancouver Whitecaps FC Bell Canada GE Appliances
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment Orlando City SC James O'Connor Fired October 7, 2019Pre-season Óscar Pareja December 4, 2019 Houston Dynamo FC Davy Arnaud End of interim period October 24, 2019 Tab Ramos October 25, 2019 Montreal Impact Wílmer Cabrera Contract expired October 24, 2019 Thierry Henry November 14, 2019 New York City FC Domènec Torrent Mutual consent November 8, 2019 Ronny Deila January 6, 2020 Chicago Fire FC Veljko Paunović Fired November 13, 2019 Raphaël Wicky December 27, 2019FC Cincinnati Ron Jans Resigned February 18, 2020 Yoann Damet (interim) February 18, 2020 Yoann Damet End of interim period May 21, 2020 11th in East, 23rd overall Jaap Stam May 21, 2020 Atlanta United FC Frank de Boer Fired July 24, 2020 7th in East, 14th overall Stephen Glass (interim) July 27, 2020New York Red Bulls Chris Armas Fired September 4, 2020 7th in East, 12th overall Bradley Carnell (interim) September 5, 2020 Bradley Carnell End of interim period October 6, 2020 7th in East, 12th overall Gerhard Struber October 6, 2020 D.C. United Ben Olsen Fired October 8, 2020 14th in East, 26th overall Chad Ashton (interim) October 8, 2020 LA Galaxy Guillermo Barros Schelotto Fired October 29, 2020 12th in West, 24th overall Dominic Kinnear (interim) October 29, 2020
Regular season Format The 2020 regular season began on February 29, 2020, and was originally scheduled to conclude on October 4. The league was originally divided into two conferences of 13 teams, with each playing a 34-game schedule with 17 each of home and away matches. Each team would play their intra-conference opponents twice – once home and once away for a total of 24 matches – and one match against 10 of the members of the opposite conference. The 2020 season was the first MLS season in which each team did not play every other team at least once. Only two weeks of the original format were played before the COVID-19 pandemic put the season on hold.
The MLS is Back Tournament introduced three regular season matches in the group stage and the knockout stage that did not count towards regular season standings. After the tournament, the "first phase" of the regular schedule restart had teams playing in their home markets against only conference opponents for six matches with the intent of finishing a 23-match season. Some teams were allowed to play in front of a limited audience of spectators. The exceptions in the first phase were that the Canadian clubs would play six matches between themselves due to prohibited travel to the United States and that FC Dallas and Nashville SC would play an additional three matches between themselves to make up for the fact that they could not play in the MLS is Back Tournament.
On September 11, the league announced the "second phase" of the restart with three more matches for each team. In this phase, Canadian and U.S. teams once again played each other but only within their own geographic bubble. This phase included two away games and one (designated home) game at a neutral venue for each of the Canadian teams; with Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto hosting matches in Portland, Harrison, and Hartford, respectively.
On October 17, following a decision by the ISC (Independent Supporters Council), it was announced that the Supporters' Shield would not be awarded to the best regular season team in 2020. In an official announcement, the Supporters' Shield Foundation stated, "After much consideration and discussion, the Supporters' Shield Foundation has decided to forego awarding the Supporters' Shield for the 2020 season. This is not an easy decision to make. With the inability for supporters to be in attendance and fill their stadiums with passion, however, we feel as though the current climate goes against the spirit of the Shield." However, following backlash from members across the MLS community, on October 23 the foundation reversed the decision and reinstated the Shield.
On October 29, the league announced that the final regular season standings and playoff qualification would be determined by points per game rather than by overall points. This was due to eight MLS clubs, all in the Western Conference, being unable to play all of their scheduled 23 regular season matches in time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven postponed matches were cancelled altogether in order for the playoffs to be able to start on the scheduled date.