At this time next year, FC Cincinnati will be entering the final month of the 2027 regular season. Wait, what?
Ahead of Major League Soccer’s calendar switch to a summer-to-spring schedule that mirrors other top leagues around the globe, MLS will host a Sprint Season from February through May 2027. Two months later in July, MLS will kick off the 2027-28 season, departing the calendar year format held since 1996 to better align with the FIFA calendar and transfer windows. The transfer window part is a giant leap toward retaining and attracting more global talent to MLS.
The 2027-28 playoffs will end in May 2028, moving the MLS’s most significant matches of the season into TV windows bereft of college football and the NFL. The weather will be better, too, though I’m sure there’s a subset of Orange and Blue fans who will miss frigid playoff nights at TQL Stadium. The new calendar also sports an in-season break from mid-December through early February. For what it’s worth, MLS claims that 91 percent of 2027-28 matches will fall within the current schedule timeline.
Back to the Sprint Season. FC Cincinnati will play 14 matches from February through April 2027 against Eastern Conference foes only—with seven home games and seven away games. The top eight sides from each conference qualify for a postseason consisting solely of single-elimination games. MLS Cup will occur in May 2027. The Sprint Season playoff structure differs from the current setup in a few days. At present, the top nine clubs from each club advance to the postseason. A No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed play-in contest takes place before the best-of-three first round. Every round thereafter is single-elimination.
The Sprint Season format reminds me of Major League Baseball’s COVID-abbreviated 2020 regular season. Teams played 60 tilts against conference and interconference divisional adversaries (i.e., the Reds played only NL Central and AL Central squads). I’m fascinated to see how the Sprint Season is valued by clubs.
Say, for example, currently struggling FC Cincinnati shakes off the bad vibes and ends up winning MLS Cup on December 18. Pat Noonan and the lads would enjoy only a few weeks off before preseason training would commence for the onset of the 2027 Spring Season in February. For comparison’ sake, FCC’s final match of 2025 was on November 23 and preseason training opened the week of January 12. That’s almost no recovery time.
Squads that advance deep into the 2027 Sprint Season postseason will be left with less than two months turnaround prior the start of the 2027-28 regular season. I’m already wondering if we’ll witness an uptick in muscle injuries in the opening months of the 2027-28 campaign due to overuse and/or fatigue. Five Concacaf Champions Cup berths will be determined by Sprint Season results, though, another factor for clubs to consider as they weigh their priorities.
World Cup qualifying wraps
Nine FC Cincinnati players embarked on international duty during the recent FIFA window. Miles Robinson (U.S.) and Bryan Ramirez (Ecuador) went off to represent their countries, but neither player logged any pitch time. Robinson suffered a minor groin injury in training, which robbed him of the opportunity to suit up in Belgium and Portugal friendlies.
Pavel Bucha (Czechia) earned his first call-up to the national team with the Czechs needing two wins to book passage to the World Cup. He failed to appear in either matchday squad, but his teammates delivered a pair of thrilling victories. The Czechs took down both Ireland and Denmark in penalties to advance to their first World Cup since 2006, when Bucha was 8 years old.
Back in action
FC Cincinnati (6 points in five matches) resumes MLS play on Saturday evening at New York Red Bulls (7 points in five matches).
Grant Freking is in his eighth year of FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine.
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