By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer
Major League Soccer is expanding its playoffs to include the nine top finishers from each of its two conferences, adding a new wild-card round and a best-of-three series in the first round.
The new format will take effect for the 2023 season, which begins Saturday. With the league at 29 teams this season with the debut of St. Louis City SC, it means that 62% of the MLS clubs will qualify for the playoffs.
Nine clubs reaching the playoffs from each conference will be the highest number ever in MLS, with the exception of the pandemic-impacted 2020 season, when 10 clubs from each conference were included.
Last year, seven teams from each conference made the playoffs with the No. 1 seeds getting a bye to the conference semifinals.
The opening wild-card round will feature matches between the eighth- and ninth-seeded teams in the Eastern and Western conferences played at the stadium of the higher seed.
The first round is now a best-of-three series, with the top finisher in each conference facing the winner of the wild-card match. The second seed will play the seventh, No. 3 will play No. 6 and No. 4 will play No. 5. The higher seed will host first, with the series moving to the lower seed for the second game, and then back to the higher seed’s home, if necessary.
If the first-round matches are tied at the end of regulation, the game will go directly to a penalty shootout.
As has been the case since 2019, the conference semifinals, finals and MLS Cup championship will all remain single games, hosted by the higher seed. For the final three rounds, tied matches will go to extra time before penalties.
Seattle Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said Tuesday he hadn’t looked closely at the playoff changes so he couldn’t comment in detail, but he understood that Apple TV+, the league’s new broadcaster, wanted more postseason games.
However, Schmetzer was clear about wanting playoff games to be single elimination: “I like one and…
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