Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer (commonly known as simply MLS) is the top level of men's professional soccer in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1993 and began official play three years later in 1996.

The league is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and unlike other soccer leagues in Europe and elsewhere, does not operate on a relegation-promotion system. Rather, quite akin to other major American sports leagues such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL, all teams, regardless of where they finish in the table, are not demoted to a lower-tier league the following season.

MLS is divided into two conferences - the Eastern and the Western Conference. Teams play both against each other within their conferences and against teams from the opposing conference. The season usually begins in late February to early March and concludes in October, with the team with the best overall regular season record winning the Supporters’ Shield.

Following the regular season, the annual MLS Cup Playoffs takes place between October and November and features the top ranked teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences. The team that wins this postseason tournament wins the MLS Cup.

Over the years, MLS has become a predictable destination for many players from around the world as they approach the twilight of their careers. In recent times, it has seen faces like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gareth Bale, and Lionel Messi all leave European clubs to play in MLS.

In 2023, Apple secured a groundbreaking ten-year deal to become the global broadcaster for Major League Soccer, offering high quality live-streaming and OTT access of all matches on Apple devices and affiliated platforms. This partnership not only boosts Apple's sports content portfolio as well as offers MLS a strategic framework to amplify the MLS brand globally.