2017 Major League Soccer season


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

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.
TeamHead coachCaptainShirt sponsor
Atlanta United FC American Family Insurance
Chicago Fire Valspar
Colorado Rapids Transamerica
Columbus Crew SC Acura
D.C. United Leidos
FC Dallas AdvoCare
Houston Dynamo BHP Billiton
LA Galaxy Herbalife
Minnesota United FC Target
Montreal Impact Bank of Montreal
New England Revolution UnitedHealthcare
New York City FC Etihad Airways
New York Red Bulls Red Bull
Orlando City SC Orlando Health
Philadelphia Union Bimbo Bakeries USA
Portland Timbers Alaska Airlines
Real Salt Lake Mike Petke LifeVantage
San Jose Earthquakes Sutter Health
Seattle Sounders FC Xbox
Sporting Kansas City Ivy Funds
Toronto FC Bank of Montreal
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Bell Canada

Coaching changes

Regular season

Format

Current teams: Each team in the league played 17 home and 17 away games using the following format:
Expansion teams: As expansion teams to the league in 2017, Atlanta United and Minnesota United played 17 home and 17 away games in a secondary format:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall table

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

Knockout Round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

MLS Cup

Attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
Team
1Atlanta United FC17819,40471,87442,51148,200
2Seattle Sounders FC17742,31451,79640,18243,666
3Toronto FC17470,00529,20325,20027,647
4Orlando City SC17425,47725,52723,01825,028
5New York City FC17379,45533,67910,165*22,321
6LA Galaxy17378,12825,66717,40422,243
7Vancouver Whitecaps FC17364,07325,08317,36821,416
8New York Red Bulls17359,97725,21916,21321,175
9Portland Timbers17359,44821,14421,14421,144
10Minnesota United FC17349,13835,04317,49120,538
11Montreal Impact17340,78334,37316,00520,046
12San Jose Earthquakes17337,87350,61717,25619,875
13Sporting Kansas City17332,12120,93318,64819,537
14New England Revolution17329,23333,76710,48719,367
15Real Salt Lake17319,28420,34816,43418,781
16D.C. United17304,36941,41811,97217,904
17Houston Dynamo17297,50722,11514,14817,500
18Chicago Fire17295,51121,89111,24417,383
19Philadelphia Union17285,79718,61915,10716,812
20Columbus Crew SC17262,46920,39110,31815,439
21Colorado Rapids17260,47617,64813,10215,322
22FC Dallas17257,07716,29114,01615,122
–Total3748,269,91971,87410,16522,112

Regular season
RankHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceDateWeekStadium
1Atlanta United FC2–2Toronto FC71,87433Mercedes-Benz Stadium
2Atlanta United FC3–3Orlando City SC70,42528Mercedes-Benz Stadium
3Atlanta United FC1–2New York Red Bulls55,2971Bobby Dodd Stadium
4Seattle Sounders FC1–1Portland Timbers51,79625CenturyLink Field
5San Jose Earthquakes2–1LA Galaxy50,61718Stanford Stadium
6Seattle Sounders FC4–0FC Dallas48,47832CenturyLink Field
7Seattle Sounders FC1–0Portland Timbers47,36213CenturyLink Field
8Atlanta United FC1–3D.C. United46,0119Bobby Dodd Stadium
9Atlanta United FC4–0Chicago Fire45,9223Bobby Dodd Stadium
10Seattle Sounders FC3–1New York Red Bulls45,6003CenturyLink Field

Player statistics

Goals

Assists

Shutouts

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Josef MartínezAtlanta United FCMinnesota United FC6–1March 12
Erick TorresHouston DynamoNew York Red Bulls4–1April 1
C. J. SapongPhiladelphia UnionNew York Red Bulls3–0May 6
Justin MeramColumbus Crew SCMontreal Impact3–2May 13
GersoSporting Kansas CitySeattle Sounders FC3–0May 17
Miguel AlmirónAtlanta United FCHouston Dynamo4–1May 20
Roland LamahFC DallasReal Salt Lake6–2June 3
David AccamChicago FireOrlando City SC4–0June 24
David VillaNew York City FCNew York Red Bulls3–2August 6
Kei KamaraOrlando City SC4–0September 2
Josef MartínezAtlanta United FC7–0September 13
Josef MartínezAtlanta United FCOrlando City SC3–3September 16
Patrick Mullins4D.C. UnitedSan Jose Earthquakes4–0September 23
Justin MorrowToronto FCNew York Red Bulls4–2
Chicago FirePhiladelphia Union3–2October 15

4 Scored 4 goals

Awards

Player of the Month

MonthPlayerClubStatsRef
March 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

End of season awards

MLS Best XI

Player contracts

Highest paid players

RankPlayerTeamSalary
1 KakáOrlando City$7.2m
2 Sebastian GiovincoToronto FC$7.1m
3 Michael BradleyToronto FC$6.5m
4 Andrea PirloNew York City FC$5.9m
5 David VillaNew York City FC$5.6m

Allocation ranking

The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a player who is in the MLS allocation list. The MLS allocation list contains select U.S. National Team players and players transferred outside of MLS garnering a transfer fee of at least $500,000. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2016 season, taking playoff performance into account. Two expansion teams will take the top spots.
Once the club uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it drops to the bottom of the list. A ranking can be traded provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking. At all times each club is assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS season.
Original
Ranking		Current
Ranking		ClubDate Allocation Used
Player SignedPrevious ClubRef
51New England Revolution
22Minnesota United FC
83Orlando City SC
64San Jose Earthquakes
115Philadelphia Union
46Houston Dynamo
137Real Salt Lake
148Sporting Kansas City
159LA Galaxy
1610New York City FC
1711New York Red Bulls
1812FC Dallas
1913Montreal Impact
2014Colorado Rapids
2115Toronto FC
2216Seattle Sounders FC
1017Portland Timbers
118Atlanta United FC26 01 2017 Brad Guzan Middlesbrough
719Vancouver Whitecaps FC15 02 2017 Fredy Montero Tianjin TEDA
1220D.C. United20 06 2017 Deshorn Brown Tampa Bay Rowdies
321Chicago Fire23 12 2016 Juninho Tijuana
321Chicago Fire10 08 2017 Richard Sánchez UANL
922Columbus Crew SC10 08 2017 Krisztián Németh Al-Gharafa

Coaches

Eastern Conference