Top storylines to watch as new-look MLS kicks off 2023 season

Los Angeles FC delivered a Hollywood ending to the 2022 MLS season. 

Does the league have a sequel? 

Arguably MLS’s greatest-ever game — LAFC’s dramatic win over the Philadelphia Union in penalties for the 2022 MLS Cup — left fans anxiously waiting for the league’s return. Three months later, the league’s 28th season will kick off Saturday, though LAFC’s title defense will have to wait after its game against the Los Angeles Galaxy has been postponed due to bad weather in the L.A. area. 

Here’s a look at the biggest storylines entering the season: 

Can LAFC repeat? 

The defending champions return nine or 10 starters from the team that won both the Supporters’ Shield for the best regular-season record and the MLS Cup. Striker has become a major question, however, after LAFC sold its top goal-scorer Chico Arango to Mexican side Pachuca this winter. 

LAFC also lost Gareth Bale, who retired. The team bolstered its defense with Aaron Long, signing the former Red Bulls captain in free agency. 

St. Louis City SC’s inaugural season 

Stt. Louis, a hotbed soccer city, finally gets an MLS club as St. Louis City SC becomes the 29th team in the league. St. Louis will play at its brand-new Citypark Stadium in the downtown area. 

Outside of former Borussia Dortmund goalie Roman Burki and former Hoffenheim forward Joao Klauss, St. Louis is void of many familiar names or proven talent. Can they follow LAFC’s blueprint and find immediate success? 

League expansion to 30 teams 

Last year, commissioner Don Garber revealed that MLS plans to expand to 30 teams and then take a pause on adding new clubs. He said expansion would be finalized within the first half of the 2023 season. 

While Las Vegas, San Diego, Sacramento and Phoenix are all candidates to get the 30th team, Garber recently described San Diego as “a gateway to Mexico” in an interview with Sports Business Journal. 

What is MLS’s identity? 

It seems MLS has finally settled on its identity as a selling league in recent years, developing talented prospects before lucratively offloading them to more heralded teams across Europe. Five of the top 10 most expensive transfers out of MLS in the league’s history occurred in 2022 and 2023. 

The transfer window next opens for European teams to acquire MLS players in the summer, which occurs smack in the middle of the MLS season. Atlanta United’s Thiago Almada, FC Cincinnati’s Brenner and the Red Bulls’ John Tolkin are among the top transfer candidates to potentially leave the league. 

On the flip-side, a few big-money transfers into MLS promise to make immediate impacts. The Red Bulls’ Dante Vanezir, LAFC’s Enzo Copetti and the Timbers’ Evander are fresh faces who can quickly lift their respective team’s outlooks.

Streaming partnership with Apple TV+ 

Apple TV+ and the MLS reached a landmark agreement last summer worth $2.5 billion over 10 years. As a result of the deal, games will primarily be broadcast on MLS Season Pass, a one-stop subscription streaming service airing every game, with no blackouts, beginning this year. 

Will MLS’s fans be able to navigate the change and new technology? Will they want to? 

New playoff format 

MLS officially announced a new playoff format Tuesday, increasing the number of teams that qualify. Starting this year, 18 of the 29 teams in the league (62 percent) will make the playoffs, a significant increase from 14 of 28 teams last year (50 percent). 

The top seeds in each conference no longer will receive a first-round bye, and the first round will now feature a best-of-3 series instead of single-elimination. Before that, a pair of single-elimination wild-card matches will now be added. There will likely be many more playoff games under the new format, but will the regular season now be devalued? 

Leagues Cup for everybody 

Previously featuring just four teams from MLS, the Leagues Cup will feature every MLS team this year in a special edition of the tournament that pits clubs from MLS and Liga MX, the top pro league in Mexico, against each other. MLS will consequently pause between July 15 and Aug. 20 for the competition. 

Will teams rest their players during the Leagues Cup? Will they go all-out? Will they use it to experiment? Or perhaps will there be some combination?