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Eastern Conference (MLS)

Collection of top-flight soccer teams in North America

Collection of top-flight soccer teams in North America

FieldValue
titleEastern Conference
pixels150px
leagueMajor League Soccer
sportSoccer
founded1996
teams15
championInter Miami CF (2025)
(1st title)
most_champsD.C. United
(5 titles)

(1st title) (5 titles)

The Eastern Conference () is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Western Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with clubs east of the river in the Eastern Conference.

As of 2023, the Eastern Conference contains 15 teams. The conference has produced 17 Supporters' Shield champions and 12 MLS Cup winners in Major League Soccer's first 30 seasons. In 2000 and 2001, the conference was referred to as the Eastern Division when Major League Soccer briefly reorganized into three divisions.

2025 standings

Members

Current

TeamCityStadium
Atlanta United FCAtlanta, GeorgiaMercedes-Benz Stadium
Charlotte FCCharlotte, North CarolinaBank of America Stadium
Chicago Fire FCChicago, IllinoisSoldier Field
Columbus CrewColumbus, OhioScottsMiracle-Gro Field
FC CincinnatiCincinnati, OhioTQL Stadium
D.C. UnitedWashington, D.C.Audi Field
Inter Miami CFFort Lauderdale, FloridaChase Stadium
CF MontréalMontreal, QuebecSaputo Stadium
Nashville SCNashville, TennesseeGeodis Park
New England RevolutionFoxborough, MassachusettsGillette Stadium
New York City FCNew York City, New YorkYankee Stadium
New York Red BullsHarrison, New JerseySports Illustrated Stadium
Orlando City SCOrlando, FloridaInter&Co Stadium
Philadelphia UnionChester, PennsylvaniaSubaru Park
Toronto FCToronto, OntarioBMO Field

Timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1996 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:100 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 # to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20" Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Eastern value:rgb(0.27,0.47,0.90) # Use this color to denote a that a team was in the Eastern Conference. id:Western value:rgb(0.98,0.83,0.5) # Use this color to denote a that a team was in the Western Conference. id:Central value:rgb(0.82,0.6,0.62) # Use this color to denote a that a team was in the Central Division.

PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:Eastern from:1996 till:2000 text:Columbus Crew (1996–1999) bar:1 color:Central from:2000 till:2002 width:8 text: bar:1 color:Eastern from:2002 till:end text:Columbus Crew (2002–present)

bar:2 color:Eastern from:1996 till:end text:D.C. United (1996–present)

bar:3 color:Eastern from:1996 till:end text:New England Revolution (1996–present)

bar:4 color:Eastern from:1996 till:end text:New York Red Bulls (1996–present)

bar:5 color:Eastern from:1996 till:2000 text:Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996–1999) bar:5 color:Central from:2000 till:2002 width:8 text:

bar:6 color:Eastern from:1998 till:2002 text:Miami Fusion (1998–2001)

bar:7 color:Western from:1998 till:2000 width:8 text: bar:7 color:Central from:2000 till:2002 width:8 text: bar:7 color:Eastern from:2002 till:end text:Chicago Fire (2002–present)

bar:8 color:Western from:1996 till:2005 width:8 text: bar:8 color:Eastern from:2005 till:2015 text:Sporting Kansas City (2005–2014) bar:8 color:Western from:2015 till:end width:8 text:

bar:9 color:Eastern from:2007 till:end text:Toronto FC (2007–present)

bar:10 color:Eastern from:2010 till:end text:Philadelphia Union (2010–present)

bar:11 color:Western from:2006 till:2011 width:8 text: bar:11 color:Eastern from:2011 till:2015 text:Houston Dynamo (2011–2014) bar:11 color:Western from:2015 till:end width:8 text:

bar:12 color:Eastern from:2012 till:end text:CF Montréal (2012–present)

bar:13 color:Eastern from:2015 till:end text:New York City FC (2015–present)

bar:14 color:Eastern from:2015 till:end text:Orlando City SC (2015–present)

bar:15 color:Eastern from:2017 till:end text:Atlanta United FC (2017–present)

bar:16 color:Eastern from:2019 till:end text:FC Cincinnati (2019–present)

bar:17 color:Eastern from:2020 till:end text:Inter Miami FC (2020–present)

bar:18 color:Eastern from:2020 till:2022 text:Nashville SC (2020–2021;2023-present) bar:18 color:Western from:2022 till:2023 width:8 text: bar:18 color:Eastern from:2023 till:end text:

bar:19 color:Eastern from:2022 till:end text:Charlotte FC (2022–present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:1996 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:

Conference lineups by year

1996–97 (5 teams)

  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • New England Revolution
  • New York/New Jersey MetroStars
  • Tampa Bay Mutiny Changes from 1995: Creation of the Major League Soccer.

1998–99 (6 teams)

  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • New York MetroStars
  • Miami Fusion
  • New England Revolution
  • Tampa Bay Mutiny Changes from 1997: New York/New Jersey MetroStars simplified their name to New York MetroStars; the Miami Fusion were added in the 1998 expansion.

2000–01 (as Eastern Division) (4 teams)

  • D.C. United
  • New York MetroStars
  • Miami Fusion
  • New England Revolution Changes from 1999: The Eastern Conference changed its name to Eastern Division with the creation of the Central Division; the Columbus Crew and the Tampa Bay Mutiny moved to the new division.

2002–04 (5 teams)

  • Chicago Fire
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • New York MetroStars
  • New England Revolution Changes from 2001: The Eastern Division changed back its name to Eastern Conference following the contraction of the Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, resulting in the disbanding of the Central Division; Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew moved in from the Central Division

2005 (6 teams)

  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Kansas City Wizards
  • New York MetroStars
  • New England Revolution Changes from 2004: Kansas City Wizards moved in from the Western Conference.

2006 (6 teams)

  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Kansas City Wizards
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls Changes from 2005: The New York MetroStars were bought by Red Bull and changed their name to New York Red Bulls.

2007–09 (7 teams)

  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Kansas City Wizards
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2006: Toronto FC was added in the 2007 expansion.

2010 (8 teams)

  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Kansas City Wizards
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2009: Philadelphia Union was added in the 2010 expansion.

2011 (9 teams)

  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Houston Dynamo
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Sporting Kansas City
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2010: The Kansas City Wizards changed their name to Sporting Kansas City; Houston Dynamo moved in from the Western Conference.

2012–14 (10 teams)

  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Houston Dynamo
  • Montreal Impact
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Sporting Kansas City
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2011: Montreal Impact was added in the 2012 expansion.

2015–16 (10 teams)

  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew SC
  • D.C. United
  • Montreal Impact
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2014: New York City FC and Orlando City SC were added as expansion franchises; Sporting Kansas City and Houston Dynamo moved out to the Western Conference; Columbus Crew adds "SC" to the official team name.

2017–18 (11 teams)

  • Atlanta United FC
  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew SC
  • D.C. United
  • Montreal Impact
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2016: Atlanta United FC was added in the 2017 expansion.

2019 (12 teams)

  • Atlanta United FC
  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew SC
  • FC Cincinnati
  • D.C. United
  • Montreal Impact
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2018: FC Cincinnati was added in the 2019 expansion.

2020 (14 teams)

  • Atlanta United FC
  • Chicago Fire FC
  • Columbus Crew SC
  • FC Cincinnati
  • D.C. United
  • Inter Miami CF
  • Montreal Impact
  • Nashville SC
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2019: Inter Miami CF was added in the 2020 expansion, Nashville SC was added since the MLS is Back Tournament up to the end of the 2020 season; Chicago Fire SC was renamed Chicago Fire FC.

2021 (14 teams)

  • Atlanta United FC
  • Chicago Fire FC
  • FC Cincinnati
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Inter Miami CF
  • CF Montréal
  • Nashville SC
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2020: Nashville SC moved in from the Western Conference; the Montreal Impact was renamed Club de Foot Montréal. Columbus Crew SC was briefly renamed to Columbus SC and then to Columbus Crew.

2022 (14 teams)

  • Atlanta United FC
  • Charlotte FC
  • Chicago Fire FC
  • FC Cincinnati
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Inter Miami CF
  • CF Montréal
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2021: Charlotte FC was added as a then-unnamed expansion franchise in 2019, with its first season initially set for 2021 but delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nashville SC moved back to the Western Conference.

2023–26 (15 teams)

  • Atlanta United FC
  • Charlotte FC
  • Chicago Fire FC
  • FC Cincinnati
  • Columbus Crew
  • D.C. United
  • Inter Miami CF
  • CF Montréal
  • Nashville SC
  • New England Revolution
  • New York Red Bulls
  • New York City FC
  • Orlando City SC
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Toronto FC Changes from 2022: Nashville SC was moved back to the Eastern Conference as expansion side St. Louis City SC was added to the Western Conference.

Eastern Conference playoff champions by year

Note: The conference finals were a best-of-three series through 2001 (including the MLS semifinals in 2000 and 2001, when a conference playoff format was not used). Matches tied after regulation were decided by a shoot-out. In 2002, a similar format was used except that draws were allowed and the team earning the most points advanced. From 2003 through 2011, the Finals were a single match. Matches tied after regulation moved to extra time (Golden goal extra time was implemented for 2003 only), then a shoot-out if necessary. Beginning in 2012, the finals were a two-match aggregate series. The away goals rule for series that finished even on aggregate was first implemented in 2014. Extra time and shoot-outs are used if necessary, although away goals did not apply in extra time. In 2019, the playoffs returned to a single match format (including the conference finals), hosted by the higher ranked team through the regular season.

SeasonChampionsScoreRunners-up
1996D.C. United2 matches to 0Tampa Bay Mutiny
1997D.C. United2 matches to 0Columbus Crew
1998D.C. United2 matches to 1Columbus Crew
1999D.C. United2 matches to 1Columbus Crew
2000No conference playoffs
2001No conference playoffs
2002No conference playoffs
2003Chicago Fire1–0New England Revolution
2004D.C. United3–3 (4–3 p)New England Revolution
2005New England Revolution1–0Chicago Fire
2006New England Revolution1–0D.C. United
2007New England Revolution1–0Chicago Fire
2008Columbus Crew2–1Chicago Fire
2009Real Salt LakeW0–0 (5–4 p)Chicago Fire
2010Colorado RapidsW1–0San Jose EarthquakesW
2011Houston Dynamo2–0Sporting Kansas City
2012Houston Dynamo4–2 agg.D.C. United
2013Sporting Kansas City2–1 agg.Houston Dynamo
2014New England Revolution4–3 agg.New York Red Bulls
2015Columbus Crew SC2–1 agg.New York Red Bulls
2016Toronto FC7–5 agg.Montreal Impact
2017Toronto FC1–0 agg.Columbus Crew SC
2018Atlanta United FC3–1 agg.New York Red Bulls
2019Toronto FC2–1Atlanta United FC
2020Columbus Crew SC1–0New England Revolution
2021New York City FC2–1Philadelphia Union
2022Philadelphia Union3–1New York City FC
2023Columbus Crew3–2FC Cincinnati
2024New York Red Bulls1–0Orlando City SC
2025Inter Miami CF5–1New York City FC

W – Western Conference team.

Eastern Conference regular season champions by year

No trophy is awarded for leading the conference standings at the end of the regular season, unless the regular season leader also wins the Supporters' Shield. The winner of the Conference play-offs is considered the Conference champion. Since 2013, the winner of each conference has qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Three clubs have topped the Eastern Conference standings at the end of the regular season, won the Supporters' Shield, the Eastern Conference (MLS) and the MLS Cup; D.C. United, twice, Columbus Crew and Toronto FC. Toronto in 2017 also won the Canadian Championship, being the only MLS team to therefore take a clean sweep of all titles available to them.

Boldalso won MLS Cup
SeasonTeamRecord (W–L–T) (GD)Playoffs result
1996Tampa Bay Mutiny20–12–0^ (+15)Lost conference finals
1997*D.C. United*21–11–0^ (+17)Won MLS Cup
1998D.C. United24–8–0^ (+30)Lost MLS Cup
1999*D.C. United*23–9–0^ (+22)Won MLS Cup
2000MetroStars17–12–3 (+8)Lost Semifinals
2001Miami Fusion†16–5–5 (+21)Lost Semifinals
2002New England Revolution12–14–2 (0)Lost MLS Cup
2003Chicago Fire15–7–8 (+10)Lost conference finals
2004Columbus Crew12–5–13 (+8)Lost conference semifinals
2005New England Revolution17–7–8 (+18)Lost MLS Cup
2006D.C. United15–7–10 (+14)Lost conference finals
2007D.C. United16–7–7 (+22)Lost conference semifinals
2008*Columbus Crew*17–7–6 (+14)Won MLS Cup
2009Columbus Crew13–7–10 (+10)Lost conference semifinals
2010New York Red Bulls15–9–6 (+9)Lost conference semifinals
2011Sporting Kansas City13–9–12 (+10)Lost conference finals
2012Sporting Kansas City18–7–9 (+15)Lost conference semifinals
2013New York Red Bulls17–9–8 (+17)Lost conference semifinals
2014D.C. United17–9–8 (+15)Lost conference semifinals
2015New York Red Bulls18–10–6 (+19)Lost conference finals
2016New York Red Bulls16–9–9 (+17)Lost conference semifinals
2017*Toronto FC*20–5–9 (+37)Won MLS Cup
2018New York Red Bulls22–7–5 (+29)Lost conference finals
2019New York City FC18–6–10 (+21)Lost conference semifinals
2020Philadelphia Union14–4–5 (+24)Lost first round
2021New England Revolution22–5–7 (+24)Lost conference semifinals
2022Philadelphia Union19–5–10 (+46)Lost MLS Cup
2023FC Cincinnati20–5–9 (+18)Lost conference finals
2024Inter Miami CF22–4–8 (+30)Lost first round
2025Philadelphia Union20–8–6 (+22)Lost conference semifinals

^ – MLS did not have draws until the 2000 season.

† – Miami Fusion were declared winners of the Eastern Division in 2001 after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks forced the cancellation of the rest of the regular season. The MLS Cup playoffs began on September 20.

MLS East at the MLS All-Star Game

In 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004, the Major League Soccer All-Star Game was contested between an all-star team from the Eastern Conference and an all-star team from the Western Conference. In total, the MLS East all-star team has 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss against the west.

YearResultScoreSeries
1996Won3–2East 1–0–0
1997Won5–4East 2–0–0
1999Lost4–6East 2–1–0
2000Won9–4East 3–1–0
2001Tied6–6East 3–1–1
2004Won3–2East 4–1–1

References

References

  1. "MLS announces new strategy for Los Angeles market, 2015 conference alignment". Major League Soccer.
  2. (August 20, 2016). "Atlanta to join Eastern Conference in 2017, Minnesota to compete in West". Major League Soccer.
  3. (May 29, 2018). "Cincinnati awarded MLS expansion club, will start play in 2019". Major League Soccer.
  4. (January 29, 2018). "It's official: Major League Soccer awards expansion team to Miami". MLS Digital.
  5. (June 10, 2020). "Nashville SC moves to Eastern Conference for remainder of 2020 season". MLSsoccer.com.
  6. Hills, Drake. (December 9, 2020). "MLS Commissioner: Nashville SC in Eastern Conference next season but spot unknown beyond 2021". The Tennessean.
  7. Bogert, Tom. (December 17, 2019). "Major League Soccer awards expansion team to Charlotte". [[Major League Soccer]].
  8. (July 17, 2020). "MLS Expansion: New timeline released for inaugural season of newest clubs". Major League Soccer.
  9. (November 5, 2021). "MLS Announces 2022 Schedule Format & Conference Alignment". MLS Digital.
  10. Hills, Drake. (November 5, 2021). "MLS reassigns Nashville SC to Western Conference for 2022 season. Here's what it means.". Tennessean.
  11. (September 30, 2022). "MLS moving Nashville SC back to Eastern Conference".
  12. "Portland Timbers headed to 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League after USSF rule change approved". Major League Soccer.
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