Explaining the new Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs format

The Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs are just around the corner!

As the Seattle Sounders prepare to take on FC Dallas in Round One of the MLS Cup Playoffs, we're breaking down all of the changes to the postseason format. Here's everything you need to know:

Setting the Scene

Starting in 2019, the league moved to a single-elimination format for the postseason. Prior to that year, MLS had employed a home-and-away aggregate score structure for every round up until MLS Cup. There are some slight tweaks for the 2023 edition of the playoffs which are detailed below.

Expanded Field

Last season, the top seven teams from each conference qualified for the postseason, with the No. 1 seeds from the East and West receiving a bye in the first round. This year, the top nine teams have clinched a spot in the playoffs, with the No. 8 and No. 9 sides from each conference squaring off in a Wild Card matchup, with the winners taking on the top seed of their respective conference in Round One.

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Best-of-three in Round One

While the past few years have seen teams playing single-elimination fixtures all the way through the end-of-season tournament, this year there is an exciting change. In Round One, every matchup is decided by a best-of-three series, with teams needing to win two of three games to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. Games cannot end in a draw, so if the score is level at the end of regulation time, the two teams will go straight to a penalty-kick shootout to determine a winner. The higher seed will host the first match before going on the road for match two. If the series isn't decided after the first two games, the higher seed will then host a third game to determine a winner.

From a Sounders perspective, this means the Rave Green will host FC Dallas on Monday, October 30 (6:00 p.m. PT; Watch FREE on Apple TV, FS1, iHeart Radio, Sirius XM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS) before facing them on the road on Saturday, November 4. If necessary, Seattle would then play the Texas side again at Lumen Field on Friday, November 10.

Reverting Back to Normal

After Round One, the postseason structure reverts back to single-elimination fixtures. The higher seed of each round will host, with the lower seed going on the road. The Sounders would have home field advantage up until the Western Conference Final, where they would still host should St. Louis CITY SC fail to make it that far. If the Sounders were to progress to MLS Cup, they would be on the road unless one of Atlanta United, Nashville SC, Charlotte FC or the New York Red Bulls emerges from the East.