Major League Soccer announced on Wednesday the date for the 2017 MLS Cup as well as the dates for the upcoming Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The 2017 MLS Cup will be held on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. PT and will once again be hosted by the finalist with the best regular season record. The league’s title match will be broadcast on ESPN and UniMas, while also being shown in more than 170 nations across the globe.
The 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs will begin on Oct. 25-26 and televised across the league’s domestic television partners FS1, ESPN, and UniMas. The playoffs start with the four Knockout Round matches which will feature games between the third and six seeds as well as the fourth and fifth squads from each conference.
Following the single-elimination Knockout Round, the postseason continues with the Conference Semifinals. The two-game, aggregate-goal, home and home series will take place between Oct. 29 and Nov. 5. Immediately after the Conference Semifinals, the league will take a break in play to observe the FIFA window from Nov. 6 to Nov. 14.
The Conference Championship series commences on Nov. 21 and close a week later on a date between Nov. 28 and Nov. 30. The champion of the league’s 22nd season will then be crowned on Dec. 9.
The complete MLS Cup Playoff Schedule can be found below (dates subject to change):
Knockout Round
(Conference third seed vs. sixth, and fourth seed vs. fifth seed in a single-game elimination match)
Eastern and Western Conference Knockout Round (4 games)
October 25 Two Games Times TBD (UniMás)
October 26 Two Games Times TBD (UniMás, one game each on FS1 & ESPN2)
Conference Semifinals
(Two-game series, aggregate-goal format between conference top seed vs. lowest advancing seed from Knockout Round and conference second seed vs. highest seed from Knockout Round)
Eastern Conference Semifinal Series
Eastern Conference Semifinal Leg 1 (2 games)
Monday, Oct. 30 Time TBD (FS1)
Tuesday, Oct. 31 Time TBD (ESPN)
Eastern Conference Semifinal Leg 2 (2 games)
Sunday, Nov. 5 Times TBD (ESPN, FS1)
both games will be played on the same day.
Western Conference Semifinal Series
Western Conference Semifinal Leg 1 (2 games)
Sunday, Oct. 29 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Tuesday, Oct. 31 Time TBD (FS1)
Western Conference Semifinal Leg 2 (2 games)
both games will be played on the same day
Sunday, Nov. 5 Times TBD (ESPN, FS1)
Conference Championships
(Two-game series, aggregate-goal format)
Eastern Conference Championship
Eastern Conference Championship Leg 1 (1 game)
Tuesday, Nov. 21 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Eastern Conference Semifinal Leg 2 (1 game)
Nov. 28 or 29 Time TBD (FS1)
Western Conference Championship
Western Conference Championship Leg 1 (1 game)
Tuesday, Nov. 21 Time TBD (FS1)
Western Conference Championship Leg 2 (1 game)
Thursday, Nov. 30 Time TBD (ESPN)
2017 MLS Cup
(Hosted at the home venue of the finalist with the best regular season record)
Saturday, Dec. 9 4 p.m. ET (ESPN, UniMás, TSN, TVA Sports)
