| League | Major League Soccer |
|---|---|
| Sport | Soccer |
| Founded | 1996 |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Most recent champions | New York Red Bulls (2024) (1st title) |
| Most titles | D.C. United (4 titles) |
TheEastern Conference (French:Association de l'Est) is one ofMajor League Soccer's two conferences, along with theWestern Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of theMississippi River from theGreat Lakes to theGulf 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 17Supporters' Shield champions and 11MLS Cup winners in Major League Soccer's first 28 seasons. In 2000 and 2001, the conference was referred to as theEastern Division when Major League Soccer briefly reorganized into three divisions.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 57 | 35 | +22 | 66 | Qualification forround one and theCONCACAF Champions Cup round one |
| 2 | FC Cincinnati | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 52 | 40 | +12 | 65 | Qualification forround one |
| 3 | Inter Miami CF | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 81 | 55 | +26 | 65 | |
| 4 | Charlotte FC | 34 | 19 | 13 | 2 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 59 | |
| 5 | New York City FC | 34 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 56 | |
| 6 | Nashville SC | 34 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 58 | 45 | +13 | 54 | |
| 7 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 55 | 51 | +4 | 54 | |
| 8 | Chicago Fire FC | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 68 | 60 | +8 | 53 | Qualification for thewild-card round |
| 9 | Orlando City SC | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 63 | 51 | +12 | 53 | |
| 10 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 43 | |
| 11 | New England Revolution | 34 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 44 | 51 | −7 | 36 | |
| 12 | Toronto FC | 34 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 32 | |
| 13 | CF Montréal | 34 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 34 | 60 | −26 | 28 | |
| 14 | Atlanta United FC | 34 | 5 | 16 | 13 | 38 | 63 | −25 | 28 | |
| 15 | D.C. United | 34 | 5 | 18 | 11 | 30 | 66 | −36 | 26 |
Eastern Conference memberWestern Conference memberCentral Division member
Changes from 1995: Creation of theMajor League Soccer.
Changes from 1997:New York/New Jersey MetroStars simplified their name toNew York MetroStars; theMiami Fusion were added in the 1998 expansion.
Changes from 1999: The Eastern Conference changed its name to Eastern Division with the creation of theCentral Division; theColumbus Crew and theTampa Bay Mutiny moved to the newdivision.
Changes from 2001: The Eastern Division changed back its name to Eastern Conference following the contraction of theMiami Fusion and theTampa Bay Mutiny, resulting in the disbanding of the Central Division;Chicago Fire andColumbus Crew moved in from the Central Division
Changes from 2004:Kansas City Wizards moved in from the Western Conference.
Changes from 2005: The New York MetroStars were bought byRed Bull and changed their name toNew York Red Bulls.
Changes from 2006:Toronto FC was added in the 2007 expansion.
Changes from 2009:Philadelphia Union was added in the 2010 expansion.
Changes from 2010: The Kansas City Wizards changed their name toSporting Kansas City; Houston Dynamo moved in from the Western Conference.
Changes from 2011:Montreal Impact was added in the 2012 expansion.
Changes from 2014:New York City FC andOrlando City SC were added as expansion franchises;Sporting Kansas City andHouston Dynamo moved out to the Western Conference;[1] Columbus Crew adds "SC" to the official team name.
Changes from 2016:Atlanta United FC was added in the 2017 expansion.[2]
Changes from 2018:FC Cincinnati was added in the 2019 expansion.[3]
Changes from 2019:Inter Miami CF was added in the 2020 expansion,[4]Nashville SC was added since theMLS is Back Tournament up to the end of the2020 season;[5] Chicago Fire SC was renamed Chicago Fire FC.
Changes from 2020: Nashville SC moved in from the Western Conference;[6] theMontreal Impact was renamedClub de Foot Montréal. Columbus Crew SC was briefly renamed to Columbus SC and then to Columbus Crew.
Changes from 2021:Charlotte FC was added as a then-unnamed expansion franchise in 2019, with its first season initially set for 2021[7] but delayed by a year due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[8] Nashville SC moved back to the Western Conference.[9][10]
Changes from 2022: Nashville SC was moved back to the Eastern Conference as expansion sideSt. Louis City SC was added to the Western Conference.[11]
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 ashoot-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 toextra time (Golden goal extra time was implemented for 2003 only), then a shoot-out if necessary. Beginning in 2012, the finals were atwo-match aggregate series. Theaway 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.
| Bold | MLS Cup champions |
W – Western Conference team.
No trophy is awarded for leading the conference standings at the end of the regular season, unless the regular season leader also wins theSupporters' Shield. The winner of the Conference play-offs is considered the Conference champion. Three clubs have topped the Eastern Conference standings at the end of the regular season, won theSupporters' Shield, the Eastern Conference (MLS) and theMLS Cup;D.C. United, twice,Columbus Crew andToronto FC. Toronto in 2017 also won theCanadian Championship, being the onlyMLS team to therefore take a clean sweep of all titles available to them.
| also wonSupporters' Shield | |
| Italic | also won Eastern Conference play off final |
| Bold | also won MLS Cup |
^ – MLS did not have draws until the 2000 season.
† – Miami Fusion were declared winners of the Eastern Division in 2001 after theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks forced the cancellation of the rest of the regular season. The MLS Cup playoffs began on September 20.
In 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004, theMajor League Soccer All-Star Game was contested between an all-star team from the Eastern Conference and an all-star team from theWestern Conference. In total, theMLS East all-star team has 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss against the west.
| Year | Result | Score | Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Won | 3–2 | East 1–0–0 |
| 1997 | Won | 5–4 | East 2–0–0 |
| 1999 | Lost | 4–6 | East 2–1–0 |
| 2000 | Won | 9–4 | East 3–1–0 |
| 2001 | Tied | 6–6 | East 3–1–1 |
| 2004 | Won | 3–2 | East 4–1–1 |
| Eastern Conference | |
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