Major League Soccer has made several significant changes ahead of the 2026 season in order to align itself with many of the world’s top leagues.
The Primary Transfer Window will run from January 26 through March 26 while the Secondary Transfer Window will run July 13 to September 2, the league announced Thursday. These changes will allow MLS clubs to operate in sync with many of the top international leagues and provide them all with the chance to bolster their rosters one final time before the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The shift of the Secondary Transfer Window timeframe is the first major adjustment to its schedule in nearly 20 years, with exception to the 2020 COVID-shortened campaign. MLS also released key administrative dates for this year’s season, confirming Roster Compliance for February 20 and the Roster Freeze for October 9.
In addition to the Transfer Window date changes, MLS has also approved a request to allow the league’s three Canadian clubs; CF Montreal, Toronto FC, and the Vancouver Whitecaps to follow U.S. Soccer registration periods instead of those originally set by Canada Soccer. This approval request ensures consistency across the league for all 30 clubs.
MLS also announced many roster rule changes ahead of the new season, which featured the amount of Cash-for-Player trades, the deadline for a player to be classified as a domestic or international player, and more.
A full list of those roster rule changes can be found here:
- The league has removed all limits on the number of Cash-for-Player Trades a club may complete during a single season.
- The deadline for a player to be classified as a domestic player rather than an international has been removed.
- MLS has eliminated both age restrictions and caps on the number of intraleague loans teams can execute each year.
- Clubs may now agree to trade an International Roster Slot with the condition that it returns to the original club on a predetermined date during the Secondary Transfer Window. All such agreements must be definitive.
- Designated Players acquired via Cash-for-Player Trades during the Secondary Transfer Window may be registered using the midseason Designated Player Salary Budget Charge.
- Players who have appeared on a gameday roster are now eligible to be placed in Supplemental Roster Slot 31, provided they meet all other requirements for that slot.
The 2026 MLS regular season begins on February 21, but several of the league’s clubs will kick off their competitive season two weeks earlier with the start of the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
first off, the game schedules don’t sync for a year and a half. heck, hector herrera’s recent new contract in houston would be done before the new calendar hits.
second, MLS lately had fairly long windows anyway.
third, they aren’t really synced because england and the like get about a month before we start, both windows, and the first window actually has tiny overlap from ours to theirs. the summer overlaps better.
Personally, I think the first transfer window should start earlier, like January 10 or 15. And, as I have been saying for years, they need to just eliminate the different categopri8es and have a salary cap that is equivalent to the present limits for the different categories. I don’t see why they need to have such a complicated salary structure. I don’t know the rules of all the leagues, but I don’t know of any other league that does that.