2013 Major League Soccer season

Stadiums and locations

†Actual capacity is higher; seats rationed for soccer games

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.

Player transfers

Major League Soccer employs 12 methods to acquire players. These include: signing players on transfers/free transfers as is done in most of the world; via trades; drafting players through mechanisms such as the MLS SuperDraft, MLS Supplemental Draft, or MLS Re-Entry Draft; rarely used methods which cover extreme hardship and injury replacement; signing players as Designated Players or Homegrown Players; placing a discovery claim on players; waivers; and methods peculiar to MLS such as through allocation or a weighted lottery.

Allocation ranking

The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the League after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. The allocation rankings may also be used in the event two or more clubs file a request for the same player on the same day. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2012 season, taking playoff performance into account.

Once the club uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it drops to the bottom of the list. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club’s ranking. At all times, each club is assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS League season.

On December 12, 2012, Portland Timbers acquired the number 2 ranking from Chivas USA in exchange for the number 3 ranking and an international roster spot.

On February 19, 2013, Chivas USA traded the No. 3 ranking to Seattle Sounders FC in the Shalrie Joseph trade. It was also reported that Seattle sent the No. 15 allocation ranking to Chivas USA as part of the deal, although Seattle appeared to have owned the No. 16 selection and not the No. 15 selection.

On July 1, 2013, Chivas USA acquired the number 1 allocation ranking from Toronto FC in exchange for the #16 ranking, a first-round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, and an international roster spot.

Weighted lottery

Some players are assigned to MLS teams via a weighted lottery process. A team can only acquire one player per year through a weighted lottery. The players made available through lotteries include: (i) Generation adidas players signed after the MLS SuperDraft; and (ii) Draft eligible players to whom an MLS contract was offered but who failed to sign with the League prior to the SuperDraft.

The team with the worst record over its last 30 regular season games (dating back to previous season if necessary and taking playoff performance into account) will have the greatest probability of winning the lottery. Teams are not required to participate in a lottery. Players are assigned via the lottery system in order to prevent a player from potentially influencing his destination club with a strategic holdout.

Below are the results of 2013 weighted lotteries:

Conference tables

Eastern Conference

Updated to matches played on October 27, 2013 6:55 p.m. EDT. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

Western Conference

Updated to matches played on October 27, 2013 8:00 p.m. PDT. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

Overall table

Note: the table below has no impact on playoff qualification and is used solely for determining host of the MLS Cup, certain CCL spots, the Supporters' Shield trophy, seeding in the 2014 Canadian Championship, and 2014 MLS draft. The conference tables are the sole determinant for teams qualifying for the playoffs.

Updated to matches played on October 2013. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

¹The highest ranked U.S.-based MLS club qualifies to the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League seeding Pot A. (Canadian teams cannot qualify for the Champions League through MLS; the Canadian qualifier is the winner of the 2014 Canadian Championship.) The other U.S. representatives in the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League are:

Tie-breaking

The teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a tie (draw) and zero points for a loss. If teams have an equal number of points the following tie-breaking procedures apply:

1. Most wins
2. Goals for (GF)
3. Goal differential (GD)
4. Fewest disciplinary points (foul - one point, first yellow card - three points, second yellow card (resulting in red card) - five points, straight red card - six points, disciplinary committee suspension - six points)
5. Road goals
6. Road goal differential
7. Home goals
8. Home goal differential
9. Coin toss (two teams) or drawing of lots (three or more)

Statistical leaders