Season 2016 Start date 2016 Matches played 340 | Goals scored 956 | |
 | ||
Champions League(United States) Colorado RapidsFC DallasNew York Red BullsSeattle Sounders FC Similar 2015 Major League Soccer se, 2017 Major League Soccer se, 2014 Major League Soccer se, 2012 Major League Soccer se | ||
The 2016 Major League Soccer season featured 20 total clubs (17 based in the United States, 3 based in Canada). The regular season began on March 6 and ended on October 23. The playoffs began on October 26 and ended on December 10. The defending MLS Cup champions were the Portland Timbers, while the New York Red Bulls were the defending Supporters' Shield winners.
Contents
- Personnel and Sponsorship
- Average home attendances
- Highest attendances
- Scoring
- Discipline
- MLS Best XI
- Allocation ranking
- United States
- Other countries
- References
At the end of the regular season, FC Dallas won the Supporters' Shield for the first time, and the Seattle Sounders won their first ever MLS Cup after defeating Toronto FC 5–4 on penalties.
Personnel and Sponsorship
Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.
Average home attendances
Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
As of October 24, 2016Highest attendances
Regular season
As of October 24, 2016Scoring
Discipline
MLS Best XI
Source:
Allocation ranking
The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a player who is in the MLS allocation list. The MLS allocation list contains select U.S. National Team players and players transferred outside of MLS garnering a transfer fee of at least $500,000. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2015 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 season.
United States
In the 2016 MLS season, 96 games aired in the United States on national television. English-language broadcasts once again included Soccer Sunday doubleheaders — 29 games on ESPN and 5 on ESPN2 (mainly on Sunday afternoons), 4 on Fox, and 30 on Fox Sports 1 (mainly on Sunday evenings). The 2016 season marked MLS's debut on the Fox network channel. Spanish-language broadcasts included 28 games on UniMás (mainly on Friday evenings).
Notes:
Other countries
TSN, RDS and Sportsnet aired matches in Canada of primarily the three Canadian-based teams.
MLS aired on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, Eurosport in Continental Europe, Abu Dhabi Media in the Middle East and North Africa, Letv Sports in China, beIN Sports in Asia-Pacific, ESPN and Fox Sports in Latin America, SporTV in Brazil and Fox Sports in Africa.