Minnesota United FC and Atlanta United FC will debut as Major League Soccer’s 21st and 22nd member clubs when the 2017 season officially kicks off this weekend.
Fans of the newcomers will surely have noticed to their chagrin that most pundits view them as long shots for the MLS Cup Playoffs, approaching the two teams with the conventional wisdom that life is hard in Year 1.
So just what does an inaugural season in MLS look like? Here are the historical numbers – good, bad and mostly ugly – on how expansion teams have fared in league and cup play.
Team |
Year |
Regular season |
Playoff finish |
Open Cup/ACC finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago Fire |
1998 |
20-12-0<br>
2 of 6 in West |
MLS Cup champs |
Open Cup champs |
Miami Fusion |
1998 |
15-17-0<br>
4 of 6 in East |
Conf. semifinals |
Quarterfinals |
Chivas USA |
2005 |
4-22-6<br>
6 of 6 in West |
DNQ |
Fourth round |
Real Salt Lake |
2005 |
5-22-5<br>
5 of 6 in West |
DNQ |
Third round |
Toronto FC |
2007 |
6-17-7<br>
7 of 7 in East |
DNQ |
N/A; ACC founded in '08 |
San Jose Earthquakes* |
2008 |
8-13-9<br>
6 of 7 in West |
DNQ |
First round of qualifying |
Seattle Sounders |
2009 |
12-7-11<br>
3 of 8 in West |
Conf. semifinals |
Champions |
Philadelphia Union |
2010 |
8-15-7<br>
7 of 8 in East |
DNQ |
First round of qualifying |
Vancouver Whitecaps |
2011 |
6-18-10<br>
9 of 9 in West |
DNQ |
Lost in ACC final |
Portland Timbers |
2011 |
11-14-9<br>
6 of 9 in West |
DNQ |
Second round of qualifying |
Montreal Impact |
2012 |
12-16-6<br>
7 of 10 in East |
DNQ |
First (semifinal) round |
New York City FC |
2015 |
10-17-7<br>
8 of 10 in East |
DNQ |
Fourth round |
Orlando City SC |
2015 |
12-14-8<br>
7 of 10 in East |
DNQ |
Quarterfinals |
*This refers to the Earthquakes' rebirth; the original San Jose franchise relocated to Houston and became the Dynamo ahead of the 2006 season.
Some context here: Not every expansion team arrives to the same league landscape. It’s not hard to imagine how different MLS was as the fledgling,10-team competition that welcomed the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion FC compared to the vastly more mature situation that NYCFC and Orlando City stepped into two years ago.
That said, the overall track record for debutants involves emotional highs followed by gut-wrenching lows, big dreams laid low by harsh reality checks. Essentially, the Fire and Sounders are the only outliers.
We’ll just have to wait and see if ATL UTD and the Loons can buck that history.
