Best expansion seasons in Major League Soccer history

Scott Halleran // Getty Images Major League Soccer continues to grow in popularity and competition. According to Front Office Sports, MLS broke revenue, merchandise, viewership, and attendance records in the 2022 season. Part of the success stems from the league’s continued expansion, as MLS added several new teams and markets over the past few years. At the start of the 2023 MLS season in February, St. Louis City SC made its debut, making it the first majority female-owned club in league history. The MLS’ 29th franchise is locally owned, too. The addition of St. Louis comes only a year after Charlotte FC made its MLS debut. Charlotte finished right outside the playoffs under head coach Christian Lattanzio–only eight of 21 MLS expansion teams made the postseason in their first season. Two of those teams won the MLS Cup in their inaugural season. No expansion team in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB have had an expansion team finish its first year with a championship, although the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights came close with a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018. (This doesn’t include the founding teams who were part of a league’s first season.) JustWatch ranked the 10 best expansion seasons in MLS history using data from FBref.com and other sources, including team sites. Expansion seasons are considered to be the first season in a team’s history in MLS. Teams were first ranked on playoff progression. Ties were broken by points, goal difference, and goals for. All tiebreakers were calculated on a per match basis to account for varying season lengths. Founding teams from the inaugural MLS season in 1996 were excluded from this list. Clubs with history in other leagues prior to joining MLS (such as Seattle and Portland) were ranked on their first MLS seasons only. Houston Dynamo were counted as an expansion team since MLS does not count its earlier seasons as a franchise in San Jose as part of its history. Further, the current San Jose franchise is not counted as an expansion team because MLS includes the first San Jose team as part of its history. This is not the case for Miami, however. Inter Miami CF’s history is separate from the Miami Fusion.   Just 4 MLS expansion teams have broken 1.5 points per game in their first season JustWatch MLS awards soccer’s standard of three points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. League-wide, teams earn an average of 1.4 points per match. New teams usually fare much worse–the 21 expansion teams in MLS history averaged 1.1 points per match in their first season. On top of that, just four expansion clubs–Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and Los Angeles FC–have managed to eclipse 1.5 points per match, a marker that would equal a .500 record in other sports. Last season, seven out of MLS’s 28 teams earned 1.5 points or more per match. #10. CF Montreal (as the Montreal Impact) Francois Laplante/FreestylePhoto // Getty Images – Expansion season: 2012 – Playoffs: Did not qualify – Wins-draws-losses: 12-6-16 – Points: 42 (1.24 per match) – Goals for: 45 (1.32) – Goals against: 51 (1.50) – Goal difference: -6 (-0.18) – Top scorer: Patrice Bernier (9 goals scored) – Goalkeeper: Donovan Ricketts CF Montréal started off as the Montréal Impact in 1993. After several seasons in other leagues, the Impact won two playoff championships and seven Canadian championships. In 2012, the Impact made its debut as the 19th team in the MLS and the third team in Canada in the league. During its inaugural season, the team finished two places away from the playoff. The Impact changed its name to CF Montréal in 2021, with owner Joey Saputo saying, “To make an impact, we need to retire the Impact.” The club has been in the MLS playoffs four times. #9. Orlando City Alex Menendez // Getty Images – Expansion season: 2015 – Playoffs: Did not qualify – Wins-draws-losses: 12-8-14 – Points: 44 (1.29 per match) – Goals for: 46 (1.35) – Goals against: 56 (1.65) – Goal difference: -10 (-0.29) – Top scorer: Cyle Larin (17 goals scored) – Goalkeeper: Tally Hall In 2013, MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced Orlando would become the league’s 21st team for its 20th season. Orlando City debuted a few years later and Adrian Heath was the head coach for the inaugural season. Heath lasted only 55 matches with Orlando City and the club cycled through coaches the next few years. Some stability was found in Cyle Larin, who was the team’s leading scorer for its first three seasons. Orlando finished 2022 with a 2-0 loss to Montréal in the postseason, ending one of its best seasons in history, which included a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup trophy. #8. Inter Miami Ira L. Black – Corbis // Getty Images – Expansion season: 2020 – Playoffs: Lost in play-in round – Wins-draws-losses: 7-3-13 – Points: 24 (1.04 per match) – Goals for: 25 (1.09) – Goals against: 35 (1.52) – Goal difference: -10 (-0.43) – Top scorer: Lewis Morgan (5 goals scored) – Goalkeeper: Luis Robles The MLS announced a return to Miami, as Inter Miami was announced as the 25th team in 2018. Diego Alonso was the team’s first head coach. After the MLS is Back bubble, Inter Miami secured its first home win over Orlando City SC. Miami’s inaugural season was its best season to date in 2022. Miami made the playoffs before losing 3-0 to New York FC in the first round. The team made several big acquisitions to build on its breakout season, including acquiring former MLS and MLS Cup MVP Josef Martinez. #7. Atlanta United Rich Schultz // Getty Images – Expansion season: 2006 – Playoffs: Won MLS Cup – Wins-draws-losses: 11-13-8 – Points: 46 (1.44 per match) – Goals for: 44 (1.38) – Goals against: 40 (1.25) – Goal difference: 4 (0.13) – Top scorers: Brian Ching, Dwayne De Rosario (11 goals scored) – Goalkeeper: Pat Onstad Technically, Houston Dynamo relocated from San Jose and were that city’s original MLS team. However, the San Jose owners moved the club to Houston after failed stadium negotiations (MLS separates Houston’s history from San Jose’s). Nonetheless, Houston got its name from an original United Soccer League team from the 1980s. Dynamo made MLS history by becoming the first expansion team to win the MLS Cup in both of its first two seasons. Houston has only made the postseason twice in the last decade. Perhaps looking for a reboot, the club changed its colors and name in 2020. #1. Chicago Fire Matthew Ashton – EMPICS // Getty Images – Expansion season: 1998 – Playoffs: Won MLS Cup – Wins-shootout wins-losses: 20-2-12 – Points: 56 (1.75 per match) – Goals for: 62 (1.94) – Goals against: 45 (1.41) – Goal difference: 17 (0.53) – Top scorer: Ante Razov (10 goals scored) – Goalkeeper: Zach Thornton In 1997, Chicago announced its MLS club on the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. Bob Bradley was the team’s first coach and they defeated the two-time defending champions D.C. United to win the MLS Cup in their inaugural season. Chicago then became the second MLS team to win “The Double,” by defeating the Columbus Crew, 2-1, in the U.S. Cup Final. Chicago won the U.S. Open Cup again in 2000, 2003, and 2006. The Fire have struggled in recent years, only making the playoffs once over the last 10 years. Chicago re-designed its crest and visuals in 2021. This story originally appeared on JustWatch and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.