How many MLS teams in 2023? List of clubs from USA, Canada in Major League Soccer and future expansion plans

The 2023 Major League Soccer season will be a year of firsts in several respects, with the addition of the league's newest club, St. Louis City SC, among the most notable developments occurring during the new campaign.

St. Louis City SC joins just one year after 2022 expansion side Charlotte FC, bringing MLS's total clubs to 29 teams, with more yet to come.

The 29 clubs are split between two conferences. St. Louis will join the Eastern Conference, meaning that the East table now includes 15 sides, whereas the Western Conference features 14 teams.

While competing as a new club among the established teams can be challenging, having a solid year isn't out of the question. Last year, Charlotte FC impressed and just narrowly missed out on a playoff spot, while 2021 expansion side Austin FC finished second in the Western Conference in just their second season of play. In the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, Nashville SC reached the playoffs in its first season in the league.

MORE: How to watch MLS for 2023 season, streaming exclusively on Apple TV

How many MLS teams in 2023 season?

For the 2023 MLS campaign, there are 29 clubs in the league.

There were 28 teams last season, with an even split between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, but this year, the addition of St. Louis City SC has made things a bit uneven.

That means the Eastern Conference will feature 15 clubs vying for nine playoff spots, while the Western Conference will see 14 clubs also battling for nine playoff spots.

For the new playoff format this season, the top seven finishers will advance to the first round proper, while the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds secure a wild card spot.

MORE: How much does Apple TV MLS Season Pass cost?

New 2023 MLS expansion team: St. Louis City SC

The newest club in the MLS ranks is St. Louis City SC, joining the league for its inaugural season in 2023.

Like the last expansion club Charlotte FC, St. Louis City SC is a brand new club established to begin play in MLS, rather than an established side joining the league from a lower division.

The city of St. Louis was awarded the expansion bid in 2019, beating out a challenge from Sacramento. The club is owned by Carolyn Kindle, the Taylor family, who are the founders of Enterprise Holdings (a rental car conglomerate still headquartered just outside St. Louis), and the Kavanaugh family.

St. Louis City SC will be coached in its inaugural season by Bradley Carnell, a former South Africa international who played for Stuttgart and Borussia Monchengladbach during his playing career. He was hired from the New York Red Bulls, where he served as an assistant coach for four years, including a stint as interim head coach in 2020.

It took over two years to construct CITYPARK, but our city – along with our partners @Purina and @BJC_HealthCare – has been building toward this moment for decades.

Our CITY. Our Spirit. Our uniform. #AllForCITY pic.twitter.com/Rxe6BYxw1Q

— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) February 17, 2023

Next MLS expansion team

Major League Soccer has been outspoken about its aim of reaching 30 total clubs, with the next expansion team expected to be selected by the end of 2023, although it's not clear when that club would begin play.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber has indicated that Las Vegas and San Diego are the frontrunners to be the home to the 30th team, with bids from Phoenix, Detroit, Tampa, and Sacramento representing other potential future expansion cities.

"We say we're going to stop at 30, but [some of] the other major leagues are larger than that," Garber said in a media session prior to the 2023 season kickoff. "I never say never in Major League Soccer. There are many other markets that are opportunities for us."

Many professional sports leagues in the United States have been lured by expansion to Las Vegas in recent years, with the NHL founding a new expansion team there recently, and the NFL moving the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas.

MLS has long been in discussions with Las Vegas about expanding, with over $50 million in public funding approved for a new stadium back in 2014. Garber said in December of 2021 that the Las Vegas bid "is the frontrunner" for the 30th team, but the San Diego bid is also heavily in the mix, with an ownership group that includes San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler. 

MORE: Who will win MLS Cup in 2023? All the odds

MLS expansion teams history

Since the first season of Major League Soccer competition in 1996, the U.S. professional league has been growing its ranks to the size of other major sports leagues in the nation.

The league charges sizable expansion fees for new clubs to join the ranks, with those sums factoring into the league's current business model. Take, for example, the last two expansion sides: Charlotte FC paid $325 million (December 2019), and St. Louis dished out a $200 million fee (August 2019) for the right to be part of MLS.

Below is an illustration of the league's expansion history, seeing 11 new clubs join in the last nine seasons.

* = The 10 clubs that began play in the inaugural season of MLS in 1996. The Tampa Bay Mutiny ceased operations after 2021.
** = The Miami Fusion ceased operations after the 2021 season.
*** = Chivas USA ceased operations after 2014, with its spot in the league taken over by LAFC in 2018.
**** = The San Jose team relocated to Houston to become the Dynamo. The Earthquakes returned in 2008.