Toronto FC might have home field advantage for Saturday's 2016 MLS Cup against the Seattle Sounders (8 pm ET, FOX, UniMás | TSN1/3/4, RDS in Canada) -- but as any number of teams could tell you, that's no guarantee of success.
In one-off home matches in MLS Cup Playoffs history, home teams have gone 5-2 in MLS Cup, 12-6 in the Conference Championship round, and 13-3 in Knockout Round games. The sample size is not huge, but the rate when the home team wins across all rounds is a whopping 73 percent, dropping to a still sizable 71 percent in MLS Cup.
In the seven times that MLS Cup final has been contested at one finalist's home ground (the first two times coincidentally), the hosts have prevailed five times.
- 1997: D.C. United 2, Colorado Rapids 1
- 2011: LA Galaxy 1, Houston Dynamo 0
- 2012: LA Galaxy 3, Houston Dynamo 1
- 2013: Sporting KC 1, Real Salt Lake 1 (aet) (7-6)
- 2014: LA Galaxy 2, New England Revolution 1 (aet)
*Preselected venue
Twice, the road team has taken the upset in MLS Cup. That includes last year, when the Portland Timbers stunned Columbus Crew SC at MAPFRE Stadium.
- 2002: New England Revolution 0, LA Galaxy 1 (2OT)
- 2015: Columbus Crew SC 1, Portland Timbers 2
