Orlando City's home venue renamed Inter&Co Stadium: Orlando City SC’s home ground is now known as Inter&Co Stadium. Previously, the Lions’ venue – which also houses NWSL sister side Orlando Pride – was known as Exploria Stadium.
New England Revolution sign Jones to new contract: The New England Revolution have signed defender DeJuan Jones to a new contract through the 2027 MLS season. The US international originally joined New England as a first-round pick (No. 11 overall) in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas. Ever since, the versatile fullback has tallied 6g/20a in 125 regular-season appearances and was a key part of New England's record-setting, Supporters' Shield-winning squad in 2021.
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Back in the day, there existed a video game called NCAA 2014. You could play as your favorite college football team, listen to the bands, build a dynasty, leave duffel bags full of cash in the back of a recruit’s car while they went to watch a movie… all the things you love about the sport if you love it. But young me took exception to one particular feature every year: The “Home-field Advantage” ratings. The game would take a look at every team’s home record and attendance and spit out a comprehensive ranking of every stadium in the game. It made me furious. “How,” I asked, “could Michigan be higher than Georgia when they would never do something as cool as barking like a dog* in moments of excitement?”
*This is real. We do this down here. Look it up.
Today, my beloved MLS community, I grant you the gift of that same experience. You will be mad, but we’ll all be better for it in the end because we will grow closer through our collective ire.
BRIEF METHODOLOGY YOU CAN SKIP IF YOU WANT TO GET RIGHT TO BEING MAD
First, I took a look at each team’s home points per game over the last five years (except 2020) and compared it to their away points per game over the last five seasons (except 2020). I wanted to know how much better your home-field advantage made you, not just if you were good. Being good definitely helped, though. I also looked at each team’s difference in expected points per game, but gave extra weight to a team’s actual points.
Then I took each team’s average attendance over the last two seasons (2021 was still weird and Covid-y at the beginning), moved some decimals over and then divided it by two to get it down to a single-digit number that didn’t automatically award Atlanta, Charlotte and Seattle the top spots.
Then (here’s the first part where you get mad), I ranked each atmosphere subjectively on a scale from one to five. My credentials here are that I watch a lot of MLS.
And, finally, four teams got an “Acts of God etc.” bonus. RSL and Colorado got an extra point for altitude reasons. Houston got an extra point for playing on the surface of the sun. And NYCFC got an extra point because you know why. The final formula looked something like this
RSL: (0.64 pts better at home x 10) + (0.48 xPts better at home x 5) + 0.99 attendance score + 3 vibes points + 1 Acts of God etc. point = 13.905 home-field advantage rating
Got it? Mad? Ok, cool, here’s the list with some annotations along the way.
29. D.C. United
28. New York Red Bulls
The Red Bulls had the second-lowest point differential between home and away (No. 1 is gonna surprise you). I don’t know if that says more about Red Bull Arena or Energy Drink Soccer. Either way, that pretty much doomed them here. If only this were a “Best Goal Song” ranking.
27. CF Montréal
26. FC Cincinnati
EVERYONE CALM DOWN.
Remember when I said the lowest point differential between home and away would surprise you? Well, here we are. Cincinnati had excellent attendance and got a 5/5 atmosphere rating. It didn’t matter. Over the last five years, they’ve only been 0.16 points better at home. I’ve got to think that has far more to do with three consecutive Wooden Spoons than Cincy’s home crowd. Over those three years, Cincinnati’s 0.67 points per game at home were only 0.02 points per game better than their 0.65 points per game rate on the road. When you’re that bad, you’re bad everywhere. Even at home.
25. Orlando City
Another surprisingly low point differential that doesn’t match a generally rowdy crowd and some oppressive heat. Not even a high atmosphere rating could save them.
24. New England Revolution
I don’t really have anything to add here, but I just want to point out the Revs always have excellent attendance numbers. Over the last two years they’ve averaged the 10th-most fans in MLS. The soccer-specific stadium can’t come soon enough.
23. Inter Miami
22. Nashville SC
You guessed it. Their home point differential is one of the lowest in the league. I think Gary Smith’s game model may have played a hand here. Geodis Park gets loud.
21. LA Galaxy
20. Vancouver Whitecaps
19. Chicago Fire FC
18. San Jose Earthquakes
17. Colorado Rapids
I think some players would tell you this is automatically No. 1 because of the altitude. Our formula says otherwise.
16. Real Salt Lake
15. Toronto FC
14. NYCFC
Yankee Stadium is a top-ten advantage by point differential But it’s not quite as pronounced an advantage as you might expect. It came in at exactly 10th.
13. Austin FC
12. Sporting KC
11. Portland Timbers
You may have noticed we’ve reached the part of our experiment with all the 5/5 atmosphere ratings. We’re on thin margins the rest of the way. Only two stadiums left got a 3 or less. And they’re both in Texas.
10. Seattle Sounders
Rivalry win, hang the banner.
9. Minnesota United
8. FC Dallas
Our fourth-highest point differential. Texas heat apparently hits different than Florida heat.
7. St. Louis CITY SC
We only have one year of data, but CITYPARK has already cemented itself as one of the league’s best atmospheres. There were some special crowds here in 2023.
6. Columbus Crew
The Crew had the third-highest point differential and they did it across two different stadiums…(Ok, yeah, there are some flaws with the methodology that I didn’t think about until it was too late, I’m genuinely sorry.)
5. LAFC
4. Charlotte FC
3. Houston Dynamo FC
THE SINGLE. BEST. HOME POINT DIFFERENTIAL IN THE LEAGUE.
Over the last few years, Houston have been a remarkable 1.1 points better at home. Hell In A Shell is a real and tangible concept. There’s no other explanation here other than visiting teams don’t know how to handle 105-degree field temperatures.
2. Atlanta United
Big crowd is big.
1. Philadelphia Union
I shouldn’t have been surprised here. The Union have been absurdly good at home since 2019. They’ve gone entire seasons without losing at Subaru Park. In that span, they’ve been a full point better at home than on the road. There isn’t quite as direct an explanation as the “three points via heat stroke” feature in Houston, but don’t be fooled by a smaller capacity stadium, this place gets loud. When you pair that with a team that loves to tear opponents apart once they get a little momentum, you get the indisputable best home-field advantage in MLS.
Philadelphia Union sign Bolivian defender Berdecio: The Philadelphia Union have signed defender Jamir Berdecio on loan from Bolivian top-flight side Oriente Petrolero. The 21-year-old's deal runs through the 2024 MLS season and includes a purchase option.
Charlotte FC sign Odunze, Pedro from Crown Legacy: Charlotte FC have signed goalkeeper Chituru Odunze and defender João Pedro from their MLS NEXT Pro side, Crown Legacy FC.
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Good luck out there. Take time to reflect.
