The MLS SuperDraft is an annual college draft for teams of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in the United States and Canada. It takes place in January and is used by teams to select players who have graduated from college or otherwise been signed by the league. The SuperDraft was first instituted in 2000, as a combination of the MLS College Draft, in which players having graduated from college were selected, and the

MLS Supplemental Draft The MLS Supplemental Draft had a number of incarnations in US soccer: From 1996 to 1999, all players playing in the United States playing professionally in the United Soccer Leagues were eligible for the MLS Supplemental Draft, where they could be ...

, in which all other players were chosen. The draft is divided into three rounds in which each club has a selection, the order of which is determined by a combination of the teams' playoff and regular season positions, with the last placed team (or expansion teams) getting the first pick.

History

From 1996 to 1999, all American players graduating college were entered into the MLS College Draft, and were eligible to be selected by all

teams. Players who had already graduated from college were entered into a separate

. The division between the two was eliminated in 2000, when they were combined into a single MLS SuperDraft. Originally created to ensure strict parity in the league, the draft was designed to allow weaker clubs to develop their rosters. The first SuperDraft was held in 2000, and since then has become the primary draft of the league. Recently, the draft has been considered to be secondary to youth academies. The importance of the SuperDraft waned in the 2010s as MLS teams established their own

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

systems and acquired young players from other leagues. The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was conducted exclusively by conference calls and online streaming for the first time.

Eligible players

Only players from the American college sports system (e.g., the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

and the NAIA) are eligible to be drafted. Canadian

U Sports men's soccer U Sports men's soccer is the highest level of play at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. As of the 2018 season, 48 teams from Canadian universities are divided into four conference ...

players are not included, despite numerous proposals and discussions in 2010 and 2012 when U Sports was Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). In previous SuperDrafts, a few players were drafted directly from clubs outside the U.S. or Canada.

Rules of draft selection

The draft process for the SuperDraft closely resembles the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. Below is the process for the

2022 MLS SuperDraft The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020. Previously, the Su ...

: #Any expansion club automatically gets the first pick; should there be two expansion teams, a coin toss determines who picks first in the SuperDraft and who picks first in the expansion draft. #Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record. #Teams that made the

MLS Cup Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qualif ...

are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated. #The winners of the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

are given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection. #Remaining ties are broken by the goal differential, goals scored, goals conceded, and then the flip of a coin.

List of MLS College Drafts

List of MLS SuperDrafts

References