The 2016 Major League Soccer season featured 20 total clubs (17 based in the United States, 3 based in Canada). The regular season began on March 6 and ended on October 23. The playoffs began on October 26 and ended on December 10. The defending MLS Cup champions were the Portland Timbers, while the New York Red Bulls were the defending Supporters' Shield winners. FC Dallas won the Supporter's Shield for the first time, and the Seattle Sounders FC won their first MLS Cup in their history after defeating Toronto FC 5–4 in a penalty kick shootout, after playing to a 0–0 result after regulation and added extra time.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Western Conference Team Stadium Capacity Colorado Rapids Dick's Sporting Goods Park 17,424 FC Dallas Toyota Stadium 20,500 Houston Dynamo BBVA Compass Stadium 22,039 LA Galaxy StubHub Center 27,000 Portland Timbers Providence Park 21,144 Real Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 San Jose Earthquakes Avaya Stadium 18,000 Seattle Sounders FC CenturyLink Field 40,000 Sporting Kansas City Children's Mercy Park 18,467 Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place 22,500
Eastern Conference Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Toyota Park 20,000 Columbus Crew SC Mapfre Stadium 20,145 D.C. United RFK Stadium 20,000 Montreal Impact Saputo Stadium 20,801 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 20,000 New York City FC Yankee Stadium 30,000 New York Red Bulls Red Bull Arena 25,000 Orlando City SC Camping World Stadium 33,500 Philadelphia Union Talen Energy Stadium 18,500 Toronto FC BMO Field 30,991
Personnel and sponsorship
Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.
Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsorChicago Fire ValsparColorado Rapids TransamericaColumbus Crew SC BarbasolD.C. United LeidosFC Dallas AdvoCareHouston Dynamo (interim) BHP Billiton LA Galaxy HerbalifeMontreal Impact Bank of MontrealNew England Revolution UnitedHealthcareNew York City FC Etihad AirwaysNew York Red Bulls Red BullOrlando City SC Orlando HealthPhiladelphia Union BimboPortland Timbers Alaska AirlinesReal Salt Lake Jeff Cassar LifeVantageSan Jose Earthquakes Sutter HealthSeattle Sounders FC (interim) XboxSporting Kansas City Ivy FundsToronto FC Bank of MontrealVancouver Whitecaps FC Bell Canada
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment New York City Jason Kreis Fired November 2, 2015 Preseason Patrick Vieira November 9, 2015 Chicago Fire Brian Bliss (interim) End of interim period November 24, 2015 Veljko Paunovic November 24, 2015Houston Dynamo Owen CoyleMutual consent10th in West, 18th overall (interim)Orlando City SC Adrian HeathMutual consent7th in East, 15th overall (interim) (interim)End of interim period8th in East, 16th overall Seattle Sounders FC Sigi SchmidMutual consent9th in West, 17th overall (interim)
Regular season
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup playoffs
Bracket
MLS Cup
Attendance
Average home attendances
Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
Team 1 Seattle Sounders FC 17724,80953,30239,26942,636 2 Orlando City SC 17502,47860,147 23,80231,324 3 New York City FC 17462,336 37,858 22,73627,196 4 Toronto FC 17451,917 30,26222,21226,583 5 LA Galaxy 17427,49227,167 19,651 25,147 6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 17379,60327,038 18,836 22,330 7 Portland Timbers 17359,44821,144 21,144 21,144 8 Montreal Impact 17351,366 27,545 16,31820,669 9 New York Red Bulls 17350,53525,218 15,167 20,620 10 New England Revolution 17343,15039,587 10,14420,185 11 San Jose Earthquakes 17338,81650,816 18,000 19,930 12 Real Salt Lake 17335,909 20,389 18,03619,759 13 Sporting Kansas City 17333,15520,618 18,563 19,549 14 Houston Dynamo 17323,36121,601 15,04519,597 15 Philadelphia Union 17297,825 18,681 15,01117,519 16 Columbus Crew SC 17291,128 20,389 13,11417,125 17 D.C. United 17290,381 30,943 12,09417,081 18 Colorado Rapids 17276,721 18,759 10,67016,278 19 Chicago Fire 17265,23418,97612,073 15,602 20 FC Dallas 17239,60116,215 10,381 14,094 – Total 3407,375,14460,147 10,14421,692
Highest attendances Regular season
Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Week Stadium1 Orlando City SC 2–2Real Salt Lake 60,147 1 Orlando Citrus Bowl2Seattle Sounders FC3–1Portland Timbers53,302August 21, 201625CenturyLink Field3 San Jose Earthquakes 1–1Los Angeles Galaxy 50,816 15 Stanford Stadium4Seattle Sounders FC2–1Real Salt Lake50,022October 23, 201634CenturyLink Field5Seattle Sounders FC1–1Los Angeles Galaxy48,458July 31, 201622CenturyLink Field6Seattle Sounders FC0–2New York City FC47,537June 25, 201615CenturyLink Field7Seattle Sounders FC1–0Vancouver Whitecaps FC47,111September 17, 201630CenturyLink Field8Seattle Sounders FC0–1Colorado Rapids 41,028 11 CenturyLink Field9Seattle Sounders FC0–1Los Angeles Galaxy40,813July 9, 201618CenturyLink Field10Seattle Sounders FC5–0FC Dallas40,101July 13, 201619CenturyLink Field
Player statistics
Goals RankPlayerClubGoals1 Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red Bulls252 David VillaNew York City FC243 Sebastian GiovincoToronto FC17 Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact5 Fanendo AdiPortland Timbers16 Dom DwyerSporting Kansas City Ola KamaraColumbus Crew8 Giovani Dos SantosLA Galaxy14 Cyle LarinOrlando City SC Diego ValeriPortland Timbers
Hat-tricks
Player Club Against Result Date New York Red Bulls Toronto FC 3–0 Columbus Crew SC Real Salt Lake 4–3 Philadelphia Union Chicago Fire 4–3 Montreal Impact Philadelphia Union 5–1 Toronto FC D.C. United 4–1 New York City FC Colorado Rapids 5–1 Toronto FC New England Revolution 4–1 Seattle Sounders FC Orlando City SC 3–1 D.C. United Chicago Fire 6–2 Houston Dynamo Portland Timbers 3–1 Toronto FC New York City FC 5–0
Assists
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Sacha KljestanNew York Red Bulls202 Sebastian GiovincoToronto FC153 Mauro DíazFC Dallas13 Benny FeilhaberSporting Kansas City Justin MeramColumbus Crew6 Giovani Dos SantosLA Galaxy127 Luciano AcostaD.C. United11 Steven GerrardLA Galaxy Andrea PirloNew York City FC Joao PlataReal Salt Lake
Clean Sheets RankPlayerClubCleanSheets1 Luis RoblesNew York Red Bulls112 Chris SeitzFC Dallas103 Brian RoweLA Galaxy94 David BinghamSan Jose Earthquakes8 Steve ClarkColumbus Crew SC Stefan FreiSeattle Sounders FC Tim MeliaSporting Kansas City Josh SaundersNew York City FC9 Tim HowardColorado Rapids710 7 players6
Awards
Player of the Month MonthPlayerClubStatsMarch Joao PlataReal Salt Lake3G, 2AApril Fanendo AdiPortland Timbers3G, 1AMay Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red Bulls6G, 2AJune Yura MovsisyanReal Salt Lake3GJuly Frank LampardNew York City FC6G, 1AAugust Nicolás LodeiroSeattle Sounders FC2G, 6ASeptember Chad MarshallSeattle Sounders FC1GOctober Justin MeramColumbus Crew1G, 4A
Weekly awards WeekMLS Player of the WeekMLS Goal of the WeekMLS Save of the Week Player Club Player Club Player Club 1 Mike MageeLA Galaxy Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact Evan BushMontreal Impact 2 Andrew Wenger Houston Dynamo Cyle Larin Orlando City SC Brian Rowe LA Galaxy 3 FelipeNew York Red Bulls Felipe New York Red Bulls Tim Melia Sporting Kansas City 4 Michael BarriosFC Dallas Thomas McNamara New York City FC Bobby Shuttleworth New England Revolution 5 KakáOrlando City SC Adam JahnSan Jose Earthquakes Joe BendikOrlando City SC 6 Fabián EspíndolaD.C. United Alberto QuinteroSan Jose Earthquakes David BinghamSan Jose Earthquakes 7 Giovani dos SantosLA Galaxy Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact Nick RimandoReal Salt Lake 8 Emmanuel BoatengLA Galaxy Luciano AcostaD.C. United David BinghamSan Jose Earthquakes 9 Jake GleesonPortland Timbers Maxim TissotMontreal Impact Joe BendikOrlando City SC 10 Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact Tim Melia Sporting Kansas City 11 Kekuta MannehVancouver Whitecaps FC Blas PerezVancouver Whitecaps FC Joe Bendik Orlando City SC 12 Bradley Wright-Phillips New York Red Bulls Cyle LarinOrlando City SC Joe BendikOrlando City SC 13 Ola Kamara Columbus Crew SC Kevin Molino Orlando City SC Luis Robles New York Red Bulls 14 Chris Pontius Philadelphia Union Chris Pontius Philadelphia Union Nick Rimando Real Salt Lake 15 Mike Grella New York Red Bulls Júlio Baptista Orlando City SC Jake GleesonPortland Timbers16 Roland Alberg Philadelphia Union Lamar NeagleD.C. United Andre BlakePhiladelphia Union17 Jack Harrison New York City FC Cristian Maidana Houston Dynamo Joe Bendik Orlando City SC18 Ilsinho Philadelphia Union Lee Nguyen New England Revolution Brian Rowe LA Galaxy19 Diego Valeri Portland Timbers Jack Harrison New York City FC Joe Bendik Orlando City SC20 Sebastian Giovinco Toronto FC Ignacio Piatti Montreal Impact Joe Bendik Orlando City SC21 Frank Lampard New York City FC Cyle Larin Orlando City SC Joe Bendik Orlando City SC22 Sebastian Giovinco Toronto FC Javier Morales Real Salt Lake Joe Bendik Orlando City SC23 Bradley Wright-Phillips New York Red Bulls Shkelzen Gashi Colorado Rapids Bill HamidD.C. United24 Clint Dempsey Seattle Sounders FC Luis Solignac Chicago Fire SC Joe WillisHouston Dynamo25 Patrick Mullins D.C. United Yura Movsisyan Real Salt Lake Joe Bendik Orlando City SC26 Frank Lampard New York City FC Giovani dos Santos LA Galaxy Brad Knighton New England Revolution27 Giovani dos Santos LA Galaxy Joao Plata Real Salt Lake Joe Bendik Orlando City SC28 Kelyn Rowe New England Revolution Cyle Larin Orlando City SC David Ousted Vancouver Whitecaps FC29 Mauro Manotas Houston Dynamo Shkelzen Gashi Colorado Rapids Brad Knighton New England Revolution
Team of the Week