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Supporters' Shield
The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1999 (with the winners between 1996 and 1998 awarded retroactively), and has been recognized as a major trophy by the league. It echoes the practice of the top European leagues in which the team with the best record is the champion. Since 2006, the Supporters' Shield winner has earned a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
D.C. United and LA Galaxy, with four Supporters' Shields each, have won the most shields of any MLS team. Philadelphia Union are the 2025 holders of the Supporters' Shield, clinching their second shield in the penultimate regular season match. Inter Miami CF currently holds the record for the most points in a regular season, with 74 in the 2024 campaign.
When Major League Soccer had its inaugural season in 1996, the league resembled its contemporary North American leagues. After the regular season, the campaign culminated with the MLS Cup Playoffs, en route to the postseason championship match, the MLS Cup. The club with the best regular season record received nothing more than the top seed in the playoffs.
In 1997, soccer fan Nick Lawrus on a listserv proposed the notion of a "Supporters' Scudetto", as a result of the Tampa Bay Mutiny earning the best regular season record but failing to win the 1996 MLS Cup Final. A committee composed of members of all MLS teams' supporters changed the name to "Supporters' Shield" but, due to disagreements between members of the committee, the proposal failed to come to fruition.
The following year, another group led by soccer enthusiast Sam Pierron tried to revive the idea by giving an award to the regular season champions. Since MLS refused to fund the idea, Pierron began fundraising to purchase a trophy with the help of supporters from various MLS clubs. Fundraising was boosted with donations from ESPN commentator Phil Schoen and MLS commissioner Doug Logan. In the end, nearly $3,000 was donated to commission the trophy, which was a chevron made by University of Missouri-Kansas City art student Paula Richardson out of sterling silver sheet metal, for $2,200.
The process to create and purchase the Supporters' Shield was not completed until the last weeks of the 1999 season. Although D.C. United were the first MLS club to win the award, the first-place finishes between 1996 and 1998 have all been awarded the honor retroactively, with their names included on the shield at the time of its creation.
Throughout the early to mid-2000s, the Shield received little praise or recognition from MLS or the general public , as the league awarded the MLS Cup winner and runner-up with spots in continental tournaments.
In February 2006, USSF decided that the Supporters' Shield winner and the MLS Cup winner would represent the United States in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. If the Supporters Shield winner also wins the MLS Cup, the U.S. Open Cup, or if either spot is won by a Canadian team, the U.S.-based team with the second-highest regular season point total qualifies as well. When the Champions Cup became the CONCACAF Champions League, the United States Soccer Federation gave both the Supporters' Shield winner and the MLS Cup winner direct Group stage spots.
Supporters' Shield
The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1999 (with the winners between 1996 and 1998 awarded retroactively), and has been recognized as a major trophy by the league. It echoes the practice of the top European leagues in which the team with the best record is the champion. Since 2006, the Supporters' Shield winner has earned a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
D.C. United and LA Galaxy, with four Supporters' Shields each, have won the most shields of any MLS team. Philadelphia Union are the 2025 holders of the Supporters' Shield, clinching their second shield in the penultimate regular season match. Inter Miami CF currently holds the record for the most points in a regular season, with 74 in the 2024 campaign.
When Major League Soccer had its inaugural season in 1996, the league resembled its contemporary North American leagues. After the regular season, the campaign culminated with the MLS Cup Playoffs, en route to the postseason championship match, the MLS Cup. The club with the best regular season record received nothing more than the top seed in the playoffs.
In 1997, soccer fan Nick Lawrus on a listserv proposed the notion of a "Supporters' Scudetto", as a result of the Tampa Bay Mutiny earning the best regular season record but failing to win the 1996 MLS Cup Final. A committee composed of members of all MLS teams' supporters changed the name to "Supporters' Shield" but, due to disagreements between members of the committee, the proposal failed to come to fruition.
The following year, another group led by soccer enthusiast Sam Pierron tried to revive the idea by giving an award to the regular season champions. Since MLS refused to fund the idea, Pierron began fundraising to purchase a trophy with the help of supporters from various MLS clubs. Fundraising was boosted with donations from ESPN commentator Phil Schoen and MLS commissioner Doug Logan. In the end, nearly $3,000 was donated to commission the trophy, which was a chevron made by University of Missouri-Kansas City art student Paula Richardson out of sterling silver sheet metal, for $2,200.
The process to create and purchase the Supporters' Shield was not completed until the last weeks of the 1999 season. Although D.C. United were the first MLS club to win the award, the first-place finishes between 1996 and 1998 have all been awarded the honor retroactively, with their names included on the shield at the time of its creation.
Throughout the early to mid-2000s, the Shield received little praise or recognition from MLS or the general public , as the league awarded the MLS Cup winner and runner-up with spots in continental tournaments.
In February 2006, USSF decided that the Supporters' Shield winner and the MLS Cup winner would represent the United States in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. If the Supporters Shield winner also wins the MLS Cup, the U.S. Open Cup, or if either spot is won by a Canadian team, the U.S.-based team with the second-highest regular season point total qualifies as well. When the Champions Cup became the CONCACAF Champions League, the United States Soccer Federation gave both the Supporters' Shield winner and the MLS Cup winner direct Group stage spots.