Supporters' Shield

Lore & Background

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 a donation from ESPN commentator Phil Schoen. 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.

In Their Own Story

The air inside the stadium crackled with anticipation, not for a cup final, but for the culmination of a grueling marathon. As the final whistle blew on the last matchday, the scoreboard flickered into life: LA Galaxy had secured the mathematical certainty of the Supporters' Shield. The roar that erupted from the stands was different than the chaotic joy of an MLS Cup win; it was a sound of respect, a collective exhale of pride for a season where every point mattered.

Reader's Guide

Sixteen different teams have won at least one Supporters' Shield, with the LA Galaxy and D.C. United level with the most wins at four each. Seven teams have gone on to win the MLS Cup after winning the Supporters' Shield, with both the Galaxy and D.C. achieving this double twice. While three teams have secured a Supporters' Shield and U.S. Open Cup double, no American team has won all three major domestic trophies (the Supporters' Shield, MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup). However, in the 2017 season, Toronto FC managed the Canadian version of this achievement, lifting the Supporters' Shield, MLS Cup and Canadian Championship. Before 2006, Shield winners were not guaranteed a berth into CONCACAF competitions. Most regular season champions to earn berths into CONCACAF competitions typically earned them from earning a berth into the MLS Cup, or earning a berth due to the number of berths allocated to the United States for MLS. Most times, the United States was allocated two berths into the tournament, which went to the MLS Cup champion and runner-up. Since 2007, the Shield winner replaced the MLS Cup runner-up as the second American representative for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. In 2008, with the arrival of the newly formatted CONCACAF Champions League, the Shield winner, along with the MLS Cup winner both earned direct byes into the group stage of the Champions League. Toronto FC and Los Angeles FC are the only Shield winners to reach the final of a CONCACAF competition. However, as a Canadian team, Toronto FC qualified for the tournament by winning the Canadian Championship and not the Supporters' Shield. D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls hold the record for the earliest exit in a CONCACAF competition as the Shield winners, being eliminated from the group stage in the 2008–09 and 2014–15 editions of the Champions League, respectively.

Did You Know?

• D.C. United and the LA Galaxy have each won four Supporters' Shields, the most of any MLS team.
• The Supporters' Shield was first awarded in 1999, with winners from 1996 to 1998 awarded retroactively.
• The original trophy was a sterling silver chevron made by a University of Missouri-Kansas City art student for $2,200.
• The Philadelphia Union are the 2025 holders of the Supporters' Shield.
• Inter Miami CF holds the record for most points in a regular season, with 74 in 2024.