MLS Fantasy is the official fantasy soccer game run by Major League Soccer, revamped in 2012 and going strong ever since. For soccer fans, it’s a brilliant way to immerse yourself in the games each week.
You can sign up and play for free, and there are real prizes to be won if you do well. They are only small, and winning one is really hard, but still.
If you don’t already know, fantasy soccer works by letting you pick a team of players from the entire MLS player pool. Think of it like your dream team, except you have to stick to a $100 million salary budget. Then these players are awarded points based on their real life performances from one game to the next. Their points are added together to create your score each week, and your score is compared to that of other players in one giant table.
It’s a chance to put your player knowledge to the test, increase your awareness of players from across the league, and stay more engaged with the action each week.
There is a competitive edge too. You can either play in a league set up by MLS, or create a league of your own with friends or workmates. Great for banter and for your pride if you end up near the top of the table.
There’s no commitment, you can be as involved as you like. Setting and forgetting a team for a few weeks might not win you the most points, but it won’t do any harm. Equally, you can swap players in and out on a weekly basis if you want to go all in.
Here’s how it works.
Pick Your Team
Once you have signed up you will be asked which MLS team you support. The game will then put you in an official league with other supporters of the same team, as well as the official overall league with every single person who has signed up. You can still join unofficial leagues set up by yourself or by people you know. There is no limit to the number of unofficial leagues you can join, although you are limited to setting up 5 of your own.
Next, you will be asked to choose a name for your team. You can call it anything you like. I went for Real MLSFootball United SFC, but you can go for whatever takes your fancy.
Next, you have to pick your team.
It’s genuinely difficult to pick a team you are happy with that stays within the $100 million salary budget, but then, that’s what makes it a fun challenge. I found myself doing some research on players I wasn’t familiar with and expanding my MLS knowledge in the process. The site has a good stats centre that helps with this.
You have to pick 15 players in total:
- 2 Goalkeepers
- 5 Defenders
- 5 Midfielders
- 3 Forwards
That’s an average of $6.6 million per player, but of course, some will be more expensive and some will be less expensive. You can only select a maximum of 3 players from any one MLS club.
You also need to select a captain, who gets double points, and four of your 15 are for the bench.
Transfers and Substitutes
Each game week is treated as a new round in MLS Fantasy.
You can make unlimited transfers per round, but you always need to stay within budget. This is important because the price of players goes up and down over the season depending on how they perform.
So if you hire well to begin with you could end up with a team valued much higher than when you picked them. Once a player is in your squad, if their price rises it does not impact your budget. However, if you sold them and bought them back you would be doing so at the new higher price, so the price rise would then impact your budget.
The game operates using a rolling locking system, which means you are free to swap players around right up until the point their game begins, so this is something to be mindful of.
It also means you can wait for confirmed line ups before finalising your player selections, and swap out players who have not yet played and sub them back in later.
It’s a system that can be ‘played’ to a certain extent, but also offers a lot of freedom for anyone who wants to get the absolute most out of their squad.
Scoring Points
The points system is quite complicated, but if you are really into your stats and data and enjoy analysing every player before making your squad choices it enhances the selection process no end.
Here they are:
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| For playing up to 60 minutes | 1 |
| Playing at least 60 minutes or more | 2 |
| Each goal scored by your goalkeepers or defenders | 6 |
| Each goal scored by your midfielders or forwards | 5 |
| Each assist* | 3 |
| Your goalkeeper concedes 0 goals (must also play at least 60 minutes) |
5 |
| Your defenders concede 0 goals (must also play at least 60 minutes) |
5 |
| Your midfielders concede 0 goals (must also play at least 60 minutes) |
1 |
| For every 3 shots saved by a goalkeeper | 1 |
| Every penalty miss | -2 |
| Every penalty save | 5 |
| Each own goal | -2 |
| Every 2 goals conceded by your goalkeepers or defenders |
-1 |
| Every yellow card | -1 |
| Every red card (includes any yellow card points)** |
-3 |
| Every 3 saves | 1 |
| Every 35 passes and 85% success or more | 1 |
| Every 4 shots at goal | 1 |
| Every 4 fouls received | 1 |
| Every 4 fouls against | -1 |
There are points bonuses too.
We know the captain scores double points, but there are also double game weeks as the season goes on, and MLS Fantasy players can take advantage of this by subbing or transferring in players who have two games scheduled for the week, allowing them to score points twice.
Last up, there are bonus points scored for positive attacking play and solid defensive performances. Any player who completes 3 crosses, 4 keys passes (a pass that leads to a shot or a goal), or 4 defensive clearances will receive an extra point.
Prizes
The prizes may not be life changing, but they are something nice to aim for. They also allow people who join part way through a season the chance to win something because there are weekly as well as season long prizes.
These tend to change fairly often, but as of 2025, the prizes were:
- $150 MLS Store gift card for the person who scored the most points each week
- $2,000 cash for the person with the highest season long score, $1,000 second place, $500 third place, smaller prizes down to 50th place.
- $500 for the Fantasy Champions League winner. Qualification for this league is reserved for the top 50 finishers per phase of the regular season.
There are four Champions League qualifying phases per season. These are distinct from the regular leagues, so you can do a bang average job in the season long league but still win a Champions League qualifier.
If you are playing in a private league with friends, you can always agree on your own prizes too.
It’s great fun – give it a go!