2015 Major League Soccer season

Major League Soccer

Season	2015
MLS Cup	Portland Timbers (1st title)
Supporters' Shield	New York Red Bulls (2nd shield)
Champions League (United States)	FC Dallas New York Red Bulls Portland Timbers Sporting Kansas City
Champions League (Canada)	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Matches played	340
Goals scored	937 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Sebastian Giovinco Kei Kamara (22 goals each)
Best goalkeeper	Adam Kwarasey David Ousted (13 shutouts each)
Biggest home win	5 goals: LA 5–0 POR (Jun 24) TOR 5–0 ORL (Aug 22) CLB 5–0 DC (Oct 25)
Biggest away win	5 goals: SKC 0–5 SJ (Aug 19)
Highest scoring	10 goals: DC 6–4 RSL (Aug 1)
Longest winning run	6 games: New England Revolution (Aug 1 – Sep 16)
Longest unbeaten run	9 games: New England Revolution (Mar 21 – May 16) Portland Timbers (Oct 14 – Dec 6)
Longest winless run	11 games: New York City (Mar 21 – May 30)
Longest losing run	5 games: New England Revolution (Jun 21 – Jul 11) Seattle Sounders FC (Jul 11 – Aug 9) Chicago Fire (Sep 5 – Sep 26)
Highest attendance	64,358 SEA 2–1 POR (Aug 30)
Lowest attendance	10,035 MTL 2–1 VAN (Jun 3)
Total attendance	7,335,053
Average attendance	21,574
← 2014 2016 →

D.C. United

Red Bulls

Columbus

New England

Chicago

Kansas City

Toronto

Philadelphia

Montreal

Orlando

NYCFC

Colorado

Dallas

Galaxy

Houston

Salt Lake

Portland

San Jose

Seattle

Vancouver

class=notpageimage|

Locations of teams for the 2015 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

The 2015 Major League Soccer season featured 20 total clubs (17 based in the United States, 3 based in Canada). The regular season was held from March 6 through to October 25, whereas the MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 28 and ended with MLS Cup 2015 on December 6. The defending MLS Cup champions were the LA Galaxy, while Seattle Sounders FC were the defending Supporters' Shield winners.

It was the first season for expansion teams Orlando City SC and New York City, who both joined the Eastern Conference, while both the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. Chivas USA folded at the end of the 2014 season.

At the end of the regular season, the New York Red Bulls of the Eastern Conference won the Supporters' Shield, while the team on top of the Western Conference was FC Dallas. The Portland Timbers won their first MLS Cup, winning 2–1 at Columbus Crew.

Overview

The 2015 season began on Friday, March 6. The opening weekend saw an average attendance of 25,838 — buoyed by strong attendances in Orlando (62,510), and Seattle (39,782) — with seven of the weekend's ten matches selling out. ^[1] Additionally, MLS saw strong TV ratings on ESPN2 (539,000 viewers), Unimas (341,000 viewers), and Fox Sports 1 (289,000 and 278,500 viewers). ^[2]

Franchise changes

The 2015 MLS season featured the addition of two expansion teams, New York City and Orlando City SC. New York City became the second MLS team in the New York metropolitan area (joining the New Jersey-based New York Red Bulls), as well as the first based within New York City itself, as the team played its inaugural season at Yankee Stadium). Orlando was a new market for MLS, which returned to Florida for the first time since folding their Miami and Tampa Bay franchises before the 2002 season. The Lions' ownership previously owned Orlando's team that played in the league then known as USL Pro from 2010 to 2014; that team that relocated to Louisville for the 2015 season of the rebranded United Soccer League.

While MLS added two teams, one team closed down. Chivas USA, which had called the Los Angeles area home since 2005 and shared the StubHub Center with the LA Galaxy. Chivas had been owned by Mexican club, C.D. Guadalajara, who sold the club back to MLS in 2014. The league folded Chivas in October 2014, after the conclusion of the regular season, though it announced plans to add a second LA-area club, Los Angeles FC, in 2018. ^[3]

Realignment and playoffs

With the addition and subtraction of the above-mentioned teams, the 2015 season saw a realignment of MLS's Eastern and Western conferences: New York City and Orlando City SC joined the East, while Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City moved from the East to the West. ^[3]

Each team played 34 regular season matches: two or three against conference rivals and once against teams from the opposite conference. The regular season concluded with all teams playing at the same scheduled time, a league first. ^[4]

12 teams advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs, up from 10 the previous 3 seasons. The top six teams per conference qualified. The first round per conference had the third-seed hosting the sixth-seed, and the fourth hosting the fifth. In the Conference Semifinals, the top seed played the lowest remaining seed and the second played the next-lowest.

Television

The 2015 season saw the launch of a new United States television and media rights deal with English-language ESPN and Fox Sports and Spanish-language Univision Deportes. The deal continues MLS's relationship with ESPN and Univision, while it reestablishes one with Fox Sports, whose Fox Soccer channel carried MLS games until 2011 (NBC Sports carried MLS broadcasts from 2012 to 2014). The deal, formally announced in May 2014, sees regular weekly game broadcasts on ESPN2 (Sunday afternoons) and Fox Sports 1 (Sunday evenings), as well as a regular Friday night match on UniMás and/or Univision Deportes Network. The networks will share coverage of the MLS Cup Playoffs, while ESPN and Fox will alternate English language carriage of the MLS All-Star Game and MLS Cup championship match each year. The 2015 MLS all star game will be on Fox Sports, and MLS Cup 2015 will air on ESPN. As part of the deal, the networks also share coverage of the U.S. Soccer men's and women's national teams. ^[5]

The league reached a four-year agreement with Sky Sports to televise league matches live in the United Kingdom and Ireland. At least two regular season matches each week, the MLS All-Star Game, and every MLS Cup Playoff match was aired on the Sky family of networks. ^[6] MLS also reached a four-year agreement with Eurosport to air live matches in many other European countries. ^[7]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Chicago Fire	Colorado Rapids	Columbus Crew	D.C. United	FC Dallas	Houston Dynamo
Toyota Park	Dick's Sporting Goods Park	Mapfre Stadium	RFK Memorial Stadium	Toyota Stadium	BBVA Compass Stadium
Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 18,000	Capacity: 20,145	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 20,500	Capacity: 22,000
LA Galaxy	Montreal Impact	Fire Rapids Crew D.C. United FC Dallas Dynamo Galaxy Impact Revolution New York City Red Bulls Orlando City SC Union Timbers Real Salt Lake Earthquakes Sounders Sporting KC Toronto Whitecaps class=notpageimage| Locations of teams for the 2015 Major League Soccer season Eastern Conference; Western Conference		New England Revolution	New York City
StubHub Center	Saputo Stadium			Gillette Stadium	Yankee Stadium
Capacity: 27,000	Capacity: 20,801			Capacity: 22,385	Capacity: 33,444
New York Red Bulls	Orlando			Philadelphia Union	Portland Timbers
Red Bull Arena	Citrus Bowl			PPL Park	Providence Park
Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 23,000			Capacity: 18,500	Capacity: 22,000
Real Salt Lake	San Jose Earthquakes	Seattle Sounders FC	Sporting Kansas City	Toronto FC	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Rio Tinto Stadium	Avaya Stadium	CenturyLink Field	Sporting Park	BMO Field	BC Place
Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 18,000	Capacity: 39,115	Capacity: 18,500	Capacity: 30,991	Capacity: 21,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire	Veljko Paunović	Jeff Larentowicz	Quaker
Colorado Rapids	Pablo Mastroeni	Drew Moor	Transamerica
Columbus Crew	Gregg Berhalter	Michael Parkhurst	Barbasol
D.C. United	Ben Olsen	Bobby Boswell	Leidos
FC Dallas	Óscar Pareja	Matt Hedges	AdvoCare
Houston Dynamo	Owen Coyle	Brad Davis	BHP Billiton
LA Galaxy	Bruce Arena	Robbie Keane	Herbalife
Montreal Impact	Mauro Biello	Patrice Bernier	Bank of Montreal
New England Revolution	Jay Heaps	Jermaine Jones	UnitedHealthcare
New York City	Jason Kreis	David Villa	Etihad Airways
New York Red Bulls	Jesse Marsch	Dax McCarty	Red Bull
Orlando City SC	Adrian Heath	Kaká	Orlando Health
Philadelphia Union	Jim Curtin	Maurice Edu	Bimbo
Portland Timbers	Caleb Porter	Will Johnson	Alaska Airlines
Real Salt Lake	Jeff Cassar	Kyle Beckerman	LifeVantage
San Jose Earthquakes	Dominic Kinnear	Chris Wondolowski	—
Seattle Sounders FC	Sigi Schmid	Brad Evans	Xbox
Sporting Kansas City	Peter Vermes	Matt Besler	Ivy Funds
Toronto	Greg Vanney	Michael Bradley	Bank of Montreal
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Carl Robinson	Pedro Morales	Bell Canada

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
San Jose Earthquakes	Mark Watson	Fired	October 16, 2014 [8]	Preseason	Dominic Kinnear	October 16, 2014 [9]
Houston Dynamo	Dominic Kinnear	Signed by San Jose Earthquakes	October 16, 2014 [9]		Owen Coyle	December 8, 2014 [10]
New York Red Bulls	Mike Petke	Fired	January 7, 2015 [11]		Jesse Marsch	January 7, 2015 [12]
Montreal Impact	Frank Klopas	Fired	August 29, 2015 [13]	7th in East, 17th overall	Mauro Biello (Interim)	August 29, 2015 [13]
Chicago Fire	Frank Yallop	Fired	September 20, 2015 [14]	10th in East, 20th overall	Brian Bliss (Interim)	September 20, 2015 [14]
New York City	Jason Kreis	Fired	November 2, 2015 [15]	Postseason	Patrick Vieira	November 9, 2015
Chicago Fire	Brian Bliss	End of interim	November 24, 2015		Veljko Paunovic	November 24, 2015 [16]

Regular season

Conference tables

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New York Red Bulls	34	18	10	6	62	43	+19	60	Conference semifinals & 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League
2	Columbus Crew	34	15	11	8	58	53	+5	53	Conference semifinals
3	Montreal Impact	34	15	13	6	48	44	+4	51	Knockout round
4	D.C. United	34	15	13	6	43	45	−2	51
5	New England Revolution	34	14	12	8	48	47	+1	50
6	Toronto FC	34	15	15	4	58	58	0	49
7	Orlando City SC	34	12	14	8	46	56	−10	44
8	New York City FC	34	10	17	7	49	58	−9	37
9	Philadelphia Union	34	10	17	7	42	55	−13	37
10	Chicago Fire	34	8	20	6	43	58	−15	30

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) away goals scored; 7) away goal differential; 8) home goals scored; 9) home goal differential; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots

Western Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Dallas	34	18	10	6	52	39	+13	60	Conference semifinals & 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League
2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	16	13	5	45	36	+9	53	Conference semifinals
3	Portland Timbers	34	15	11	8	41	39	+2	53	Knockout round
4	Seattle Sounders FC	34	15	13	6	44	36	+8	51
5	LA Galaxy	34	14	11	9	56	46	+10	51
6	Sporting Kansas City	34	14	11	9	48	45	+3	51
7	San Jose Earthquakes	34	13	13	8	41	39	+2	47
8	Houston Dynamo	34	11	14	9	42	49	−7	42
9	Real Salt Lake	34	11	15	8	38	48	−10	41
10	Colorado Rapids	34	9	15	10	33	43	−10	37

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) away goals scored; 7) away goal differential; 8) home goals scored; 9) home goal differential; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots

Overall table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification [lower-alpha 1]
1	New York Red Bulls (S)	34	18	10	6	62	43	+19	60	2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League
2	FC Dallas	34	18	10	6	52	39	+13	60
3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC (V)	34	16	13	5	45	36	+9	53
4	Columbus Crew	34	15	11	8	58	53	+5	53
5	Portland Timbers (C)	34	15	11	8	41	39	+2	53	2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League
6	Seattle Sounders FC	34	15	13	6	44	36	+8	51
7	Montreal Impact	34	15	13	6	48	44	+4	51
8	D.C. United	34	15	13	6	43	45	−2	51
9	LA Galaxy	34	14	11	9	56	46	+10	51
10	Sporting Kansas City (U)	34	14	11	9	48	45	+3	51	2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League
11	New England Revolution	34	14	12	8	48	47	+1	50
12	Toronto FC	34	15	15	4	58	58	0	49
13	San Jose Earthquakes	34	13	13	8	41	39	+2	47
14	Orlando City SC	34	12	14	8	46	56	−10	44
15	Houston Dynamo	34	11	14	9	42	49	−7	42
16	Real Salt Lake	34	11	15	8	38	48	−10	41
17	New York City FC	34	10	17	7	49	58	−9	37
18	Philadelphia Union	34	10	17	7	42	55	−13	37
19	Colorado Rapids	34	9	15	10	33	43	−10	37
20	Chicago Fire	34	8	20	6	43	58	−15	30

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) away goals scored; 7) away goal differential; 8) home goals scored; 9) home goal differential; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield winner; (U) U.S. Open Cup winner; (V) Canadian Championship winner
Notes:

1. CONCACAF Champions League
   Selection Procedure

   • Four US-based teams qualify for the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League:
     1. The winner of the MLS Cup 2015 (Portland Timbers);
        
     2. The winner of the Supporters' Shield (New York Red Bulls);
        
     3. The regular season conference champion that did not win the Supporters Shield (FC Dallas);
        
     4. The winner of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (Sporting Kansas City)
        
     Each qualifier is placed in Pot 3, along with the four qualifiers from Mexico.
     One Canada-based team qualifies for the Champions League (NOTE: Canadian teams cannot qualify through MLS):
     1. The winner of the 2015 Canadian Championship (Vancouver Whitecaps)
        
     They are placed in Pot 2 along with two qualifiers each from Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, and one qualifier each from Panama.

MLS Cup Playoffs

Main article: 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs

	Knockout round					Conference semifinals							Conference finals							MLS Cup
	October 29 – Stade Saputo					E3	Montreal Impact	2	1	3
	E6	Toronto FC	0			E2	Columbus Crew (a.e.t.)	1	3	4
													E2	Columbus Crew	2	0	2
	E3	Montreal Impact	3			Eastern Conference
													E1	New York Red Bulls	0	1	1
	October 28 – RFK Stadium					E4	D.C. United	0	0	0
																				December 6 – Mapfre Stadium
	E5	New England Revolution	1			E1	New York Red Bulls	1	1	2
																				E2	Columbus Crew	1
	E4	D.C. United	2
																				W3	Portland Timbers	2
	October 29 – Providence Park					W3	Portland Timbers	0	2	2
	W6	Sporting Kansas City	2 (6)			W2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	0	0	0
													W3	Portland Timbers	3	2	5
	W3	Portland Timbers (p)	2 (7)			Western Conference
													W1	FC Dallas	1	2	3
	October 28 – CenturyLink Field					W4	Seattle Sounders FC	2	1	3 (2)
	W5	LA Galaxy	2			W1	FC Dallas (p)	1	2	3 (4)
	W4	Seattle Sounders FC	3

Source: ^[17]

Attendance

See also: Major League Soccer attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance. ^[18]

Team	GP	Total	High	Low	Average
Seattle Sounders FC	17	752,192	64,358	39,175	44,247
Orlando City SC	17	558,407	62,510	23,372	32,847
New York City	17	493,267	48,047	20,461	29,016
Toronto	17	398,671	30,266	16,382	23,451
LA Galaxy	17	397,668	27,000	13,391	23,392
Portland Timbers	17	359,418	21,144	21,144	21,144
San Jose Earthquakes	17	356,646	50,422	18,000	20,979
Houston Dynamo	17	351,187	22,651	16,018	20,658
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	17	348,624	22,500	18,083	20,507
Real Salt Lake	17	342,718	21,004	18,895	20,160
Sporting Kansas City	17	334,684	21,505	18,864	19,687
New York Red Bulls	17	334,172	25,219	12,540	19,657
New England Revolution	17	333,652	42,947	10,668	19,627
Montreal Impact	17	301,742	25,245	10,035	17,750
Philadelphia Union	17	296,674	18,883	15,374	17,451
Columbus Crew	17	288,747	22,719	10,302	16,985
D.C. United	17	276,152	21,517	11,218	16,244
FC Dallas	17	272,221	21,907	12,640	16,013
Chicago Fire	17	272,043	20,124	11,196	16,003
Colorado Rapids	17	266,168	18,597	10,439	15,657
Total	340	7,335,053	64,358	10,035	21,574

Highest attendances

Regular season

Rank	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Stadium
1	Seattle Sounders FC	2–1	Portland Timbers	64,358	August 30, 2015 (2015-08-30)	CenturyLink Field
2	Orlando City SC	1–1	New York City FC	62,510	March 8, 2015 (2015-03-08)	Citrus Bowl
3	Seattle Sounders FC	1–1	LA Galaxy	56,097	October 4, 2015 (2015-10-04)	CenturyLink Field
4	Seattle Sounders FC	3–1	Real Salt Lake	55,435	October 25, 2015 (2015-10-25)	CenturyLink Field
5	Seattle Sounders FC	0–3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	53,125	August 2, 2015 (2015-08-02)	CenturyLink Field
6	San Jose Earthquakes	3–1	LA Galaxy	50,422	June 27, 2015 (2015-06-27)	Stanford Stadium
7	New York City	1–3	New York Red Bulls	48,047	June 28, 2015 (2015-06-28)	Yankee Stadium
8	New York City	2–0	New England Revolution	43,507	March 15, 2015 (2015-03-15)	Yankee Stadium
9	Orlando City SC	2–1	New York City	43,179	October 16, 2015 (2015-10-16)	Citrus Bowl
10	New England Revolution	0–1	Montreal Impact	42,947	October 17, 2015 (2015-10-17)	Gillette Stadium

Updated to games played on October 25, 2015. Source: MLS Soccer

Statistics

See also: Major League Soccer § Player records

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals [19] 1 Sebastian Giovinco Toronto 22 Kei Kamara Columbus Crew 3 Robbie Keane LA Galaxy 20 4 David Villa New York City 18 5 Cyle Larin Orlando City SC 17 Bradley Wright-Phillips New York Red Bulls 7 Chris Wondolowski San Jose Earthquakes 16 Fanendo Adi Portland Timbers 9 Obafemi Martins Seattle Sounders FC 15 10 Jozy Altidore Toronto 13

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists [20] 1 Sebastian Giovinco Toronto 16 2 Benny Feilhaber Sporting Kansas City 15 Cristian Maidana Philadelphia Union 4 Sacha Kljestan New York Red Bulls 14 5 Ethan Finlay Columbus Crew 13 6 Javier Morales Real Salt Lake 11 7 Brad Davis Houston Dynamo 10 Mauro Díaz FC Dallas Lee Nguyen New England Revolution Clint Dempsey Seattle Sounders FC

Shutouts Rank Player Club Shutouts [21] 1 Adam Kwarasey Portland Timbers 13 David Ousted Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3 David Bingham San Jose Earthquakes 12 4 Stefan Frei Seattle Sounders FC 10 5 Evan Bush Montreal Impact 9 Luis Robles New York Red Bulls 7 Bill Hamid D.C. United 8 Clint Irwin Colorado Rapids Tim Melia Sporting Kansas City Nick Rimando Real Salt Lake Bobby Shuttleworth New England Revolution

Hat-tricks Main article: List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Robbie Keane LA Galaxy Toronto 4–0 July 4 Sebastian Giovinco Toronto New York City 4–4 July 12 Robbie Keane LA Galaxy San Jose Earthquakes 5–2 July 17 Cyle Larin Orlando City SC New York City 3–5 July 26 Sebastian Giovinco Toronto Orlando City SC 4–1 August 5 Didier Drogba Montreal Impact Chicago Fire 4–3 September 5 Cyle Larin Orlando City SC New York Red Bulls 5–2 September 25

Awards

Monthly awards

MLS Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club	Stats	Ref
March	Octavio Rivero	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3G, 0A	[22]
April	Benny Feilhaber	Sporting Kansas City	2G, 3A	[23]
May	Krisztián Németh	Sporting Kansas City	3G, 2A	[24]
June	David Ousted	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	30SV, 4GA	[25]
July	Sebastian Giovinco	Toronto	5G, 3A	[26]
August	Sebastian Giovinco	Toronto	4G, 3A	[27]
September	Didier Drogba	Montreal Impact	7G, 1A	[28]
October	Didier Drogba	Montreal Impact	4G, 0A	[29]

Weekly awards

Week	MLS Player of the Week		Goal of the Week		MLS Save of the Week
	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
Week 1	Jozy Altidore	Toronto	Clint Dempsey	Seattle Sounders FC	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake
Week 2	David Villa	New York City	Innocent Emeghara	San Jose Earthquakes	Tyler Deric	Houston Dynamo
Week 3	Bradley Wright-Phillips	New York Red Bulls	Octavio Rivero	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Tyler Deric	Houston Dynamo
Week 4	Kelyn Rowe	New England Revolution	Jack McInerney	Montreal Impact	Tyler Deric	Houston Dynamo
Week 5	Shaun Maloney	Chicago Fire	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	Brek Shea	Orlando City SC
Week 6	Jaime Penedo	LA Galaxy	Dillon Serna	Colorado Rapids	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake
Week 7	Fabián Castillo	FC Dallas	Obafemi Martins	Seattle Sounders FC	Adam Kwarasey	Portland Timbers
Week 8	Ethan Finlay	Columbus Crew	Benny Feilhaber	Sporting Kansas City	Jeff Attinella	Real Salt Lake
Week 9	Fabián Castillo	FC Dallas	Obafemi Martins	Seattle Sounders FC	Stefan Frei	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 10	Bradley Wright-Phillips	New York Red Bulls	Diego Valeri	Portland Timbers	David Ousted	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Week 11	Chad Barrett	Seattle Sounders FC	Devon Sandoval	Real Salt Lake	Steve Clark	Columbus Crew
Week 12	Kei Kamara	Columbus Crew	Dom Dwyer	Sporting Kansas City	Evan Bush	Montreal Impact
Week 13	Sebastian Giovinco	Toronto	Marco Pappa	Seattle Sounders FC	Stefan Frei	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 14	Sebastian Giovinco	Toronto	Thomas McNamara	New York City	Andrew Dykstra	D.C. United
Week 15	David Villa	New York City	Diego Fagúndez	New England Revolution	Stefan Frei	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 16	Gyasi Zardes	LA Galaxy	Matías Pérez García	San Jose Earthquakes	David Ousted	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Week 17	Fanendo Adi	Portland Timbers	Olmes Garcia	Real Salt Lake	David Ousted	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Week 18	Robbie Keane	LA Galaxy	Tyrone Mears	Seattle Sounders FC	David Ousted	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Week 19	Sebastian Giovinco	Toronto	Marco Donadel	Montreal Impact	Evan Bush	Montreal Impact
Week 20	Robbie Keane	LA Galaxy	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	Tyler Deric	Houston Dynamo
Week 21	Cyle Larin	Orlando City SC	Benny Feilhaber	Sporting Kansas City	Jeff Attinella	Real Salt Lake
Week 22	Pa Modou Kah	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Taylor Kemp	D.C. United	Jeff Attinella	Real Salt Lake
Week 23	Kei Kamara	Columbus Crew	Sebastian Giovinco	Toronto	Luis Robles	New York Red Bulls
Week 24	Paulo Nagamura	Sporting Kansas City	Obafemi Martins	Seattle Sounders FC	Adam Kwarasey	Portland Timbers
Week 25	Robbie Keane	LA Galaxy	Cristian Techera	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Stefan Frei	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 26	Bradley Wright-Phillips	New York Red Bulls	Bradley Wright-Phillips	New York Red Bulls	Stefan Frei	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 27	Didier Drogba	Montreal Impact	Didier Drogba	Montreal Impact	Stefan Frei	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 28	Kei Kamara	Columbus Crew	Krisztián Németh	Sporting Kansas City	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake
Week 29	Benny Feilhaber	Sporting Kansas City	Gonzalo Pineda	Seattle Sounders FC	Luis Robles	New York Red Bulls
Week 30	Didier Drogba	Montreal Impact	Didier Drogba	Montreal Impact	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake
Week 31	Tim Melia	Sporting Kansas City	Krisztián Németh	Sporting Kansas City	Luis Robles	New York Red Bulls
Week 32	None awarded [30]
Week 33	Fanendo Adi	Portland Timbers	Ignacio Piatti	Montreal Impact	Luis Robles	New York Red Bulls
Week 34	Darlington Nagbe	Portland Timbers	Darlington Nagbe	Portland Timbers	Evan Bush	Montreal Impact

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Jose Villarreal for LA Galaxy against Chicago Fire, 65 minutes (March 6, 2015)

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Shaun Maloney for Chicago Fire against LA Galaxy, 22 minutes (March 6, 2015)
• First red card of the season: Bobby Burling for Colorado Rapids against Philadelphia Union, 68 minutes (March 7, 2015) - Second yellow card
• First straight red card of the season: Aurélien Collin for Orlando City SC against New York City, 83 minutes (March 8, 2015)

End-of-season awards

Award [31]	Player/Club
Most Valuable Player	Sebastian Giovinco [32]
Defender of the Year	Laurent Ciman [33]
Goalkeeper of the Year	Luis Robles [34]
Coach of the Year	Jesse Marsch [35]
Rookie of the Year	Cyle Larin [36]
Newcomer of the Year	Sebastian Giovinco [37]
Comeback Player of the Year	Tim Melia [38]
Golden Boot	Sebastian Giovinco [39]
Fair Play Player Award	Darlington Nagbe [40]
Fair Play Team Award	Philadelphia Union [40]
Humanitarian of the Year	Kei Kamara [41]
Referee of the Year	Alan Kelly [42]
Assistant Referee of the Year	Corey Parker [42]
Goal of the Year	Krisztián Németh [43]
Save of the Year	Adam Larsen Kwarasey [44]

MLS Best XI

Year	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
2015	Luis Robles, Red Bulls	Laurent Ciman, Montreal Matt Hedges, Dallas Kendall Waston, Vancouver	Ethan Finlay, Columbus Dax McCarty, Red Bulls Benny Feilhaber, Sporting KC Fabian Castillo, Dallas	Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto Kei Kamara, Columbus Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy

Source: ^[45]

Player transfers

Allocation ranking

The allocation ranking was the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee.

MLS streamlined the allocation mechanism in the middle of 2015 season. Effective on May 1, 2015, the allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a player who is in MLS allocation list. ^[46] MLS allocation list contains select U.S. National Team players and players transferred outside of MLS garnering a transfer fee of at least $500,000. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2014 season, taking playoff performance into account. ^[47]

Once the club uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it drops to the bottom of the list. A ranking can be traded provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking. At all times each club is assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS season.

Original Ranking	Final Ranking	Club	Date Allocation Used (Rank on that date)	Player Signed	Previous Club	Ref
20	1	LA Galaxy †				[48]
6	2	Chicago Fire
7	3	Houston Dynamo
9	4	Philadelphia Union
10	5	Portland Timbers
11	6	Sporting Kansas City
12	7	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
13	8	Columbus Crew
14	9	FC Dallas
15	10	Real Salt Lake
3	11	Montreal Impact ‡				[49]
18	12	Seattle Sounders FC
19	13	New England Revolution
5	14	Colorado Rapids †				[48]
1	15	New York City	January 13, 2015 (1)	Mix Diskerud	Rosenborg	[50]
8	16	Toronto	January 16, 2015 (6)	Jozy Altidore	Sunderland	[51]
17	17	New York Red Bulls ‡	January 28, 2015 (1)	Sacha Kljestan	Anderlecht	[49] [52]
2	18	Orlando City SC♯	December 19, 2014 (2)	Brek Shea	Stoke City	[53]
			February 2, 2015 (17)	Eric Avila	Santos Laguna	[54] [55]
16	19	D.C. United	February 10, 2015 (12)	Michael Farfan	Cruz Azul	[56]
4	20	San Jose Earthquakes	July 17, 2015 (1)	Marc Pelosi	Liverpool U-21	[57]

^{†On January 15, 2015, LA Galaxy acquired the then-number 3 allocation ranking (original ranking number 5) and allocation money from Colorado Rapids in exchange for the then-number 18 allocation ranking (original ranking number 20), Marcelo Sarvas, and an international roster slot.}

^{‡On January 27, 2015, New York Red Bulls acquired the then-number 1 allocation ranking (original ranking number 3) and Felipe from Montreal Impact in exchange for the then-number 14 allocation ranking (original ranking number 17), Ambroise Oyongo, Eric Alexander, allocation money, and an international roster slot for the 2015 season.}

^{♯ On December 19, 2014, Orlando used its original ranking to acquire Shea. [58] Orlando used their allocation a second time when 16 teams passed and they picked Avila with the then-number 17 allocation ranking.}

Coaches

Eastern Conference

• Chicago Fire: Frank Yallop
• Columbus Crew: Gregg Berhalter
• D.C. United: Ben Olsen
• Montreal Impact: Mauro Biello
• New England Revolution: Jay Heaps
• New York City: Patrick Vieira
• New York Red Bulls: Jesse Marsch
• Orlando City SC: Jason Kreis
• Philadelphia Union: Jim Curtin
• Toronto: Greg Vanney

Western Conference

• Colorado Rapids: Pablo Mastroeni
• FC Dallas: Óscar Pareja
• Houston Dynamo: Owen Coyle
• Los Angeles Galaxy: Bruce Arena
• Portland Timbers: Caleb Porter
• Real Salt Lake: Jeff Cassar
• San Jose Earthquakes: Dominic Kinnear
• Seattle Sounders FC: Sigi Schmid and Brian Schmetzer
• Sporting Kansas City: Peter Vermes
• Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Carl Robinson

References

1. "MLS draws a crowd on opening weekend", Washington Post, Steven Goff, March 9, 2015.
2. "MLS experiences TV ratings boost for 2015 opening weekend", SI.com, Richard Deitsch, March 11, 2015.
3. "MLS announces new strategy for Los Angeles market, 2015 conference realignment," Archived October 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine from MLSSoccer.com, October 27, 2014
4. "2015 Major League Soccer national television schedule". www.philly.com. January 21, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
5. "MLS, U.S. Soccer sign landmark TV and media rights partnerships with ESPN, FOX & Univision Deportes," Archived December 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine from MLSSoccer.com, December 5, 2014
6. "MLS and British broadcaster Sky Sports announce groundbreaking partnership". February 25, 2015. Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
7. "MLS and Eurosport announce four-year partnership to broadcast games in Europe". March 5, 2015. Archived from the original on March 24, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
8. "Former Earthquakes coach Watson takes high road over firing". mercurynews.com.
9. "Dominic Kinnear to coach San Jose Earthquakes". ESPNFC.com. October 15, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
10. Alicia Tolar (December 8, 2014). "Reports: Owen Coyle signs three-year deal with Houston Dynamo". Dynamo Theory. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
11. "New York Red Bulls part ways with head coach Mike Petke". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
12. "Red Bulls name Jesse Marsch as head coach ahead of 2015 season". New York Red Bulls. Archived from the original on March 6, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
13. "Frank Klopas fired as Montreal Impact head coach; Mauro Biello to take over". si.com. August 30, 2015.
14. "Fire dismisses head coach Yallop". TSN.ca. September 20, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
15. "Jason Kreis out as NYCFC manager". si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
16. "Chicago Fire Soccer Club Hires Veljko Paunovic as Head Coach". Chicago Fire. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
17. "MLS Playoff Bracket". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
18. "10-08-15_Stats_Standings.pdf". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer.
19. "Major League Soccer - Statistics - Goals".
20. "Major League Soccer - Statistics - Assists".
21. "Major League Soccer - Statistics - Goals".
22. "Vancouver Whitecaps FC's Octavio Rivero wins Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month for March". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
23. "Sporting Kansas City's Benny Feilhaber wins Etihad Airways Player of the Month for April". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
24. "Sporting Kansas City's Krisztian Nemeth wins Etihad Airways Player of the Month for May". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
25. "Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted wins Etihad Airways Player of the Month for June". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
26. "Toronto FC attacker Sebastian Giovinco wins Etihad Airways Player of the Month award for July". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
27. "Toronto FC attacker Sebastian Giovinco wins Etihad Airways Player of the Month award for August". MLSsoccer.com. September 3, 2015. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
28. "Didier Drogba, Impact striker, named MLS player of the month". CBC.ca. October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
29. "Montreal Impact's Didier Drogba wins second straight Etihad Airways Player of the Month award". MLSsoccer.com. October 28, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
30. "Goal of the Week". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
31. "Benny Feilhaber, Sebastian Giovinco, Kei Kamara contend for Landon Donovan MVP as MLS announces 2015 Awards Finalists". mlssoccer.com. November 3, 2015.
32. "TFC's Giovinco named Major League Soccer MVP - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
33. "Montreal Impact defender Laurent Ciman named 2015 MLS Defender of the Year". mlssoccer.com. November 11, 2015. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
34. "Luis Robles named 2015 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year". mlssoccer.com. November 19, 2015.
35. "New York Red Bulls Jesse Marsch Wins MLS Coach of the Year Award". mlssoccer.com. November 24, 2015.
36. "Orlando City forward Cyle Larin named 2015 AT&T Rookie of the Year". mlssoccer.com. November 10, 2015.
37. "2015 MLS Newcomer of the Year - Sebastian Giovinco". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
38. "Tim Melia wins the 2015 MLS Comeback Player of the Year". mlssoccer.com. November 18, 2015. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
39. "Sebastian Giovinco wins the 2015 Audi Golden Boot". mlssoccer.com. October 25, 2015.
40. "Portland Timbers' Darlington Nagbe, Philadelphia Union win 2015 MLS Fair Play Awards". mlssoccer.com. November 6, 2015.
41. "Columbus Crew SC forward Kei Kamara named MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year". mlssoccer.com. November 5, 2015.
42. "Alan Kelly named MLS Referee of the Year; Corey Parker voted Assistant Referee of the Year". mlssoccer.com. November 9, 2015.
43. "Sporting KC's Krisztian Nemeth wins 2015 AT&T Goal of the Year". MLSsoccer.com. December 3, 2015. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
44. "Portland Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey takes home 2015 Save of the Year honors". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
45. "2015 MLS Best XI revealed: 10 first-time selections get the nod". Major League Soccer. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
46. "Major League Soccer announces 2015 roster rules, including revised player acquisition process".
47. "MLS Allocation Process". Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
48. "Two-time MLS Cup winner Marcelo Sarvas joins the Colorado Rapids". Colorado Rapids. January 15, 2015. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
49. "Impact makes major trade with New York Red Bulls". Montreal Impact. January 27, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
50. MLS Soccer Media (January 13, 2015). "New York City FC ink USMNT playmaker Mix Diskerud ahead of MLS expansion season". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
51. Toronto FC (January 16, 2015). "Toronto FC sign U.S. international Jozy Altidore". TorontoFC.ca. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
52. "Red Bulls sign United States International Sacha Kljestan". New York Red Bulls. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
53. Orlando City SC Media (December 19, 2014). "Brek Shea Signs with Orlando City SC". orlandocitysc.com. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
54. MLS Soccer staff (February 2, 2015). "Orlando City SC acquire former Chivas USA midfielder Eric Avila". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
55. Tenorio, Paul (February 2, 2015), Orlando City signs former Chivas USA midfielder Eric Avila, Orlando Sentinel , retrieved July 20, 2015
56. "Michael Farfan making return to MLS, signs with DC United after season at Cruz Azul". MLSsoccer.com. February 10, 2015.
57. "San Jose Earthquakes sign US youth international midfielder Marc Pelosi". MLSsoccer.com. July 17, 2015.
58. "12/19: Orlando City SC use No. 1 allocation spot to sign Brek Shea" ( MLS Allocation Ranking, mlssoccer.com, archived from the original on December 12, 2018, retrieved January 27, 2015).

External links

• Media related to 2015 in Major League Soccer at Wikimedia Commons