MLS SuperDraft

The MLS SuperDraft is an annual college draft for teams of Major League Soccer in the United States and Canada in which MLS clubs take turns selecting from a pool of eligible amateur players. These drafted players usually come from university teams competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It takes place in January and is used by teams to select players who have graduated from college or otherwise been signed by the league. ^[1] The SuperDraft was first instituted in 2000, as a combination of the MLS College Draft, in which players having graduated from college were selected, and the MLS Supplemental Draft, in which all other players were chosen. The draft is divided into three rounds in which each club has a selection, the order of which is determined by a combination of the teams' playoff and regular season positions, with the last placed team (or expansion teams) getting the first pick.

History

From 1996 to 1999, all American players graduating college were entered into the MLS College Draft, and were eligible to be selected by all Major League Soccer teams. Players who had already graduated from college were entered into a separate MLS Supplemental Draft.^{[ citation needed ]} The division between the two was eliminated in 2000, when they were combined into a single MLS SuperDraft. Originally created to ensure strict parity in the league, the draft was designed to allow weaker clubs to develop their rosters. The first SuperDraft was held in 2000, and since then has become the primary draft of the league. Recently, the draft has been considered to be secondary to youth academies. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

The importance of the SuperDraft waned in the 2010s as MLS teams established their own youth academy systems and acquired young players from other leagues. The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was conducted exclusively by conference calls and online streaming for the first time. ^[5]

Eligible players

Only players from the American college sports system (e.g., the NCAA and the NAIA) are eligible to be drafted. Canadian U Sports men's soccer players are not included, despite numerous proposals and discussions in 2010 ^[6] and 2012 ^[7] when U Sports was Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). In previous SuperDrafts, a few players were drafted directly from clubs outside the U.S. or Canada. While the NFL and NBA rely heavily on the annual event for an infusion of workers, MLS is now 10 years into allowing teams to groom talent in their youth academies and maintain exclusive rights to those players, even if they do end up playing NCAA soccer. They are called homegrown players. ^[8]

Rules of draft selection

The draft process for the SuperDraft closely resembles the NFL draft. Below is the process for the 2023 MLS SuperDraft:

1. Any expansion club automatically gets the first pick; should there be two expansion teams, a coin toss determines who picks first in the SuperDraft and who picks first in the expansion draft.
2. Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record.
3. Teams that made the MLS Cup playoffs are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated.
4. The winners of the MLS Cup are given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection.
5. Remaining ties are broken by the goal differential, goals scored, goals conceded, and then the flip of a coin.

Status	Draft picks
Expansion clubs	1
Non-playoff clubs	2–17
Eliminated in knockout round	18–21
Eliminated in conference semifinals	22–25
Eliminated in conference championships	26–27
MLS Cup finalist	28
MLS Cup winner	29

List of MLS College Drafts

Year	Date	Rounds	Picks	City	First selection	Team
1996	March 4, 1996	3	30	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Matt McKeon	Kansas City Wiz
1997	February 1, 1997	3	30	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Tahj Jakins	Colorado Rapids
1998	January 31, 1998	3	36	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Leo Cullen	Miami Fusion
1999	February 6, 1999	3	36	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Jason Moore	D.C. United

List of MLS SuperDrafts

Year	Date	Rounds	Picks	City	First selection	Team
2000	February 6, 2000	6	72	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Steve Shak	MetroStars
2001	February 5, 2001	6	72	Davie, FL	Chris Carrieri	San Jose Earthquakes
2002	February 10, 2002	6	70	Lake Buena Vista, FL	Chris Gbandi	Dallas Burn
2003	January 17, 2003	6	60	Kansas City, MO	Alecko Eskandarian	D.C. United
2004	January 16, 2004	6	60	Charlotte, NC	Freddy Adu	D.C. United
2005	January 14, 2005	4	48	Baltimore, MD	Nikolas Besagno	Real Salt Lake
2006	January 20, 2006	4	48	Philadelphia, PA	Marvell Wynne	MetroStars
2007	January 12, 2007	4	52	Indianapolis, IN	Maurice Edu	Toronto FC
2008	January 18, 2008	4	56	Baltimore, MD	Chance Myers	Kansas City Wizards
2009	January 15, 2009	4	60	St. Louis, MO	Steve Zakuani	Seattle Sounders FC
2010	January 14, 2010	4	64	Philadelphia, PA	Danny Mwanga	Philadelphia Union
2011	January 13, 2011	3	54	Baltimore, MD	Omar Salgado	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2012	January 12, 2012	2	38	Kansas City, MO	Andrew Wenger	Montreal Impact
2013	January 17, 2013	2	38	Indianapolis, IN	Andrew Farrell	New England Revolution
2014	January 16, 2014	4	77	Philadelphia, PA	Andre Blake	Philadelphia Union
2015	January 15, 2015	4	84	Philadelphia, PA	Cyle Larin	Orlando City SC
2016	January 14, 2016	4	75	Baltimore, MD	Jack Harrison	Chicago Fire
2017	January 13, 2017	4	81	Los Angeles, CA	Abu Danladi	Minnesota United FC
2018	January 19, 2018	4	81	Philadelphia, PA	João Moutinho	Los Angeles FC
2019	January 11, 2019	4	75	Chicago, IL	Frankie Amaya	FC Cincinnati
2020	January 9, 2020	4	77	via teleconference	Robbie Robinson	Inter Miami CF
2021	January 21, 2021	3	75	via teleconference	Dani Pereira	Austin FC
2022	January 11, 2022	3	79	via teleconference	Ben Bender	Charlotte FC
2023	December 21, 2022 [A]	3	83	via teleconference	Hamady Diop	Charlotte FC
2024	December 19, 2023 [B]	3	87	via teleconference	Tyrese Spicer	Toronto FC
2025	December 20, 2024 [C]	3	90	via teleconference	Manu Duah	San Diego FC

Notes

1. Although the draft took place in 2022, the draft retained the 2023 MLS SuperDraft branding
2. Although the draft took place in 2023, the draft retained the 2024 MLS SuperDraft branding
3. Although the draft took place in 2024, the draft retained the 2025 MLS SuperDraft branding

References

1. "Figure 3: Critical appraisal about the study quality of the included randomized controlled trials (Yadav et al., 2014; Kia et al., 2015; Hazarey, Sakrikar & Ganvir, 2015; Saran et al., 2018; Kuriakose et al., 2016; Thomas et al., 2017; Nosratzehi et al., 2018; Ara et al., 2018; Rai et al., 2019; Piyush et al., 2019; Kia et al., 2020; Nerkar Rajbhoj et al., 2021; Srivastava et al., 2021; Adhikari et al., 2022; Upadhyay et al., 2023; Namratha et al., 2023)". doi: 10.7717/peerj.18492/fig-3 .{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
2. Walter, Tyler (January 8, 2011). "MLS SuperDraft: Why the Rise of Youth Academies Causes the Draft To Be Obsolete". Bleacher Report . Retrieved July 17, 2011.
3. McCarthy, Kyle (December 13, 2010). "Monday MLS Breakdown: Academy Programs Increasingly Influence SuperDraft Pool". Goal.com USA. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
4. "Let's abandon the MLS draft". ESPN.com. January 14, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
5. Creditor, Avi (January 9, 2020). "The Highs and Lows of a Dwindling MLS SuperDraft". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved January 9, 2020.
6. "CIS pushing for MLS draft entry: Coach". Canadian Soccer News. November 24, 2010.
7. Rycroft, Ben (February 15, 2012). "Road to pros may ease for university stars". CBC Sports. CBC.
8. Goff, Brian (2018). Sports Economics Uncut. Edward Elgar Publishing. doi:10.4337/9781788118736. ISBN   978-1-78811-873-6.