2013 Major League Soccer season


The 2013 Major League Soccer season was the 101st season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, the 35th with a national first-division league, and the 18th season of Major League Soccer. The season featured 19 total clubs.
The regular season began on March 2, when Sporting Kansas City defeated the Philadelphia Union 3–1 at PPL Park. The 2013 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was held on July 31, 2013 in Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas. The regular season ended on October 27. The New York Red Bulls won the Supporters' Shield and Sporting Kansas City went on to win the MLS Cup in a penalty kick shootout against Real Salt Lake.

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

Chicago FireChivas USA/
Los Angeles Galaxy		Colorado RapidsColumbus CrewD.C. UnitedFC Dallas
Toyota ParkStubHub CenterDick's Sporting Goods ParkCrew StadiumRFK Memorial StadiumToyota Stadium
Capacity: 20,000Capacity: 27,000Capacity: 18,086Capacity: 20,145Capacity: 19,467†Capacity: 21,193

Houston DynamoMontreal ImpactNew England RevolutionNew York Red BullsPhiladelphia UnionPortland Timbers
BBVA Compass StadiumSaputo StadiumGillette StadiumRed Bull ArenaPPL ParkProvidence Park
Capacity: 22,000Capacity: 20,341Capacity: 22,385†Capacity: 25,189Capacity: 18,500Capacity: 20,323

Real Salt LakeSan Jose EarthquakesSeattle Sounders FCSporting Kansas CityToronto FCVancouver Whitecaps FC
Rio Tinto StadiumBuck Shaw StadiumCenturyLink FieldSporting ParkBMO FieldBC Place
Capacity: 20,213Capacity: 10,525Capacity: 38,500†Capacity: 18,467Capacity: 21,859Capacity: 21,000†

†Actual capacity is higher; seats rationed for soccer games

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.
TeamHead coachCaptainShirt sponsor
Chicago Fire Quaker
Chivas USA Corona
Colorado Rapids Drew Moorn/a
Columbus Crew Barbasol
D.C. United Volkswagen
FC Dallas AdvoCare
Houston Dynamo n/a
Los Angeles Galaxy Herbalife
Montreal Impact Bank of Montreal
New England Revolution UnitedHealthcare
New York Red Bulls Red Bull
Philadelphia Union Bimbo
Portland Timbers Alaska Airlines
Real Salt Lake XanGo
San Jose Earthquakes n/a
Seattle Sounders FC Xbox
Sporting Kansas City Ivy Funds
Toronto FC Bank of Montreal
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Bell Canada

Player transfers

Major League Soccer employs 12 methods to acquire players. These include: signing players on transfers/free transfers as is done in most of the world; via trades; drafting players through mechanisms such as the MLS SuperDraft, MLS Supplemental Draft, or MLS Re-Entry Draft; rarely used methods which cover extreme hardship and injury replacement; signing players as Designated Players or Homegrown Players; placing a discovery claim on players; waivers; and methods peculiar to MLS such as through allocation or a weighted lottery.

Allocation ranking

The allocation ranking is 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. The allocation rankings may also be used in the event two or more clubs file a request for the same player on the same day. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2012 season, taking playoff performance into account.
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 League season.
Original RankingClubDate Allocation UsedPlayer SignedPlayer NationPrevious ClubClub NationRef
1Chivas USA July 1, 2013Carlos BocanegraUSARangersSCO
2Portland Timbers
3Seattle Sounders FC
4New England Revolution
5Philadelphia Union
6Colorado Rapids
7FC Dallas
8Montreal Impact
9Columbus Crew
10Vancouver Whitecaps FC
11Chicago Fire
12Real Salt Lake
13New York Red Bulls
14Sporting Kansas City
15San Jose Earthquakes
16Toronto FC
17D.C. UnitedFebruary 20, 2013Carlos RuizGUAMunicipalGUA
18Houston Dynamo
19Los Angeles Galaxy

On December 12, 2012, Portland Timbers acquired the number 2 ranking from Chivas USA in exchange for the number 3 ranking and an international roster spot.
On February 19, 2013, Chivas USA traded the No. 3 ranking to Seattle Sounders FC in the Shalrie Joseph trade. It was also reported that Seattle sent the No. 15 allocation ranking to Chivas USA as part of the deal, although Seattle appeared to have owned the No. 16 selection and not the No. 15 selection.
On July 1, 2013, Chivas USA acquired the number 1 allocation ranking from Toronto FC in exchange for the #16 ranking, a first-round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, and an international roster spot.

Weighted lottery

Some players are assigned to MLS teams via a weighted lottery process. A team can only acquire one player per year through a weighted lottery. The players made available through lotteries include: Generation adidas players signed after the MLS SuperDraft; and Draft eligible players to whom an MLS contract was offered but who failed to sign with the League prior to the SuperDraft.
The team with the worst record over its last 30 regular season games will have the greatest probability of winning the lottery. Teams are not required to participate in a lottery. Players are assigned via the lottery system in order to prevent a player from potentially influencing his destination club with a strategic holdout.
Below are the results of 2013 weighted lotteries:

Ownership changes

Managerial changes

Standings

Conference tables

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall table

Note: the table below has no impact on playoff qualification and is used solely for determining host of the MLS Cup, certain CCL spots, the Supporters' Shield trophy, seeding in the 2014 Canadian Championship, and 2014 MLS draft. The conference tables are the sole determinant for teams qualifying for the playoffs.

Tie-breaking

The teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a tie and zero points for a loss. If teams have an equal number of points the following tie-breaking procedures apply:
  1. Most wins
  2. Goals for
  3. Goal differential
  4. Fewest disciplinary points
  5. Road goals
  6. Road goal differential
  7. Home goals
  8. Home goal differential
  9. Coin toss or drawing of lots

    Playoff bracket

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

Source:

Top assists

Source:

Top goalkeepers

RankGoalkeeperNationClub
1Jimmy NielsenSporting Kansas City0.88683030603413
2Donovan RickettsPortland Timbers0.97923128803214
3Nick RimandoReal Salt Lake1.0482282430269
4Clint IrwinColorado Rapids1.10913528733210
5Tally HallHouston Dynamo1.2195413060349
5Luis RoblesNew York Red Bulls1.211034130603411
7Jon BuschSan Jose Earthquakes1.24101412970339
8Michael GspurningSeattle Sounders FC1.27763524752810
9Carlo CudiciniLos Angeles Galaxy1.2972341890217
9Zac MacMathPhiladelphia Union1.291014430603412

Source:

Individual awards

Monthly awards

Weekly awards

Scoring

MLS Best XI

Average attendance

Source:
ClubMean home attendance
Seattle Sounders FC44,038
Los Angeles Galaxy22,152
Portland Timbers20,674
Montreal Impact20,603
Vancouver Whitecaps FC20,038
Houston Dynamo19,923
Sporting Kansas City19,709
New York Red Bulls19,461
Real Salt Lake19,218
Toronto FC18,131
Philadelphia Union17,867
Columbus Crew16,080
Colorado Rapids15,440
FC Dallas15,373
Chicago Fire15,228
New England Revolution14,844
D.C. United13,646
San Jose Earthquakes12,765
Chivas USA8,366

Coaches

Eastern Conference