2025–26 Major Arena Soccer League season
Football league season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025–26 Major Arena Soccer League season was the eighteenth season of the league and the eleventh season as the Major Arena Soccer League. The regular season started on November 28, 2025, and ended on March 29, 2026. Each team played 24 games for a total 96 games.[1]
(52 goals)
| Season | 2025–26 |
|---|---|
| Matches | 96 (regular season), 10 (quarterfinals, semifinals, and Ron Newman Cup) |
| Average goals/game | 11.5 |
| Top goalscorer | Rian Marques (52 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Milwaukee 17 - 2 Utica (March 20, 2026) |
| Biggest away win | Empire 6 - Milwaukee 3 (March 15, 2026) |
| Longest losing run | 11 - Utica City FC (January 18-February 16) |
| Highest attendance | 7,861 (March 29, 2026 at Toyota Arena) |
| Average attendance | 2,870 |
← 2024–25 2026–27 → | |
Changes from 2024 to 2025
The league dropped from 12 teams from the 2024–25 season to 8 teams. With only 8 teams in the league, the playoff structure adjusted to having the top 6 teams qualify for the Ron Newman Cup Playoffs, with the top 2 seeds receiving a first-round bye.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
| Team | Arena | Location | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Blast | SECU Arena | Towson, Maryland | 3,580 |
| Empire Strykers | Toyota Arena | Ontario, California | 9,736 |
| Kansas City Comets | Cable Dahmer Arena | Independence, Missouri | 5,800 |
| Milwaukee Wave | UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 9.500 |
| San Diego Sockers | Frontwave Arena | Oceanside, California | 5,500 |
| St. Louis Ambush | Family Arena | St. Charles, Missouri | 10,000 |
| Tacoma Stars | accesso ShoWare Center | Kent, Washington | 7,141 |
| Utica City FC | Adirondack Bank Center | Utica, New York | 3,999 |
Returning
8 of the 12 teams that competed in the previous season returned for the 2025–26 season
Dropped to MASL 2
- The Harrisburg Heat relocated to Hershey Park Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania for the 2025–26 season. The Heat have temporarily moved to M2 due to the arena dates only working with the M2 schedule. The Heat will return to MASL for the 2026–2027 season.[2]
Folded
- The Dallas Sidekicks, Texas Outlaws, and Chihuahua Savage were removed from the league's list of teams on its website prior to the start of the season. Both Dallas and Texas had arena complications,[3] while the Texas Outlaws violated a league rule becoming bankrupt,[4] and Chihuahua decided to drop out of the league.[5]
Change in season format
For the first time in league history, each team will have the opportunity to play every opponent.[6]
Regular season
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Sockers (C, M) | 24 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 149 | 121 | +28 | 44 |
| 2 | Baltimore Blast | 24 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 164 | 141 | +23 | 43 |
| 3 | Milwaukee Wave | 24 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 180 | 144 | +36 | 43 |
| 4 | St. Louis Ambush | 24 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 134 | 117 | +17 | 42 |
| 5 | Kansas City Comets | 24 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 160 | 150 | +10 | 40 |
| 6 | Empire Strykers | 24 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 121 | 115 | +6 | 33 |
| 7 | Tacoma Stars | 24 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 118 | 174 | −56 | 26 |
| 8 | Utica City FC | 24 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 124 | 188 | −64 | 17 |
Teams get 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an overime/shootout win, 1 point for an overtime/shootout loss.
Tiebreaker format: Points > Regulation Wins > Wins > Head to Head > Goal Differential > Goals For > Goals Against
2026 Ron Newman Cup
The 2026 Ron Newman Cup saw a reduction in teams from 8 to 6. Additionally, each round is played as a best-of-three series; in previous seasons, only the finals were played as a series and each preceding round was a single game.
If a series is tied after two games, the teams play a "knockout game," a 15-minute single period following the end of game 2. In the finals, the teams play a full third game unless arena scheduling does not allow for one; a knockout game may be agreed upon by the teams in place of the full tiebreaker.[7]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | San Diego Sockers | 6 | 6* | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis Ambush | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | St. Louis Ambush | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Kansas City Comets | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | San Diego Sockers | 5 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Milwaukee Wave | 4 | 7 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Baltimore Blast | 7 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Empire Strykers | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 | Milwaukee Wave | 5 | 5 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Milwaukee Wave | 3 | 7 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
* represent overtime periods