While the 2016 MLS season enters its final stretch, the league is starting to pay attention to next year's competition.
Minnesota United's entry to MLS complements the arrival of Atlanta United, keeping the total number of teams in the league even and allowing for the Eastern and Western Conferences to grow simultaneously. The league has confirmed this approach, announcing Atlanta will drop into the East in 2017, while Minnesota has been added to the West.
That bumps each Conference to 11 teams each. The league hasn't confirmed its 2017 schedule yet, but there is no obvious reason for it to depart from the current 34-game regular season model.